Ganopora (Shopian, Kashmir): Abdul Rashid Lone recalls the Friday morning in September 2018 when a police officer from Delhi police’s special cell informed him over phone that his son Parvaiz Rashid who was pursuing a postgraduate degree in engineering had been arrested for links with the terror outfit ISIS.Rashid was days away from sitting in his final semester exams when everything fell apart. Eight years later, Lone, his father and a retired government employee, struggles to control his emotions at his home in Ganopora village of Shopian.“The legal battle took away our savings, our peace and somewhere along the way the five years he had poured into his education. It drained us — financially, emotionally, in every way,” Lone who lives alone with his wife in Ganopora said.Parvaiz, then 24 years old, was pursuing MTech from Shri Venkateshwara University in Gajraula of Uttar Pradesh when a special cell team nabbed him near Red Fort in the national capital along with Jamshed Zahoor Paul, a resident of the adjoining Balpora village in Shopian, on September 7, 2018.Pramod Singh Kushwah, a deputy commissioner of Delhi police’s special cell had then told the media that four cell phones were recovered from the two “highly radicalised” men which had “videos” linked to militants.Kushwah claimed Parvaiz had been “deeply affected” by the killing of his militant brother Firdous Lone who was gunned down in an encounter in January 2018 after which he joined the Jammu and Kashmir chapter of ISIS.The officer also claimed that Paul, then 19 years old, who was pursuing a diploma in electrical engineering, “was in regular contact” with Omar Ibn Nazir, the then chief of ISIS in J&K and his deputy Adil Thokar “through encrypted mobile messaging apps”.The police finally had said in the chargesheet that the two men were transporting weapons from Uttar Pradesh to J&K when they were arrested and two pistols along with 10 cartridges, mobile phones and some notebooks were recovered from them.“Rashid supplied a 9 mm pistol sourced from Didauli, UP, to an ISJK contact in April 2018,” Kushwah claimed.The Delhi police booked the duo under sections 18 (punishment for conspiracy) and 20 (punishment for being members of a terrorist gang or organisation) of the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and sections of the Arms Act.‘Without any plausible or satisfactory explanation’However, after they had languished in jail for nearly eight years, a court in Delhi on Thursday (March 19) acquitted the two men of all the charges while rapping the Delhi Police for its shoddy probe.In a 79-page order, the court of additional sessions judge Amit Bansal ruled that the prosecution had failed to prove the case beyond reasonable doubt.The court observed that the mobile phones seized from the two men were kept unsealed in the custody of the investigating officer for nearly two months before being sent for forensic analysis, raising doubts of tampering.“It raises a strong doubt of tampering with the said mobile phones as without any plausible or satisfactory explanation the prolonged custody of the said devices remained with the IOs and that too in an unsealed condition,” the court said.The court also rejected the screenshots of what was claimed to be chats of the two men with their so-called terror handlers. While the prosecution had alleged that Rashid and Paul were in touch with ISIS-J&K’s commanders through the BlackBerry Messenger app, the court found no evidence to establish the claim.“The prosecution has also failed to prove that the accused persons used to communicate with their handlers, namely, Umar bin Nazir and Adil Thokar on BBM App,” the court observed.Abdul Rashid Lone, father of Parvaiz Rashid, who was acquitted by a Delhi court of terror charges on Thursday at his home in Ganopora of Shopian. Photo: The Wire. The face of a minor in the photo has been blurred in accordance with laws pertaining to juvenile justice.A battle of Rs 20-25 lakhRecalling his ordeal, Lone said that his son Parvaiz left to join a college in Uttar Pradesh in 2013, three years before his brother Firdous joined militancy, to pursue a bachelors degree in engineering.“He completed BTech from a college in Amroha in 2016 and later joined the university. He had photos of Firdous (his militant brother) on his phone which possibly created doubts, otherwise he was never inclined to such things,” Lone said.He added: “He had a bright future ahead of him but we had no idea that lightning was going to strike us all”.Lone, whose two daughters and a third son are married and live separately, spoke cautiously about his son’s arrest due to the “prevailing uncertain situation” in Kashmir. The legal battle has already cost him Rs 20–25 lakh — most of it borrowed.“I don’t want more trouble,’ he saidAlthough the court has declared Rashid innocent, Lone feels hopeless about the future. For five years, he poured his earnings into his son’s dream of becoming an engineer. Then, he had to spend nearly eight more years dismantling the accusations against him.Now, with his son’s innocence finally established, the weight of these years seems to have caught up with him. His face has crumpled and tears threaten to spill from his eyes every now and then, “Who will answer for the loss of these 13 years?” he said in a sad tone.Since Thursday when the news of Rashid’s acquittal broke, Lone and his wife have been receiving a trickle of relatives and neighbours at their modest home in Ganopora, some of whom brought fruits and cakes.Lone’s son and two daughters have joined their parents to welcome Rashid who was on the way to Shopian from New Delhi when this report was filed. He was released from Tihar jail on Thursday evening after the court’s verdict, his family said.‘The important thing is my son is returning home’Some 500 metres from Rashid’s residence, it was an atmosphere of festivities at a two-storey house in the midst of an apple orchard in Balpora village of Shopian.Residence of Jamshed Zahoor Paul at Balpora village in Shopian. His mother Shehzada refused to speak on the acquittal of her son by a Delhi court. Photo: The WireZahoor Ahmad Paul, the house owner who resigned from the J&K police some years ago, was returning home from Jammu along with his son who was arrested along with Rashid in 2018 and who also languished in Tihar jail.“My husband adopted a spiritual path (after her son’s arrest) and often visited Sufi shrines. His struggle has finally paid off,” said Shahzada, Paul’s wife, washing utensils under a tap in a corner of the courtyard while her brother-in-law brought out a round aluminium pot filled with red chillies.The family was preparing for Eid-ul-Fitr, their first with Paul after nearly eight years, which is set to be celebrated across the country on Saturday.Shahzada refused to speak about her son, stating that her husband has instructed the family not to talk to the media. “The situation is not good here, as you know,” she said, when asked to share her thoughts about her son’s prolonged incarceration.“How does it matter how we spent these years? The important thing is that my son is returning home. That is all I care for,” she said.