Malegaon blasts: The 'usual suspect' who was hunted by all for 16 years

When the police picked up Noorul Huda for questioning in October 2006 he was all too familiar with the drill After all he had been summoned by the police over 50 times till he was picked up in the Malegaon bomb blasts caseAlso Read 2006 Malegaon blasts 10 years on charges against eight Muslims droppedA relieved Noorul Huda left and the brother of Shaikh Mohammed Ali Alam Shaikh another accused break down after being discharged in the Malegaon blasts case PicSuresh KKHuda who was subsequently named the bomb planter in the case has never been able to shake off the terror tag He says he has been the victim of botchedup investigations since 2001 mdash after every blast in the country he was alleged summoned before the policeHuda was among the eight men discharged by the special NIA court on Monday in the 2006 Malegaon blasts caseThe chill he felt when he was picked up the first time at the age of 18 is still fresh in his memory It was August 18 2001 and it was raining heavily The police arrived at my doorstep asking for me They accused me of giving a meal to some terrorists which I had not said Huda 34 The alleged terrorists were killed in an encounter in Ayodhya in July 2001 The police accused Huda of feeding them during their stay at a lodge in MalegaonRead Story 2006 Malegaon blasts case MLA for punishment to ATS officialsThey put me through third degree torture for six days After several rounds of questioning the investigators realised that I was not the one they were looking for Without even an apology they asked me to leave the police station he said A relieved Huda didnrsquot have the slightest foreboding that it was just the beginning of a 16yearlong ordealHuda was then labelled a SIMI activist To save face the police named me a SIMI activist on their record From that day I was picked up by several agencies for repeated questioning he allegedHuda allegedly became the most soughtafter suspect of state and national investigation agencies mdash be it the anniversary of the Babri Masjid demolition or a Hindu festival he was summoned to police stations more than 50 times till the Malegaon blastsHoping to start a new stressfree chapter of his life Huda married in 2006 But barely three months into wedded bliss he was picked up by the ATS in the ManmadAurangabad arms haul case and detained in Mumbai for 12 daysSoon after in July 2006 Mumbai was rocked by bomb blasts Huda along with aide Shabbir Ahmed Masiullah who too was later charged in the Malegaon blasts case was picked up by the ATS again in August Having failed to find an iota of evidence against him the ATS released him on the condition that he would regularly visit the police station and not go anywhere without their permissionHis life finally came apart during a siesta in October 2006 He had just returned after Friday prayers when the ATS came knocking on his doors again The officers told the family that they were taking him for just a twohour questioning But he was booked on the charges of jihadi material being recovered from his houseThe case is still on in the local courtEventually the ATS named Huda as the planter of bombs at the Hammidiya Masjid in Malegaon where explosions killed 37 people on September 8 2006Getting back upSince his release in November 2011 Huda has been trying to put together some semblance of a normal life The going is still tough mdash he works as a labourer in a power loom in Malegaon and earns R18002000 a month I had been married for just three months when the ATS arrested me Postrelease I have had two daughters I have to take care of them and my family The fight for justice has cost me a lot said Huda In jail he cleared his Std XII examinations and studied till secondyear BA hoping that education would give him better prospects outside