Bengaluru: A Bengaluru Special court has recently convicted three including a Pakistani national who were accused of developing and recruiting members for a local module of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terror group and planning multiple terror attacks across the IT capital of India.
Police said the trio — Tippunagar (Bengaluru) resident Syed Abdul Rehman alias Abdul Rehman, (25), Pakistani national Mohammad Fahad alias Mohammed Fahad Khoya, (30), and Chintamani (Chikkaballapur district) resident Afsar Pasha alias Khashiruddin (32) met in Parappana Agrahara Prison. While Rehman was a local rowdy sheeter, Khoya and Pasha were already in prison for carrying out activities of the proscribed terrorist organisation.
All three were convicted on charges of criminal conspiracy and waging war against India (sections 120B and 122 of Indian Penal Code) and under the provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (UAPA) and Explosive Substances Act, 1956.
After convicting the trio, the Court reserved its orders on the quantum of punishment in the case lodged by the Central Crime Branch (CCB) in 2012. Police said the Court has listed the case to Feb. 27 for sentencing. Police said Rehman who came in contact with the Pakistani and his local contact in prison was brainwashed.
On being released on bail, Rehman became active in recruiting youths for the LeT by radicalising them. He was gearing up to carry out large-scale attacks across the City to create an impact, police said, adding that the module was busted on a specific tip off. A raid followed leading to the arrest of Rehman.
The CCB police seized explosives and bullets from the possession of Rehman. During the sustained interrogations, the trio revealed their terror attack plans through the LeT module Rehman had specifically developed. Based on the investigations and the chargesheet filed, the trial was concluded by the Special Court.
The Pakistani national had already been sentenced to ten years in a Mysuru terror case and eight years in a Kozhikode terror case and was in Parappana Agrahara Prison when he met Rehman in 2012. Pasha was convicted in the 2005 Indian Institute of Science (IISc) attack case and was serving a life sentence in Bengaluru prison during their meeting.
