Wahid was one of the 13 Indians accused of having planned and carried out the Mumbai train blasts of 2006 Wahid was one of the 13 Indians accused of having planned and carried out the Mumbai train blasts of 2006

The only tall structure that Wahid Shaikh (36) saw during the last nine years was the spiraling watch tower from where guards of the Arthur Road Jail kept an eye on inmates of the ‘anda’ cell, which houses hard core criminals.

A fortnight after being acquitted of all charges for his role in the 2006 Mumbai serial train blasts, Wahid said he felt overwhelmed by the vertical monoliths that had sprung up in his city altering its skyline.

“I see this city has grown. Skywalks, a Metro, big towers and malls have sprouted in this city. However, these changes have had no affect on reality. I see that Muslims are still fearful, isolated and forced to live in the ghettos,” said Wahid, who spent seven out of his nine years in near solitary confinement.

Wahid was one of the 13 Indians accused of having planned and carried out the Mumbai train blasts of 2006. He was charged with having given his house in Mumbra suburbs for a stopover to Pakistani nationals, who along with 13 Indian conspirators allegedly assembled and planted bombs in a few trains in Mumbai.

A Mumbai court recently ruled that there was no merit in the accusations levelled against Wahid and set him free on a solvent surety of Rs 25,000.

The court convicted 12 persons in the case and is scheduled to announce the quantum of punishment Wednesday.

Born in Pune to Din Mohammed Shaikh who had migrated from Uttar Pradesh, Wahid’s family shifted to Vikhroli a distant suburb of Mumbai quite early in his life. The eldest of three brothers, Wahid went to a municipal school, and later completed his Class 12 from Maharashtra College in the Muslim dominated locality of Nagpada. Later, he did a Diploma in Education from Mahim and became a teacher in Mumbai.

During this period he, along with a group of young Muslims, started working on social causes in his locality.

There were also frequent tiffs with the trustees of the local Jama Masjid in Vikhroli, who did not subscribe to Wahid’s adherence to the Ahl-e-Hadees sect.

In 2001, he was picked up by the police after the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI).

Wahid was booked for being part of a banned organisation.

Interestingly, one of the members who was arrested along with Wahid later became a key prosecution witness in the 2006 blasts case.

“They arrested us and kept us in jail for two months in Thane. We were subsequently acquitted in the case. However, since then whenever anything happened in Mumbai they would call me for questioning. Over a period of time, they filed three more cases against me of rioting,” said Wahid.

In 2003, he married the sister of Sajid Ansari — who was also arrested in the train blast case — and moved to Mumbra.

But on July 11, 2006 — the day of the blasts — his life took a dramatic turn.

“I went to school in the morning and later in the evening and was tending to my 18-month-old son who was sick. I walked over to my neighbour’s house and when he switched on the television, we saw the news of the blast,” said Wahid. However, police in the chargesheet claimed that Wahid had left his Mumbra home for Vikhroli with his wife and the house was subsequently used by the other accused and few Pakistani nationals to rest after planting the bombs.

The police questioned Wahid that evening. He was later called four times before his arrest on September 29. On the day of his arrest, Wahid was asked to come to the police station. While he was on his way, a police officer called again to ask his whereabouts.

“I said I was midway in a rickshaw when the officer said that I should get out as he had sent a vehicle for me. I got off and sat in the vehicle which was driven by a lone constable. The constable stopped midway for grocery shopping and recharging his mobile. Imagine, this is how serious they were while arresting someone whom they accused of being a terrorist. As soon as I reached the station, the officer said I should be handcuffed and arrested,” Wahid recalled.

About his time in jail, Wahid said: “The most dreaded torture was being forced into this narrow space between two rooms. The space is so cramped that you feel as if you are being buried alive.”

During the trial, Wahid completed his MA in English and is now pursuing his LLB. He insists that even the other accused in the case are “innocent”.

“The brothers I have left behind are innocent. I am surprised as to how they have been convicted. If I have been acquitted it means that the police story that Pakistanis came to my house was false. If that story is false the entire back-story also falls through,” argued Wahid.

He added that he planned to write a book on his experiences inside the jail.

“In jail, even getting a packet of biscuits gave us great joy. We would crave for chicken or mutton. However, since I have been released, my craving seems to have ended…I can’t imagine having these luxuries when 12 of my fellow brothers are still inside on false charges,” Wahid claimed.

About the trauma that his family went through, Wahid said: “My son (11) recently drew a picture of a prisoner behind bars in a drawing competition. He hates the police.”

Asked about the biggest loss he had suffered in the past nine years, Wahid said: “Maine nau saal main is nizam se faith kho diya (I have lost faith in the government and the courts).”

But despite everything, Wahid hopes that the school where he worked earlier would hire him again.

zeeshan.shaikh@expressindia.com

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