Written by Mahender Singh ManralNew Delhi | Updated: December 25, 2025 05:57 AM IST 4 min readWhile Qureshi was arrested from Ghazipur area of East Delhi on January 23, 2018, Khan, who was reported to have fled the country after the 2008 Batla House encounter, was arrested from the India-Nepal border on February 14, 2018.A Delhi court has acquitted Abdul Subhan Qureshi — accused of being a key Indian Mujahideen (IM) operative behind the 2006 Mumbai train blasts and the 2008 Gujarat blasts — and his associate, Ariz Khan, in a case of alleged conspiracy to revive the IM and the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI).The court noted that there was “no admissible material on record” to show that they were members of the banned outfits or that they had “entered into any conspiracy against the sovereignty and security of India”.While Qureshi was arrested from Ghazipur area of East Delhi on January 23, 2018, Khan, who was reported to have fled the country after the 2008 Batla House encounter, was arrested from the India-Nepal border on February 14, 2018.The case under Section 18 of UAPA (conspiracy related to terrorist act) and 120B IPC (criminal conspiracy) in which they have been acquitted was registered in 2014.“…In the said circumstances, there is absolutely no admissible material on record in the charge sheet of the present case to show or raise a grave suspicion against both the accused persons that they entered into a conspiracy to revive activity of banned terrorist organisation SIMI and IM in India, or that they were members of the said banned terrorist organisations SIMI and IM, or that they entered into any conspiracy against the sovereignty and security of India in order to set up the base of the said terrorist outfits in India,” Additional Sessions Judge (Patiala House Courts) Amit Bansal said in an order on December 20.“It seems from the chargesheet that the main material on record against the accused persons is their disclosure/ confessional statements and further list of cases and copy of charge sheets of other cases wherein accused are involved. It is a settled law that disclosure/ confessional statements as made to police officers or made by a person while he is in custody of a police officer are inadmissible in the absence of any discovery of any fact in consequence of the said information,” the court said.“…In the present case, it is an admitted position that no fact was deposed to as discovered in consequence of the said disclosure/ confessional statements of both the accused persons and hence, the said disclosure/ confessional statements are inadmissible in this case. Further, the list of the cases wherein accused are involved in different cases along with copy of their charge sheets would also not help the prosecution as no grave suspicion of commission of any offence in the present case would arise from them,” the order said.Story continues below this ad“It is also an admitted position that the list of witnesses of the present charge sheet mainly includes duty officers/ record clerks to prove the FIRs of other cases against the accused persons herein, which does not raise any suspicion… against the accused persons of commission of offences in the present case,” the court said.“Brief facts as mentioned in the charge sheet for that purpose are that after an accidental blast in Bijnor on September 12, 2014, efforts were renewed in Delhi and bordering districts of UP to extract information regarding the absconding SIMI terrorist and their contacts/ sympathisers. On October 20, 2014, source information was received that the accused involved in Bijnor accidental blast were also moving along with SIMI suspects and were planning to carry out terrorist activities in Delhi and adjoining areas,” the court said.The court further ordered that both the accused persons should be released from judicial custody if not required to be detained in any other case. Both are facing proceedings in other cases.Mahender Singh Manral is an Assistant Editor with the national bureau of The Indian Express. He is known for his impactful and breaking stories. He covers the Ministry of Home Affairs, Investigative Agencies, National Investigative Agency, Central Bureau of Investigation, Law Enforcement Agencies, Paramilitary Forces, and internal security. Prior to this, Manral had extensively reported on city-based crime stories along with that he also covered the anti-corruption branch of the Delhi government for a decade. He is known for his knack for News and a detailed understanding of stories. He also worked with Mail Today as a senior correspondent for eleven months. He has also worked with The Pioneer for two years where he was exclusively covering crime beat. During his initial days of the career he also worked with The Statesman newspaper in the national capital, where he was entrusted with beats like crime, education, and the Delhi Jal Board. A graduate in Mass Communication, Manral is always in search of stories that impact lives. ... Read MoreStay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram© The Indian Express Pvt LtdTags:GhazipurMumbai train blasts