Barabanki:
In a setback to the Uttar Pradesh government, a court in Barabanki has refused to drop terror cases against two alleged operatives of Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami or HuJI. The Akhilesh Yadav government had requested the court to withdraw cases against Tariq Kasmi and Khalid Mujahid in connection with seizure of explosives after the 2007 Gorakhpur blasts.
Special Sessions Judge (SC/ST) Kalpana Mishra rejected the application moved by the government on April 24.
Kasmi's counsel said that the government had said in its application that it wanted to withdraw the case in public interest and for the sake of communal harmony, but had not elaborated on both the points.
The court said the government did not file an affidavit with the application and despite being a confidential document, it was given openly instead of in a sealed envelope, the counsel said.
On the basis of these three points, the court rejected the government's application.
Six people were injured in the blast that took place in May 2007 at Golghar crossing. The bomb was planted on a bicycle.
The Special Task Force of UP Police had arrested the two alleged HuJI operatives from near Barabanki railway station with explosives.
After coming to power, the Samajwadi Party government had announced to the review cases against "innocent" youths lodged in jail on charges of attacks in Rampur as well as in serial blasts in courts of Faizabad, Barabanki, Lucknow and also in Gorakhpur and Varanasi blasts.