Terror suspects under the burden of proof

TERROR TRAIL: Speculation about Kafeel and Sabeel Ahmed's terrorist links are rife within investigative agencies.

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New Delhi: It was a revelation that shocked the nation – Indian doctors suspected of being terrorists. But in the aftermath of the Glasgow attack, Indian investigators may once again be repeating old mistakes.

Suggestion and speculation about Kafeel and Sabeel Ahmed's terrorist links are doing the rounds but legal experts say a suspect's links to a terrorist organisation can't be proved merely by past association.

“To prove that a person is working with a terrorist organisation, you need to prove that he is with them today,” lawyer Trideep Pais explains.

Usually, one place investigating agencies look in order to establish a suspect's profile is the Internet but drawing conclusions from a suspect's Internet habits has an obvious drawback.

There are hundreds of jihadi websites that are proliferating on the net but just by logging onto it does one enter the count of terror suspect? So, in their zeal to leave no stone unturned, are the authorities clutching at whatever straw they can find?

In 2001, a teacher in Delhi University SAR Geelani was arrested for being involved in the Parliament attack. He was branded a terrorist, and had to spend almost two years in prison before being acquitted. Interestingly, the evidence used against him was extraordinary.

“They found a copy of Time magazine with Osama on the cover, and my thesis in Arabic. They used it as evidence against me,” says Geelani.

Meanwhile, police in Bangalore have seized CDs from the Ahmed brothers' home, which they say contains jihadi content. Surely, it will take more to prove Kafeel and Sabeel's terrorist links beyond doubt.