UP: 5 alleged HuJI men acquitted for want of evidence

A special court on Thursday acquitted five alleged members of the banned terror outfit Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami (HuJI) for want of sufficient evidence to prove the sedition charge against them.

Those acquitted include Sheikh Mukhtar Hussain, Naushad alias Hafiz, Noor Islam alias Mama, Mohammad Ali Akbar Hussain, Aziz-ur- Rehman alias Sardar. They had allegedly shouted anti-India and pro-Pakistan slogans in the court on August 12, 2008 during the hearing of a terror case against them.

The police had registered a sedition case against them at Wazirganj police station for the sloganeering.

On April 29, 2009 the state government granted permission to the police to prosecute them. Special judge SAH Rizvi, in his order, observed that the prosecution could not produce evidence against the accused. Earlier in 2007, the five were arrested by the Special Task Force on terror charge and were lodged in jail since then. The special court acquitted them of the terror charge in November last year.