Two men linked to Deendar acquitted

BENGALURU: An NIA court acquitted two men accused of being members of the banned organisation Siddiq Deendar Anjuman Channabasaveshwara. The court observed that the prosecution had miserably failed to produce any evidence against the accused to prove its case. On April 7, 2011, Commercial Street police had arrested Rahim Khan (33) and Meer Nasiruddin (33), both from Hyderabad, on charges that they were members of Siddiq Deendar Anjuman Channabasaveshwara, which was banned in 2008.

They were charged with distributing pamphlets with messages of the organisation in Urdu, and collecting donations from the public near Jumma Masjid Road. The police had booked the duo under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, and for criminal conspiracy. The NIA special court pronounced the judgement on Tuesday, acquitting both the accused. Judge Venkatesh R Hulgi observed that the prosecution had failed to produce an iota of evidence to prove the case.