Laiaquat Shah with his family on Sunday. ( ( Source: Express photo by Shuaib Masoodi) Laiaquat Shah with his family on Sunday. ( ( Source: Express photo by Shuaib Masoodi)

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has written to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), asking it to take disciplinary action against the officers of the Delhi Police Special Cell, who framed Liaquat Shah and labelled him as a Hizbul Mujahideen militant planning terror strikes in Delhi to avenge the hanging of Afzal Guru in 2013.

According to the NIA chargesheet in the case, the Special Cell officers were “negligent in recovering CCTV footage in and around Jama Masjid area” and had submitted “damaged data that could not be retrieved in spite of advanced forensic examination”. The Special Cell had raided a room here and claimed to have found arms and ammunition.

The NIA chargesheet also says that between March 20 and March 21 that year, main accused Sabir Khan Pathan, who allegedly planted the arms and ammunition at Haji Arafat Guest House in Jama Masjid area, spoke to Special Cell officers on 40 occasions.

Though the chargesheet mentions Special Cell ACP, Inspectors, head constables and constables by their names as those with whom Pathan was in touch, they have not been named as accused in the case.

According to the NIA, Pathan was a Special Cell informer for 10 years and used to stay at the Special Cell barracks in Lodhi Colony. His cellphone locations on March 20, 2013, the day he allegedly planted the explosives, show that he was present at Lodhi Colony hours before and after going to the guesthouse. “Even when the guesthouse was being raided by Special Cell, with Shah in custody, Pathan received a call from one of the officers,” the NIA chargesheet says.

Pinning Pathan, NIA says it collected DNA samples from the guesthouse which matched with his father Fida Mohammad, who lives in Madhya Pradesh.

After Shah entered India via the Sanauli border along Nepal on March 20, with 12 others, including his third wife and children, he was whisked away by Delhi Police and arrested for planning fidayeen attacks in Delhi.

Shah, who left for Pakistan Occupied Kashmir in 1992 to join Hizbul, wanted to return to J&K as part of the state government’s policy to rehabilitate former militants.

The NIA chargesheet says, “Shah did not come to India with immediate express intention of carrying out an attack on vital installations in India. The disclosure statement of Shah, recorded by Delhi Police, does not stand as legally sustainable evidence, in respect of his association with any banned organisation. The only evidence remains the application submitted by his wife Ameena Begum, which indicates he was a member of the group-Al Barak…. not in the list of banned outfits under the UAPA.” Acknowledging the NIA note seeking action against the police officers, a home ministry official said, “The MHA has taken an extremely serious view of the NIA note. Responsibility will be fixed and if need be the officers will be held accountable.”

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