Suspected Hizbul Mujahideen militant Liyaqat Shah, who was arrested by Delhi Police, will be released if he is found to have come from Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir with the genuine intention to surrender, Union Home Secretary R K Singh said on Tuesday.
Singh said the National Investigation Agency, which recently took over the case, will investigate the case, amid conflicting versions by Delhi Police and Jammu and Kashmir Police on his arrest from near the Indo-Nepal border.
"The case (of Liyaqat) has been given to the NIA. They will investigate the case and they will find out where the truth lies. Whether he (Liyaqat) wanted to genuinely surrender or whether there was some game behind it, it will all be clarified. And if he (Liyaqat) was coming to genuinely surrender, our attempt would be to release him, so that he can join his family as soon as possible," Singh said.
The NIA will conduct a probe into the circumstances leading to the arrest of Liyaqat from near the Indo-Nepal border by Delhi Police, who had claimed that they had foiled a fidayeen attack in the capital, with his arrest.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had said that Shah was returning from PoK to surrender, as part of a militant rehabilitation policy introduced by the state government, and demanded a probe by the NIA.
Reacting to demands to ensure justice is done to the innocent Muslims falsely accused of terrorism, Singh said all efforts would be made to release such youth who are languishing in jails.
Singh said the government will act in the toughest manner as far as terrorism and terrorists are concerned and deal with them accordingly.
"But it will take extra steps to make sure that no innocent youth is put behind bar," he said after a delegation of Muslim Members of Parliament and leaders of the community met him, demanding justice for innocent Muslims accused of terrorism.
The delegation conveyed to the minister that "thousands of innocent Muslims across India have suffered years of imprisonment, torture, humiliation, disgrace, trauma, ostracism and sheer injustice from being falsely implicated on the charges of terrorism based on fabricated evidence for over a decade".
Demands for justice for innocent youth from the community came as all the nine Muslim youth -- accused of involvement in the 2006 Malegaon bomb blasts -- were released from jail after five years of incarceration, when no evidence was found against them.
In March, Bangalore-based journalist Muthi-ur-Rehman Siddiqui and Defence Research and Development Organisation’s scientist Aijaz Ahmed Mirza, who were arrested by Bangalore Police in an alleged terror plot, were released on bail after the NIA failed to file charges against them.
