Shahid Azmi

Who is Shahid Azmi?

Shahid Azmi was a noted Indian lawyer and human rights activist, most known for defending those wrongly accused in cases of terrorism, including some of accused in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, such as Faheem Ansari, who was later acquitted for lack of evidence. At age 14, he was arrested during the 1992 Mumbai Riots. He went to Pakistan administered Kashmir into a militant training camp, but returned disillusioned. He was arrested again under TADA, serving seven years in Delhi's Tihar Jail, on charges of plotting against the state, though he was acquitted later. He started studies while in jail, and went on to become criminal defense lawyer in Mumbai in 2003, defending cases for those accused for terrorism. Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2002 was later repealed. He was shot dead by three assailants in his office in Kurla, Mumbai on Feb 11, 2010 at the age of 32.

He was the nephew of Abu Asim Azmi, a Samajwadi Party politician and MLA from Govandi, Mumbai.