NIA conducts raids linked to PFI: ‘My name is Abdul Wahid Shaikh and I am not a terrorist’

My name is Shaikh and I am not a terrorist," Abdul Wahid Shaikh told mid-day after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) unexpectedly visited his Parksite home early on Wednesday morning. The school teacher said this was the sixth raid conducted at his house ever since he was acquitted in the 7/11 serial train bomb blasts in 2015.

Shaikh said that anti-terror agencies have been harassing him and his family over suspicion of links with Pakistan and terrorist outfits. He added that his neighbours, however, supported him and didn't allow the NIA team, which was from Lucknow, to take him into custody without showing any evidence.

Shaikh said, "My entire family was sleeping when someone started knocking on my door around 5 am. In the footage from CCTV cameras I had installed outside my house, I saw 15-20 people outside my house. We were scared and didn't open the door and asked them who they were. They replied that they were the police and were here to conduct a raid."

He added, "I told them to wait until my advocate arrived. They then broke the safety door lock and barged into my house and also changed the position of the CCTV cameras. I requested them not to do anything. I told them to just wait for my advocate. My wife then called 100. An officer, Chaurasia, told me that he was from the NIA and to cooperate."

"My advocate arrived around 8 am and when he asked for a search warrant, the NIA officer said he didn't have a hard copy of it and showed us a document on WhatsApp," Shaikh said.

The NIA team finally managed to produce the document and entered the house at 11 am. The team then switched off the mobile phones of all the occupants and began going through the contents of laptops and books, school bags, the kitchen and lockers as well as clothes. Shaikh said the team did not give him any recordings of the search operation.

He said, "They asked if I had any arms, incriminating documents, bombs, riot-type documents, jihadi literature and many other things. I said I didn't have any such things. They searched everywhere but didn't find a single thing resembling what they had mentioned. The team then seized my personal mobile phone and left between 4.30 and 5 pm."

"Because anti-terror agencies are trying to frame me, I installed four CCTV cameras inside and outside my house for the safety of myself and my family. I have been living in this area for the past two years but this is the first time that they have raided this home. The neighbours are fearful now," Shaikh added.

Fights for prisoners' rights

Shaikh was lodged in Arthur Road Jail following his arrest and in 2014, he started studying law after getting permission from the court.

He said, "I started going to college and helped hundreds of prisoners fight for their rights. I helped them file RTI and bail applications and decode charge sheets. I also helped many innocent prisoners who had been falsely arrested and got them out of jail. I am now helping 12 prisoners who were falsely arrested in a bomb blast case."

Shaikh is now studying LLM. Shaikh has also written and published two books Begunah Qaidi (Innocent Prisoners) and Ishrat Jahan Encounter in 2017 and 2023, respectively.

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No. of CCTV cameras at Shaikh's home