Srinagar, September 14, 2018 (PPI-OT): In occupied Kashmir, the family of illegally detained youth, Peerzada Muhammad Ashraf of Islamabad town has expressed dismay over the legal system for having a reputation of being expensive and prone to delays. Peerzada Muhammad Ashraf, 35 was arrested on December 2006 in connection with a false case of grenade attack occurred on July 19, 2004 at Kapran Verinag area of Islamabad district.
Peerzada Firdous Ahmed, the younger brother of Ashraf in a media interview said that they had spent over Rs 21 lakh on his court case—however the road to justice still continues to remain far from reality. He said at the time of arrest, Ashraf was a student of 3rd year in UG course at Boys Degree College, Khanabal, and had also memorised 16 chapters of Quran. “My brother was arrested on false charges of being involved in the grenade blast incident at Kapran making him a scapegoat,” he added.
According to family despite Principal Session Judge’s bail order, the accused continues to languish in jail since last fourteen years. He said the prime accused in the incident was Syed Murtaza – native of Nowgam Verinag, who was picked up from his home three days after the incident and was granted bail after two years in jail.
He said police, later on, slapped 13 PSAs on Ashraf, which were quashed by the High court of the territory. Ashraf was also charged for ‘pelting stones’ despite it that he was in jail since 2004. He said his brother was never released and 13 PSAs were slapped on him on false charges. “All these PSAs were quashed by the High Court which also ordered his release. Whenever we went to police with the bail orders, they would come up with new false charges every time,” Firdous deplored.
He said, “Our father, who was a pesh imam at a local mosque in Batagund Verinag, fell ill due to the long detention of his innocent son. Doctors hopelessly treated him, saying only his son’s return could revive him. He died a few months after falling ill, last year and he our brother was not even allowed to see the face of his father or attend funeral prayers.”
For more information, contact:
Kashmir Media Service
Email: info@kmsnews.org
Phone: 92-51-4435548, 4435549
Fax: 92-51-4861736