I said three words — Justice has prevailed: Shah after verdict

RAFIQ SHAH WAS A FIRSTYEAR

MA STUDENT WHEN HE WAS ARRESTED BY THE SPECIAL CELL. OFFICERS SAID WHILE IN PRISON, SHAH SPENT MOST OF HIS TIME READING

NEW DELHI: After spending 12 years behind bars, for a crime they never committed, Mohammed Hussain Fazili and Rafiq Shah walked out of Tihar Jail on Thursday night. The two were lodged in a high security ward inside the prison.

Shah on Friday told a news channel that moments after the verdict was pronounced, he thanked the judge and said justice had prevailed. “I said three words to the judge — Justice has prevailed,” Shah told the channel.

Shah was a first-year MA student when he was arrested by the special cell. Jail officers said that while in prison, Shah spent most of his time reading books and pursued his education. In all these years, he visited his home town in Srinagar just once to write his exams. A few years ago, he got his degree while in prison.

Shah told the channel that, in prison, he spent his days studying or playing badminton.

“I want the real culprits of the blast to be caught. The victims of the blast must also get justice. I want to tell the police officers who arrested me that they are human first and then policemen. They also have families like me,” he said.

Shah said that after spending some time with his family, he wanted to work for the cause of innocent youths locked-up behind bars.

The second accused to be freed in the case, Mohammed Hussain Fazili, has already returned to his hometown in Jammu&Kashmir, a day after the court acquitted him. Fazili’s counsel Sushil Bajaj said that Fazili was yet to come to terms with the fact that he had been released.

Fazili’s brother Mohammed Iqbal said that in all these years, he used to meet his family just once a year. Iqbal said that travelling to Delhi from Kashmir was expensive and not practical.

“Fazili used to spend most of his time in jail reading books. He would get books from the prison library and read them every day. Earlier, before he went to jail, Fazili made shawls in Kashmir,” Bajaj said.

Jail officers said that Fazili did not interact much with any of his fellow prisoners and was not given any work inside prison.