BENGALURU: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) Special Court in Mumbai on Tuesday has convicted and sentenced three Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists to 10 years rigorous imprisonment under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in the Nanded LeT case.
The NIA court has convicted Mohd Muzammil, Mohd Sadiq and Mohd Akram alias Imran Khan alias Khaled under Sections 18, 20, 38 of the UA(P) Act. The court has awarded 10 years rigorous imprisonment to Muzammil under the UAPA and five years under the Arms Act with a fine of Rs 5,000, while the other two have been sentenced to 10 years RI under the UAPA.
The case was initially registered at the ATS Kalachowki, Mumbai, on August 31, 2012 under the Arms Act relating to the arrest of accused persons and recovery of firearms, the NIA has stated. “Initial investigation had revealed that the accused were members of the banned terrorist organisations Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Harkat-ul-Jihad-e-Islami (HuJI). Accordingly, Sections of UAPA Act were invoked in the case. The NIA had re-registered the case on June 24, 2013 and taken over the investigation,” the agency added.
According to the NIA, Akram had gone to Saudi Arabia on the pretext of seeking employment as a driver with the help of wanted accused Mohammed Abdul Majeed, who is a native of Hyderabad and is presently settled in Riyadh.
“During his stay in Saudi Arabia, Akram was introduced to various LeT members/operatives including absconding accused Siddique Bin Usman alias Abu Hanzala alias Abdul Furkhan Bhai alias Abdullah, who is a native of Hyderabad, as well as Mohamed Shaeed Faisal alias Ustad alias Umar alias Zaikr, who is a native of Bengaluru, but settled in Saudi Arabia.
Akram and other accused persons had held conspiracy meetings at Riyadh and Dammam to carry out targeted killings of prominent Hindu leaders, journalists, politicians and police officers in various parts of India,” the NIA has stated. Akram, according to the agency, was then sent back to India for executing these killings in different cities including Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Nanded to create terror in society.
“He had assigned the task of identifying suitable targets to Muzzamil and Sadiq, his old associates from Nanded. They all had travelled to Hyderabad in June, 2012 to meet Akram’s associate Obaid-ur-Rehaman for identification of suitable targets to carry out the terror attacks. The latter has been arrested and charge-sheeted in an earlier terror case,” the NIA has stated.