The facts surrounding the disappearance of Afzal Usmani, a suspected member of terror group Indian Mujahideen (IM), from a Mumbai sessions court still have to emerge.
But I met Usmani, as well as other alleged members of the Indian Mujahideen, last year in July at the same court. In many ways, his escape comes as no surprise.
We had gone to attend a hearing of the IM case for an opportunity to meet them, as part of a report on the endless legal delays surrounding the trial of the Indian Mujahideen. Many of them, including Usmani, were picked up in wave of arrests after the bombings of 2008. Since then, they have been lost in the maze of the Indian criminal justice system, passed around from one state to the next where they are accused for multiple blasts, a legal merry go round that has paralysed the trial in each of these states.
Just after lunchtime, the prison bus from Taloja jail in Navi Mumbai pulled into the compound of the court. The IM accused filed out along with the police escort. There was nothing to suggest that these were high security prisoners, charged with major terrorist attacks. A few relatives hung around, waiting for the hearing to end.
The hearing, which took place in the special court on the fifth floor was brief, mostly to do with technicalities relating to special requests by some of the accused (someone wanted permission for a shaving kit in prison, and so on).
Once it adjourned, they filed out, and I went up to speak to them as they made their way down the stairs. Once again, the police vigil was relaxed, and I could talk to Sadiq Sheikh, said to be the founder of Indian Mujahideen and Mansoor Peerbhoy, accused of sending the IM emails before the blasts. By now we had reached a landing area on the ground floor. Family - wives, children - milled around, and then each found their own corner some in the landing, some in the courtyard. Tiffin boxes were produced and opened. There was an almost surreal atmosphere of a family outing. Police stood at a distance, looking bored.
Right throughout this entire time, it was hard to distinguish the accused from the general melee common in any Indian session court.
Except, and I make this point once again, this was no ordinary set of undertrials. Usmani, a car thief, is charged for supplying the cars used to transport bombs to Ahmedabad and Surat, and even of planting the explosives. The bombs in Ahmedabad went off in July 2008 killed 56.
At some point, the police stirred to life and half-heartedly began to shepherd the IM accused back into the prison van. It's at this late stage that I met Afzal Usmani. It took me a moment to recognise him, since his beard had lengthened since his arrest. Before I could begin a conversation, the cops called out to him and he shuffled off towards the van, looking relieved at escaping a chat with a journalist.
That was the last I saw of him. Now, unless he is found, it appears that its the last the law may have also seen of him.
