2005 Delhi blasts: How ELITE Delhi police’s lazy attitude failed the victims

The verdict, which acquitted two accused and one conviction, not only comes as a slap in the face of victims’ kin, but also raise serious questions about the careless investigation by the Delhi police

The judgment in the October, 2005 Delhi serial blasts, acquitting two persons of all charges was nothing short of a shocker. Another was convicted for being a member of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba, although no charges against him in the case could be proved. On October 29, 2005, three serial blasts ripped the national capital leaving 67 dead and 100 injured.

For the victims and their kin, this verdict is akin to a slap on the face. But the important thing here is, that the court does not have be blamed, but the Delhi police, which carried out a shoddy, lazy and terrible investigation.

The court said in its 140-page order, said that the only evidence brought forward by the prosecution and the 'ELITE' anti-terror wing was intercepted conversations dated November 1 and 4, 2005. The 'mastermind' Tariq Ahmed Dar had told 'C' (code for LeT handler) that the four boys had come back and that Rafiq Shah (another accused) was one of these four boys and that the talk was regarding the blasts on October 29, 2005.

The prosecution has failed to prove Shah was involved in the placing of the bomb in a DTC bus on October 29, 2005. Therefore, the part of the conversation regarding four boys having come back cannot be held to be referring to Shah," the court order read.

The judge added, "There is no evidence regarding involvement of Dar in any manner, prior to October 29, 2005. The conversation about 'Diwali tohfa' is not a muted reference to the blasts because it was repeated twice. Even otherwise, knowledge of the blasts would have been gained by November 1, 2005 since the said incidents were widely reported. The prosecution has not been able to prove any link between 'suspects 'Muhammed Hussain Fazili and Rafiq Shah or Dar," it said.

"The conversations, therefore, fall short in enabling this court to come to any definite conclusion that Dar was part of the conspiracy behind these blasts," the court observed.

Lazy probe:

A month after the blasts, the Delhi police said at a press conference that the case was solved. In a 'run-of-the-mill' press conference held in Delhi, the police said that Dar had orchestrated the blast at the behest of the LeT. He selected the bombers, arranged the material and radicalised them.

The police went on to speak about a satellite phone used to plan the attack.

Two calls made on these phones were part of the charge-sheet. The police said that the money came from Pakistan and added that Dar was motivated by money. He had four bank accounts despite his salary at an MNC being just Rs 10,000, and hence his motivation was the money, it was alleged.

The cross-examination of the investigating officer clearly did not help the case. The court threw this theory out while stating, "A possibility arises of Dar working with Helen Pharmaceutical which was given 4-5 per cent commission for sales turnover of stocks of Jonson and Jonson from which he might have received income." The crucial cross-examination of one of the senior investigating officers also did not help the prosecution's case.

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