“I remember every single day I spent inside the jail. I will never forget these six months and cannot describe the treatment meted to us by the police,” an emotional Aijaz Ahmad Mirza said soon after he came out of Bangalore Central Prison at Parappana Agraha here on Tuesday night.
Mr. Mirza walked out to his freedom after the special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court granted him bail. “Till date I do not know why I was arrested, but one thing I know is that I am innocent and we have faith in the judiciary. That’s the reason I am walking out,” he said hoping that the others arrested along with him on similar charges would be released soon.
Mr. Mirza was speaking to the media while being received by his father and members of Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR).
Charges dropped
The NIA officials had dropped charges against Mr. Mirza along with Deccan Herald reporter Mathiur-Rahman Siddiqui and Yusuf Nalaband, a technician. While the duo had already been released earlier this week, Mr. Mirza’s release was kept in abeyance as the officials later filed an objection stating that they need some more time to probe his possible involvement.
Speaking about Defence Research and Development Organisation’s decision to terminate him from his job as junior research fellow, Mr. Mirza said: “My parents gave me good education and it was my lifelong dream to be scientist. I am really sad that it happened. I am innocent.”
Brother also accused
Incidentally, his elder brother, Shoaib, an MCA student, is also an accused in the case.
On February 20, the NIA had filed a charge-sheet in the court against Shoaib and 11 other accused in the case. Speaking for his brother, Mr. Mirza said: “He is also innocent and he will come out clean.”
Compensation demand
Their father, Abdul Rauf Mirza, a mechanic with the Railways in Hubli, said his son and other suspects, who had been released, should get monetary compensation. “Their whole life has been scarred. They should be given compensation if they come out clean, much like how Australia gave compensation to Dr. Mohammad Haneef who was wrongly accused in the Glasgow bombing in 2007.”
