Innocent Man Freed After 20 Years: False Heroin Charges Overturned

A man from Uttar Pradesh, Abdullah Ayyub, was recently released from jail after spending 20 years incarcerated for a crime he did not commit. Arrested on March 14, 2003, with what was believed to be 25 grams of heroin valued at Rs 1 crore, Ayyub maintained his innocence, asserting that the substance was merely a common powder sold in shops. It took him two decades to prove this.

Ayyub's lawyer, Prem Prakash Srivastava, revealed that the arrest was the result of a conspiracy by a police constable named Khurshid, who sought revenge after being evicted from Ayyub's property for not paying rent. Khurshid, along with three other officers, planted the fake heroin and tampered with forensic evidence to frame Ayyub.

"Now, 20 years later, Ayyub has walked out of jail, vindicated, after it was proved in court that the narcotic was actually plain old powder sold in shops for Rs 20," said the lawyer.

Initial forensic tests in Basti falsely identified the substance as heroin. However, further testing in Lucknow confirmed it was not heroin. Despite these findings, a sample sent to a forensic lab in Delhi was manipulated by the involved police officers. Eventually, experts from Lucknow testified that the substance was fake, noting that genuine heroin would remain white regardless of environmental conditions.

Justice Vijay Kumar Katiyar, who acquitted Ayyub, criticized the police and prosecution for their actions, highlighting the waste of the court's time and the misrepresentation of evidence.

Source: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.deccanherald.com/amp/story/india%252Fjailed-for-20-years-for-keeping-heroin-freed-after-it-turns-out-to-be-powder-1221078.html