KOCHI: Ernakulam Additional Sessions Court acquitted the three accused in the Kannur Jawahar Stadium bomb case. First accused Thadiyantavide Nazeer, a native of Kannur, Shafas Shamsuddin, a native of Kannur Andathode, and Rahnas, a native of Kannur CH Nagar, were acquitted. The government's delay in imposing UAPA in the incident and the lack of evidence under the Explosive Act is what set back the police in the case.

The case is that two of the accused planted a bomb in the northeast corner of the stadium on September 24, 2008, according to the instructions of Thadiyantavide Nazeer, an accused in the Bengaluru blast case. The accused's aim was to prevent people including Muslim women from coming to eat at the Ramzan food stalls here. After receiving the information, the police arrived and defused the bomb.

On November 1, 2011, the state police chief applied to the government for permission to impose UAPA against the accused. Permission was received from the Home Department on 21 January 2012. According to UAPA, permission must be given within seven working days of receiving the application. The trial court held that the permission granted without complying with this was not legal and clarified that the offence under UAPA would not stand against the accused. Such cases are heard by the Ernakulam Additional Sessions Court which is also the NIA Court.

The court held that the evidence found by the police under the Explosives Act was insufficient to charge the accused. Explosives are said to have been stolen from a shop in Kannur, but there is no evidence to link the accused with the theft. The court pointed out that although the people who stole the explosives were found, they were not charged in the case.