Pahelwan, 9 acquitted in Akbar case

Hyderabad: A local court on Thursday acquitted ten out of 14 accused in the six-year-old sensational case related to the attempt on the life of Chandrayanagutta legislator Akbaruddin Owaisi.

The court convicted four accused and sentenced them to undergo imprisonment for 10 years and pay a fine of Rs 9,000 fine each or undergo one month jail term on failure to pay the fine.

The convicted persons include Hassan Bin Omer Yafai, Abdullah Bin Younus Yafai, Awad Bin Younus Yafai and Mohammed Bin Saleh Wahlan.

Three of them have been in prison for about six years as they were denied bail, while Wahlan is out on bail. He will now join other three in the prison to undergo the sentence.

The VII Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge, who pronounced the judgment, acquitted 10 persons including the main accused Mohammed Bin Omer Yafai aka Mohammed Pahelwan, on the ground that the prosecution failed to prove the conspiracy theory.

The prosecution examined as many as 86 witnesses during the trail that went on for six years. However, the Supreme Court, while dismissing the bail applications of the accused, ordered for a time-bound trial following which day to day trial was conducted.

According to the prosecution, as many as 15 accused hatched a conspiracy to kill MIM MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi and executed the plan on April 30, 2011 when he visited Barkas area in his constituency along with another legislator Ahmed Bin Abdullah Balala and other leaders.

The prosecution had argued that in pursuance of the conspiracy, Hassan, Abdullah, Wahlan and Ibrahim Bin Younus Yafai accosted Akbaruddin Owaisi when he was about to leave the area in a jeep, pulled him out of the vehicles and attacked with a butcher knife and firearms.

The prosecution had also maintained that the personal security officer accompanying another MLA, Ahmed Bin Abdullah Balala had opened fire to stop the attackers. In the retaliatory fire, Ibrahim was killed while Abdullah and Awad suffered bullet injuries.

However, Akbaruddin Owaisi survived the attack. Initially, a case was registered at Chandrayanagutta police station which was transferred to Central Crime Station a day later.

The defense advocates, however, vehemently argued that there was no conspiracy at all and the accused never had any intention of attacking Akbaruddin or any other person. Instead, it was Akbaruddin Owaisi who abused the family of the accused and got Ibrahim killed and injured two other accused before implicating 15 members of the family in a false case.

The court heard detailed arguments of both sides and arrived at a conclusion that the prosecution failed to prove conspiracy theory and acquitted 10 persons but convicted four persons who according to the prosecution were directly involved in the attack.

Meanwhile, city police made adequate security arrangements outside the criminal court complex at Nampally where the court delivered the judgment and also in the Old City. Apart from the uniformed police personnel, policemen in plainclothes maintained strict vigil at the court and also at sensitive places in the Old City.