Organisers of a book launch in Maharashtra’s Aurangabad have accused the city police of harassment and intimidation ahead of and during the event, which featured the memoir of Ehtesham Siddiqui, one of the men acquitted after nearly two decades in prison for the 2006 Mumbai train blasts.
The event, held on Saturday evening at Baitul Yateem near Haj House on VIP Road, marked the Aurangabad re-launch of Horror Saga, a prison memoir written by Siddiqui while on death row at Nagpur Central Prison. The book, composed of 200 lyrical ballads, recounts his experiences of torture, isolation, and the alleged fabrication of evidence by investigative agencies.
Siddiqui was among the five men sentenced to death in 2015 under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) and was acquitted by the Bombay High Court in July this year after 19 years of wrongful incarceration.
In a statement released Sunday, the Aurangabad chapter of the Innocence Network, which organised the event, alleged that local police made repeated phone calls to the organisers in the days leading up to the launch, urging them to cancel the program. Officers also allegedly visited the venue owner to “inquire” about the event.
On the evening of the launch, police reportedly stationed a contingent about 200 meters from the venue and stopped several attendees for questioning. Guests were asked to provide their names, addresses, and reasons for attending. Those who said they were present for the book release were allegedly told the event was “dangerous” and involved “bomb blast accused.”
This story was originally published in maktoobmedia.com. Read the full story here.
