JNUSU, FDI petition PM for compensation to ''police victim''

New Delhi, Feb 15 (UNI) The JNUSU and the Forum for Democratic Initiatives (FDI) have petitioned Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for compensation to Aftab Alam Ansari, who was wrongly accused of being involved in the November serial blasts in UP courts.

They demanded that Aftab be compensated without having to resort to a legal battle and action be taken against police officials who tortured him in detention.

Aftab, a resident of Kolkata working with the Calcutta Electricity Supply Corporation (CESE), was arrested by the West Bengal CID on December 12 and handed over to UP Special Task Force two days later as the Chief accused in the serial bomb blasts case.

''I was tortured for 22 days to for getting a confession that I was Mukhtar alias Raju.... but due to efforts of my mother, lawyer some journalists and the Peoples' Union for Human Rights (PUHR) the courts declared me innocent,'' Aftab, who was invited to Delhi by the JNUSU and FDI, told reporters here.

''The entire shameful conspiracy by the UP STF to frame me was exposed ... my detention for being a suspected terrorist and the subsequent torture and interrogation has severely affected my life and,'' he said.

The JNUSU and the Forum for Democratic Initiatives (FDI) said they will mobilise public opinion for building widespread awareness against ''minority witch-hunting in the name of fighting terrorism''.

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