Court rejects UP government's plea to withdraw case against alleged HuJI operatives

BARABANKI: The UP government's plea to withdraw case against two alleged HuJI operatives in connection with seizure of explosives here after the 2007 Gorakhpur blasts was on Friday rejected by a local court.

Special Sessions Judge (SC/ST) Kalpana Mishra rejected the application moved by the government on April 24 to withdraw cases against Tariq Kasmi and Khalid Mujahid, who are also accused in the Gorakhpur serial blasts case.

Kasmi's counsel Randheer Singh Suman told PTI that the government had said in its application that it wanted to withdraw the case in public interest and for the sake of communal harmony, but had not elaborated on both the points.

The court said the government did not file an affidavit with the application and despite being a confidential document, it was given openly instead of in a sealed envelop, Suman said.

On the basis of these three points, the court rejected the government's application.

The government on April 24 had said it had withdrawn case against Kasmi, an accused in Gorakhpur blasts, and had requested the court to drop charges against him.

The blast took place in May 2007 at Golghar crossing through a bomb planted in a cycle. Six persons were injured in the blast.

The Special Task Force of UP Police had arrested the two alleged Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami operatives from near Barabanki railway station with explosives.

After coming to power, the SP government had announced to the review cases against "innocent" youths lodged in jail on charges of attacks in Rampur as well as in serial blasts in courts of Faizabad, Barabanki, Lucknow and also in Gorakhpur and Varanasi blasts.