Indian Mujahideen Co-founder Called 'India's Bin Laden' Granted Bail by Delhi HC

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has granted bail to Abdul Subhan Qureshi, co-founder of banned terror organisation Indian Mujahideen (IM),in an Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act UAPA case. He was arrested by Delhi Police in the case on June 1, 2019.

A bench of Justices Suresh Kumar Kait and Manoj Jain granted relief to Qureshi after considering the facts including the period spent in the custody and submissions for the case.

"In case there is any violation of any condition imposed by the trial court or appellant (Qureshi) attempts to threaten or influence any witness, directly or indirectly, or attempts to delay the trial, it would be open to prosecution to seek cancellation of bail, without any reference to this cour," the bench said.

"We are also conscious of the fact that all co-accused in the present case are already on bail and the case is at the stage of recording prosecution evidence and the prosecution has already examined eight witnesses. There are 53 cited prosecution witnesses and therefore, it cannot be said that trial is likely to be concluded in the near future," the High Court observed in the order passed on May 10.

The high court passed the order while allowing an appeal by Qureshi challenging a trial court's December 2023 order, in which his plea seeking bail in the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) case was dismissed. He sought bail under section 436-A of the CrPC which states that an under trial prisoner (UTP) has the right to seek bail on serving more than one-half of the maximum possible sentence on their personal bond.

Advocates Prashant Prakash and Quasar Khan, representing Qureshi, urged the court to grant bail to the accused on the ground of prolonged under-trial detention and submitted that he has been in custody for nearly five years awaiting trial, constituting half of the prescribed punishment period for the alleged offence, which is seven years.

The lawyers said charges have already been framed against the accused for the alleged offences under section 153A (promoting enmity between classes), 153B (punishment for the offence), 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal and under section 10 (penalty for being a member of banned association) and 13 (punishment for unlawful activities) of the UAPA.

According to the prosecution, Qureshi remained an active member of IM and Students' Islamic Movement of India (SIMI).

The case of prosecution was that on September 27, 2001, the SIMI was banned by the Central government and on the same night, the Delhi Police got information regarding a press conference being held by the organisation in Zakir Nagar. It said a raid was conducted at the office of SIMI in Zakir Nagar where the press conference was going on and the members of the organisation were raising slogans against the Indian government for banning it.

Some members of the organisation were arrested from the spot and some others, including Qureshi, fled and several incriminating items were seized there, the prosecution said.

Techie who became "India's Bin Laden" and most wanted terrorist

Abdul Subhan Qureshi is one of the alleged co-founders of Indian Mujahideen and used to be called Osama Bin Laden of India. He was first arrested by the Delhi Police in January 2018 for masterminding the 2008 Gujarat explosions where 20 blasts ripped through Ahmedabad on 26 July, 2008, killing more than 50 people and wounding several others. He was also referred to as a 'techie-bomber', Al Arabi’, ‘Qasim’ and ‘Taufiq’.

He was reportedly recruited by Students’ Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) in 1998 , after leaving his job as an IT engineer in 2001 while he was working on projects for Bharat Petroleum and Wipro. Later, he went on to establish the Indian Mujahideen.