News From Ares
For Daijiworld Media Network—Goa (CN)
 
Panaji, Jul 10: A Goa court on Thursday, July 10, acquitted Tarique Batloo, who was arrested for possession of RDX, hand grenades, and detonators, two years ago. Batloo was suspected of having links with a terrorist organization.
 
A Kashimiri youth, Batloo, was arrested by Margao police as he was alighting from a train at the railway station on March 10, 2006. At the time, they also seized the explosives from him.
 
The state police had booked him under the explosives act and investigations were handed over to the state’s crime branch. The fast track court in Margao acquitted him, giving him the benefit of doubt.
 
The state prosecution could not establish a case against Batloo during the trial. The police had stated that Batloo belongs to the lesser known terrorist group Tehrik-Ul-Mujahid and was trained in Muzaffarabad in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK).
 
After his arrest, the state police had contended that Batloo planned to target the port town of Vasco. The youth’s arrest had shocked the entire state as police investigations had revealed that he was staying unfettered in the town of Margao for eight months before he was captured.