After more than three days of questioning and not finding “enough evidence” against them, the Delhi Police Special Cell let off four youths — suspected to be Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) sympathisers — on Saturday.
The four were among the 10 detained by the Cell during simultaneous raids in Delhi and Ghaziabad on May 3.
The operation also led to the arrest of three men.
“We were done questioning them and found these four were ready for counselling. Most others may be allowed to go soon,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) P.S. Kushwah.
Abdur Raziq from the organisation Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind who accompanied the four boys and had spent some time counselling them in the presence of the cops earlier in the day, said the boys had nothing to do with JeM or even those arrested and that he was confident about the other detained boys being released soon.
Counsel request
The Jamiat is arranging for financial and legal assistance for the detained men.
Additionally, it has been requested by the police to counsel the detained men, as has been a well-known psychiatrist who has counselled Gujarat riot victims in the past as well, said the police.
Earlier, the police had claimed that repeated mention of alleged atrocities against Muslims in India and elsewhere had played a part in these suspects getting drawn towards the JeM ideology.
Of those released, three are from North East Delhi’s Chand Bagh while the fourth is from Ghaziabad’s Loni.
They left the Special Cell office on Lodhi Road around 4 p.m. and left for their respective homes with eagerly-waiting family members. They were also accompanied by their lawyer, advocate M.S. Khan.
Mr. Raziq also tried to distance the detained boys from the arrested ones — Sajid, Shakir and Sabbir.
It was allegedly at Sajid’s Chand Bagh residence that an improvised explosive device (IED) went off accidentally while he was trying to assemble it.
For the others, police sources said they had to go through some more rounds of counselling at the Cell office before they are allowed to leave and even after that, they would be under the observation of certain NGOs.
Meanwhile, it is learnt that the teams formed by the Cell are currently in Western Uttar Pradesh areas such as Saharanpur in search of more IEDs and other explosives.
