A TADA case in the early 90s, 2002-03 bomb blasts and the murder of an advocate a few years ago - these were the cases that followed close on the heels of one another to keep Borivli resident Saquib Nachan incarcerated for a total of 24 years. Yesterday, he walked out of Thane Central Jail at the age of 57 a free man, having fought the 11 cases slapped against him on his own from behind bars and securing an acquittal in seven of them. He was convicted in two (both possession of arms) and two (one of them the murder) are pending in the Bombay High Court.

Respected in his neighbourhood in the Borivli-Padgha twin villages, where the majority population is Konkani, and known to be a helpful person, almost all of his neighbours and others from the locality turned up at his residence to greet him last afternoon. Even as relatives and well-wishers poured in, it was a tearful reunion for Nachan with his family - wife, two sons, their wives and children, and a daughter.