look news india
Ajmer, August 8 (HS). Ajmer's POCSO case special court number two has reserved the verdict on the 6 accused of the country-wide famous obscene photograph blackmail scandal till August 20. The verdict on the accused Nafees Chishti, Naseem alias Tarzan, Salim Chishti, Iqbal Bhati, Sohil Ghani, and Syed Zameer Hussain was to be pronounced by the POCSO court on Thursday, but due to one of the accused Iqbal Bhati not being able to appear in the court, the judge gave the date of pronouncement of the verdict on August 20.
It is noteworthy that 104 witnesses and 245 documents have been presented by the prosecution in this case. Earlier, Ajmer Session Court has sentenced 9 accused to life imprisonment in this case, while one accused has committed suicide. One accused Almas Maharaj is absconding. A red corner notice has been issued against him.
Assistant Director Prosecution Virendra Singh Rathore told that the hearing against the 6 pending accused accused Nafees Chishti, Naseem alias Tarzan, Salim Chishti, Iqbal Bhati, Sohil Ghani, and Syed Zameer Hussain has been completed in the court. The verdict was to be given in the court on Thursday but accused Iqbal Bhati did not reach the court due to ill health. Due to which the judge has given the date of 20 August to pronounce the verdict in the case. The case was going on against all the 6 accused since 2002. They were absconding before this. The charge sheet against all these 6 accused was presented on 23 June 2001.
It is noteworthy that after the case came to light in 1992, the nine accused identified along with the above six accused were Farooq Chishti, Anwar Chishti, Parvez Ansari, Puttan Allahabadi, Ishrat alias Lalli, Mahesh Ludhani, Kailash Soni, Harish Tolani and Shamsu Bhisti alias Maradona. All of them were arrested by Ajmer's Ganj police station after the case was registered and were punished by the Sessions Judge.
During this time, Naseem alias Tarzan, a resident of Allahabad and a relative of Puttan Allahabadi who was arrested, absconded after being released on bail. He was later caught and the trial court started a separate hearing against him. Presently also the hearing against Tarzan is going on.
Among the accused, Salim Chishti was arrested by the police from the Dargah area on the basis of intelligence information while Jameel Chishti was granted anticipatory bail by the court. Among the accused, Nafees Chishti, who is said to be the mastermind of the blackmail case, was caught by the constables of Delhi Dhaula Kuan police station during his escape on charges of travelling in a bus wearing a burqa in the guise of a woman. After this, Iqbal Bhati, a resident of Mumbai, was caught and after absconding for about 29 years, Sohail Ghani surrendered in the court through Advocate Guljeet Singh Chhabra.
In this much talked about case, one of the accused Almas Mahara has been declared absconding, although he is said to be in America and a red corner warrant has been issued against him. There is a possibility of his arrest if he comes to India in future.
According to the accused's lawyers Bharat Sharma and Ajay Pratap Verma, the final arguments have been completed by all the parties. The court has now fixed August 20 as the date for deciding the pending accused in the case.
