KOCHI: The NIA Court in Kochi on Monday found 18 people guilty even as it acquitted 17 accused in the 2007 Wagamon SIMI camp case. All the four Keralities, including first accused Saduli of Kottayam, were found guilty by NIA judge Kausar Edapagath, who will announce the quantum of the sentence on Tuesday.
The secret SIMI camp was held from December 10 to 12, 2007, at Thangalpara in Wagamon in Idukki as a prelude to the 2008 Ahmedabad serial blasts.
Those found guilty were Saduli of Kottayam; Hafeez Husain of Belgaum; Safdar Hussain Nagori of Ujjain; P A Shibily of Kottayam; Mohammad Ansar of Aluva; Abdul Sathar of Aluva; Aamil Parwaz of Ujjain; Mohammed Sami Begevadi of Bijapur, Karnataka; Nadeem Sayeed of Belgaum; Mufti Abul Basheer of Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh; Dr H A Asadullah of Bellary, Karnataka; Kamaruddin Nagori of Ujjain; Shakeel Ahammed of Dharwad, Karnataka; Dr Mirza Ahmed Beg of Bidar, Karnataka; Danish of Ranchi, Jharkhand; Manzar Imam of Ranchi, Jharkhand; Mohammed Abu Faisal Khan of Andheri West, Mumbai, and Alam Jeb Afridi of Ahmedabad.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has sought maximum sentence to the accused persons found guilty by the NIA Court in the Wagamon SIMI Camp case.NIA prosecutor Arjun Ambalapatta submitted before the court the persons convicted in the case have no remorse.“They are still revengeful of the system. Their mindset is not like ours and they do not deserve any mercy. These persons cannot be rehabilitated. They believe they are not part of society which we live in. These persons should be kept off society so that others can live safely,” he submitted.
V T Raghunath, defence lawyer, requested the court to show leniency towards those found guilty. “Most of them have been languishing in jails for the past nine years. Their mindset has changed and they deserve leniency,” he said.Alam Jeb Afridi, the 38th accused in the case who attended the proceedings through the video-conferencing system from Bengaluru, claimed justice was denied to him.
According to him, his identification parade was not conducted properly. “I have no faith in this system and don’t expect justice to be served. The justice will be served by Allah,” he submitted.Meanwhile, the accused persons lodged at the Bhopal Central Jail requested the court to transfer them to jails in their native state. Earlier, they had approached the court requesting to shift them to other jails.
Abdul Razak, the father of Mohammed Ansar and Abdul Sathar, who were found guilty by the court, told Express, the difficult living conditions in the Bhopal jail have forced these persons to plead for a jail change.“My son Ansar is in Bhopal and it is almost impossible for us to even communicate with him. They are denied basic facilities there and are being tortured. It will be a great relief if the court transfers him to a jail in Kerala,” he said.
Maximum possible sentence
Section 10 of UAPA - Two years’ imprisonment and fine
Section 38 of UAPA - Imprisonment not exceeding 10 years and fine
Section 20 of UAPA - Imprisonment for life and fine
Section 4 of Explosive Substance Act - Imprisonment for a term of 10 years and fine
IPC Section 120(B) - Imprisonment for two years and more