LUCKNOW: A special NIA court in Lucknow Tuesday awarded death sentence to seven suspected Islamic State (ISIS) operatives and life term to one in connection with the Kanpur terror conspiracy case.
The self-radicalized convicts awarded death sentences, included Mohammad Faisal, Gaus Mohammad Khan, Mohammad Azhar, Atiq Muzaffer, Mohammad Danish, Mohammad Sayyed Meer Hussain, and Asif Iqbal. One Mohammad Atif alias Asif Irani was awarded life imprisonment.
All eight convicts were arrested in Kanpur in 2017 in connection with planning terror acts. Delivering the sentence, Special NIA court judge VS Tripathi observed that the case fell in the rarest of rare category and the convicts were entitled to the severest punishment.
The FIR in the case was registered at ATS police station in Lucknow on March 8, 2017. In fact, ATS had got information about the plan of the members of the banned terror outfit ISIS to carry out blasts at different places across the country. Kanpur ATS first arrested Mohammad Faisal and later his disclosures led the ATS sleuths to nab the others.
As per the public prosecutor, the accused had conducted a test blast at Ganga Ghat in Unnao. The probe also claimed that the accused had the plan to blast Kanpur-Unnao railway track and a bomb was planted there also. They had also planted bombs at different places during the Dussehra celebrations.
ATS had filed the charge sheet in the case on August 31, 2017 and had included one Saifulla also. Saifullah was later killed in an encounter in the Dubagga area of the state capital on March 7, 2017.
According to public prosecutor KK Sharma, all seven convicts who were given death sentence were convicted under Section 121 (waging war against the country) of IPC along with charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Arms Act and the Explosive Substances Act.
While Mohammed Atif Irani, who has been given life sentence, was convicted under section 121 (A) (conspiracy) of IPC along with the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Arms Act and the Explosive Substances Act.
The NIA investigations revealed that the accused had prepared and tested some IEDs and had unsuccessfully tried to plant them at various locations in the state. The NIA had seized a notebook from their Haji Colony (Lucknow) hideout with details over potential targets and the science of bomb-making. Investigations had also led to the discovery of several photographs of the accused making IEDs and even with weapons, ammunition along with ISIS flag.
In fact, the convicts were also involved in explosion on Bhopal-Ujjain passenger train on March 7, 2017, which left 10 people injured. The case in the train blast case was still on.