Shahid Azmi Biography 
Shahid Azmi was a noted Indian lawyer and human rights activist from Mumbai who was shot dead by three assailants in his office in Kurla, Mumbai on Feb 11, 2010. He was only 32 then. He is most known for defending those wrongly accused in cases of terrorism including Faheem Ansari for the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. He was the nephew of Abu Asim Azmi, a Samajwadi Party politician from Mumbai.
Azmi born in 1977 was brought up in Deonar suburb of Mumbai. He had 4 brothers. At the age of 14, he was arrested during the 1992 Mumbai communal Riots a few days after the demolition of Babri Masjid. Once released, he went into Pakistan-occupied Kashmir where he spent a brief period at a militant training camp. In 1994, he was arrested under the TADA for a conspiracy to assassinate some politicians and Shiv Sena leader, Bal Thackeray. He was sentenced to 5 year imprisonment. In the same year, the Supreme Court acquitted him.
While his stay at Tihar Jail, Delhi, he started his college education. In total, he stayed 7 years in Tihar. He also completed post graduation in creative writing while his stay in jail. Once he was acquitted of the charges, he studied LLB at Mumbai. He became criminal defense lawyer in Mumbai in 2003, defending cases for those accused for terrorism. He worked with lawyer Majeed Memon for some months before becoming an independent lawyer in 2003.
Then he started picking up cases of Muslims charged under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2002. His first success came with 2002 Ghatkopar bus bombing case when Arif Paanwala was released due to lack of evidence. He was shot dead on Feb 11, 2010 in his office at Taxi Men colony in Kurla.
Published: N/A
Updated: February 17, 2014
