Masihuzzama Ansari | India Tomorrow
NEW DELHI—The family members and relatives of some of the 11 accused arrested from Murshidabad in West Bengal and Kerala on September 19 for their alleged Al-Qaeda link have alleged that National Investigation Agency (NIA) officials are torturing them and using threat and intimidation to give false testimony against those held in the case.
Stating that the arrested accused were not having any link with Al-Qaeda or any other terror organization, family members of the victims accused the NIA of harassing them and pressurizing them to give false statements against the arrested persons.
Relatives of some of the accused persons allege they signed on the dotted lines because they could not bear the physical torture.
After arresting the accused persons, who are all from different villages of Murshidabad district, NIA claimed that they were involved in terror funding, possessed weapons and ‘Jihadi literature’, a charge denied by the family members of the victims.
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Yusuf, related to one of the arrested persons, during interactions with a fact-finding committee comprising representatives from Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR), Association for Protection of Democratic Rights (ADPR) and Bandi Mukti Morcha, said, “My family and friends are under pressure to make false statements about the arrested individuals. We are also threatened to be arrested if we refuse”.
Speaking to India Tomorrow, Yusuf said, “NIA is forcing us to say that the arrested persons travelled to Bangladesh and were involved in smuggling”. Yusuf’s two brothers-Atiur and Musharraf-are under arrest on charges of their links with Al-Qaeda.
Yusuf said, “I was interrogated by the NIA regarding their visit to Bangladesh and asked about smuggling. I replied that neither we ever went to Bangladesh nor were involved in smuggling. We work as laborers”.
Yusuf alleged that family members of many arrested persons were, however, severely tortured by the NIA sleuths to extract statements against the accused persons.
Saif Ali, a member of the fact-finding team, said, “Police forcibly barged into the houses of the arrested accused, beat up the family members and and secured signatures on plain papers”.
Sohail Rana, son of Mohammad Matin Sheikh, said, “I work in the village as a mason. I was first called by the NIA on September 20 after the arrest of my brother Murshid Hassan on September 19 and then called to the local police station on September 27 where NIA officials told me that my brother, Murshid Hassan, is linked to al-Qaeda.”
Sohail further said, “NIA sleuths told me that my brother used to send me ‘jihadi’ videos and photos of human blood. When I denied this, they beat me up and forced to accept all these falsehoods. Out of fear of further torture, I accepted it and signed on the dotted line.” Sohail is a resident of village Kalinagar under Raninagar Police Station in Murshidabad District.
Habibur Rahman, a 25-year-old son of Sadar Sheikh, a resident of Kalinagar village in Murshidabad district, who works at a health center in the village itself, alleged in his written statement to the fact-finding team, “I was first issued a notice by NIA on 29/10/2020 and then called to Charvada. I was then interrogated at the BSF camp on 30/10/2020 and 31/10/2020”.
Habibur Rahman further said, “On the first day, NIA officials scolded me and asked about Murshid Hasan who is under arrest. I said that he is from my village, so I know him and sometimes I used to talk to him on the phone. “
He alleged, “NIA sleuth said that Murshid Hasan asked you to join al-Qaeda and he used to send you videos related to al-Qaeda to create a pressure on me”.
Habibur Rahman further alleged, “On refusing, they kicked me and I fell down from the chair. Then the NIA investigator asked me that ‘you have to say what we are saying’. When I refused to tell a lie, they hit me with sticks and abused me. NIA man told me that they will call me again and if I do not listen to them, I will never get a chance to return home. The NIA man kept my mobile phone for two days. However, they did not find anything objectionable in my mobile”.
“I was again called by NIA officials and I was compelled to say that Murshid Hassan used to trade weapons with me. I declined to say that. The investigator kicked me in the chest very hard. The NIA sleuth said that if you make that statement, we will release you, or else you will be in trouble. Nobody can rescue you from here”, Habibur Rahman alleged.
Habibur Rahman further alleged, “I said that I’m not going to speak a lie. They (NIA) used religious slurs against me, abused me and beat me up with lathis. They hit with sticks in my stomach. I was stripped and beaten with sticks. They beat me in front of my elder brother first and then they took me to a room and beat me again severely. I fainted on the road on my way home. My brother took me to a doctor in the village and got me first aid. “
“I did not take treatment in a hospital for fear of the NIA men. They threatened me that if I tell this to anyone, they (NIA) will pick me up and make me disappear. We could not even go to any hospital for treatment due to fear of police / NIA”, Habibur Rahman alleged.
There are several relatives of other accused persons who allege that NIA is trying to pressurize them to give false statements against the arrested persons.
India Tomorrow tried to reach NIA officials in Kolkata but in vain. It also tweeted a message on the official Twitter handle @NIA_India to get its comments on allegations by the family members of the arrested persons but there was no response to it even after more than 24 hours.
(The story was written originally in Hindi by Masihuzzama Ansari and translated in English by Kashif Amed Faraz).
