Man cleared in 26/11 case seeks permit to drive auto-rickshaw

FAHIM'S PLEA IN HIGH COURT SAYS THE DENIAL OF A CERTIFICATE TO RUN COMMERCIAL AUTO-RICKSHAW IS ARBITRARY, DISCRIMINATORY AND SEEPED IN INJUSTICE

- Karuna Nidhi

MUMBAI: Fahim Arshad Mohammad Yusuf Ansari, one of the two accused to be acquitted in the 26/11 terror attacks case, has filed a petition in the Bombay high court seeking a Police Clearance Certificate (PCC) that will enable him work as a commercial auto-rickshaw driver.

According to his petition, Fahim's plea for a PCC was rejected by the Mumbai Police on the grounds of his alleged link with Pakistani terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). Ansari, 51, has been unemployed since the printing press he worked at shut down during the Covid pandemic. He has now challenged the rejection of police clearance as arbitrary, discriminatory, and seeped in prejudice.

Ansari was arrested on January 23, 2009 on the charge of providing local support to the 10 Pakistani LeT operatives who attacked Mumbai on November 26, 2008, killing 166 people and injuring 238 others.

A special court cleared him and another man, Sabauddin Ahmed, of all the charges levelled against them on May 3, 2010, and on February 21, 2011 the Bombay high court upheld their acquittal.