2000 Sabarmati Express blast: Former AMU scholar acquitted

Gulzar Ahmed Wani was arrested by the Delhi Police in 2001 allegedly with explosives and incriminating material.

Former Aligarh Muslim University scholar Gulzar Ahmed Wani was on Saturday acquitted by a Barabanki court of the charge of orchestrating a blast in Sabarmati Express in 2000.

According to the counsel for the accused, the court freed Mr. Wani and co-accused Mobin due to lack of evidence.

"The court of Additional Sessions Judge M.A. Khan acquitted both the accused of all the charges as the prosecution could not establish any of the charges levelled against them," advocate M.S. Khan said over phone.

Mr. Wani, who was arrested by the Delhi Police in 2001 allegedly with explosives and incriminating material, is a resident of Peeparkari area of Srinagar and is currently lodged in a Lucknow jail.

The blast was carried out on Independence Day eve when the train was on its way from Muzaffarpur to Ahmedabad. Nine people were killed in the blast.