Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Dec 11: In a sharp indictment of police investigation, the Special Judge, Designated NIA Court for Shopian & Kulgam, on Monday acquitted Doos Mohammad Naik of Kulgam in a nearly two-decade-old UAPA case, ruling that the prosecution had “miserably failed” to prove he supported banned outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad.
The case stems from 2006, when police claimed that during naka checking near Qazigund bus stand, they recovered a mobile phone and a document allegedly bearing JeM letterhead from Naik’s possession. The document was said to contain directions from a person named “Abu Huraira” asking him to arrange a meeting between militants and another member of the organisation. FIR No. 206/2006 was registered, and the accused was eventually charged under Section 39 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
However, during the trial, only three of the seven listed witnesses were examined. None could clearly state who recovered the document from the accused, with contradictory statements emerging about whether he was on foot or in a vehicle at the time of the search. The Court noted that despite the incident allegedly occurring in a crowded market, no independent witness was produced. Crucially, the Investigating Officer-who could have clarified the recovery process and authenticity of the seized items-was never examined.
The Court found further lapses in investigation, observing that the seized mobile phone was not subjected to call-record analysis, and no effort was made to establish the identity of “Abu Huraira” or authenticate the signature on the alleged JeM document. This, the judge said, created serious gaps in proving whether the accused had any intention to further activities of a banned organisation.
Calling the police approach “half-hearted, visibly unprofessional and non-serious,” the judge remarked that an incident from 2006 took over a decade to complete investigation, followed by years of procedural delays before the charge sheet was filed. The Court held that mere recovery of a document-whose authenticity remained unproven-did not establish the statutory ingredients required under Section 39 UAPA.
Concluding that the prosecution had failed to meet the “high threshold” required under the stringent anti-terror law, the Court acquitted Doos Mohammad Naik and ordered closure of the long-pending case.
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