Kerala High Court acquits Thadiyantevida Nazeer, Shafas in 2006 Kozhikode twin blasts case

The Kerala High Court on Thursday acquitted Thadiyantevida Nazeer and Shafas, who are the prime accused in the 2006 twin bomb blasts in Kozhikode district. .A Division Bench of Justices K Vinod Chandran and C Jayachandran allowed the appeals preferred by Nazeer and Shafas, the first and fourth accused respectively, against their conviction by the trial court that had also sentenced them to life imprisonment. Nazeer was suspected and widely reported to be a Lashkar-e-Taiba operative."There is no reliable evidence on the preparation or commission of the crime that would incriminate the accused beyond reasonable doubt", the Court said. .The Court did not hesitate to pull up the investigating agencies for its lackadaisical approach to collecting independent evidence."The Investigators, we cannot but say, did not make a concerted effort to 'go out in the sun' to collect independent evidence of whatever version the accused told them", the Court observed..The Bench also dismissed the appeal moved by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) challenging the trial court's order acquitting two other accused in the case, Abdul Halim and Aboobacker Yusaf..After taking over the investigation of the case in 2009, the NIA had booked the accused for offences punishable under the provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), the Explosive Substances Act and the Indian Penal Code. The trial court had found Nazeer and Shafas guilty of the offences alleged and sentenced them to life imprisonment. The two subsequently approached the High Court seeking to quash the sentence imposed on them. At the same time, the NIA approached the Court with an appeal against the trial court's acquittal of two other accused. .The NIA had booked Nazeer and the other accused in the case for allegedly planning and executing the twin bomb blasts in the Kozhikode KSRTC and Mofussil bus stands on March 3, 2006. Interestingly, the accused informed the media about the location of the bombs before planting them. The police were able to reach the site on time and evacuate the area.However, two timed explosions occurred at the bus stations within a gap of 10 minutes and two persons, including a police officer, were injured. The blast was allegedly planned to protest after some Muslim accused in the 2003 Marad communal riots were denied bail. .[Read Judgement]