Shaikh, who has been in jail in this case since 2015, will not be released as he was sentenced to death on multiple counts in 2016 over the Hyderabad twin blasts of 2013 that claimed 18 lives.

MUMBAI: A misplaced CD that remained untraceable until the end, a test identification that lasted only a minute, the improbability of two shop owners recognising the accused as a customer four and a half years later, and the home ministry’s invalid sanction for invoking UAPA, led the sessions court to conclude that there was no evidence proving that 36-year-old Ajaz Saeed Shaikh, a former IT professional from Pune, was a member of the banned organisation Indian Mujahideen, reports Rebecca Samervel.On Friday, a sessions court acquitted Shaikh, who had been accused of sending a terror email after the Sept 2010 firing and blast outside Jama Masjid, Delhi, that left two foreigners injured. The detailed 40-page judgment was made available on Saturday.
“There is no iota of evidence showing that this accused along with wanted accused hatched conspiracy and in pursuance… did unlawful activity for and on behalf of banned organisation Indian Mujahideen and sent the email… the prosecution has failed to establish the alleged acts of accused and wanted accused which constitutes offences registered…,” the judge said.
Shaikh, who has been in jail in this case since 2015, will not be released as he was sentenced to death on multiple counts in 2016 over the Hyderabad twin blasts of 2013 that claimed 18 lives. He will continue to face trial in the Mumbai 2011 triple blasts case.
As per prosecution’s case, there was CCTV footage of Shaikh’s entry into a shop in Manish Market where he bought the phone used in the crime. The judge said the “most striking” fact is the alleged CD in which data of CCTV footage was copied has not been produced till conclusion of trial, under the guise it has been misplaced.