Daijiworld Media Network – Mumbai

Mumbai, Sep 13: Abdul Wahid Shaikh, the lone accused acquitted by the trial court in the 2006 Mumbai train blasts case, has sought Rs 9 cr as compensation for what he terms ‘wrongful incarceration’ and ‘custodial torture.’

Shaikh filed applications before the National Human Rights Commission and the Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission on Friday, also requesting rehabilitation support. Arrested by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad in 2006, he spent nine years in jail before a special court cleared him of all charges in 2015.

The 47-year-old said the imprisonment caused ‘irreparable’ damage to his career, education and personal life, while brutal custodial torture left him with lasting health issues. “The stigma of being branded a terrorist made it nearly impossible to find work after my release,” he stated, adding that he now works as a school teacher and is the sole breadwinner for his family.

Shaikh said he delayed seeking compensation for a decade ‘for moral reasons,’ waiting until all his co-accused were acquitted. In July this year, the Bombay High Court overturned the convictions of the remaining 12 accused, ruling the prosecution had ‘utterly failed’ to prove its case.

Seven coordinated blasts on Mumbai’s suburban Western Railway line on July 11, 2006, killed over 180 people.