New Delhi: A special NIA Special Court in Uttar Pradesh capital Lucknow on Wednesday pronounced death sentences to seven accused and life sentences to another in a terror case registered in 2017, officials said. The sentences were pronounced under various offences of IPC, UA(P) Act, Arms Act and Explosive Substances Act in a case of radicalising youths and committing violent terror attacks in the country.
Those sentenced to death are Atif Muzaffar, Mohammad Danish, Asif Iqbal alias Rocky, Mohammad Faisal, Mohammad Azhar, Sayed Meer Hussain and Gauss Mohammad Khan. Another accused Mohammad Atif alias Atif Iraqi has been sentenced to life. The NIA court convicted the accused on February 24. According to the chargesheet filed by NIA in the court, the eight accused from Uttar Pradesh along with deceased Md Saifullah had set up a hideout in Haji Colony (Lucknow).
Saifullah was killed in an encounter with Uttar Pradesh ATS on March 7, 2017, in Haji Colony. As per the NIA charge sheet, the accused had prepared and tested some IEDs and had unsuccessfully tried to plant them at various locations in Uttar Pradesh. Investigations have led to the discovery of several photographs of the accused making IEDs and even with weapons, ammunition and the ISIS flag, the NIA said.
The group had allegedly collected illegal weapons and explosives from various places. Atif and three others, identified as Md Danish, Sayed Meer Hussain and Md Saifulla, had been responsible for fabricating the IED that was planted in the Bhopal-Ujjain passenger train, it said. The train explosion on March 7, 2017, had left 10 injured, the NIA chargesheet said.
As per the NIA, all eight accused had come together to propagate ISIS ideology and promote its activities in India. In pursuit of this objective, Mohammad Faisal, Gauss Mohammad Khan, Atif Muzaffar, Md Danish, Md Saifulla had explored land routes, the NIA said. As per the NIA, the accused had visited several key cities across the country, including Kolkata, Sundarbans, Srinagar, Amritsar, Wagha Border, Badmer, Jaisalmer, Mumbai, and Kozhikode, for undertaking ‘hijrah’ (migration).
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Gauss Mohammad Khan and Atif Muzaffar had, in fact, explored a route to cross over to Bangladesh via Sundarbans, as per investigations. Faisal, Atif and Saifulla had also travelled to Kashmir in March 2016 in a bid to contact some terrorist groups that could help them to cross over to Pakistan, from where they could migrate to ISIS-controlled territories in Syria, the NIA chargesheet said.
The case was initially registered on March 8, 2017 at PS ATS, Lucknow and re-registered by the NIA on March 14, 2017. After investigations, a charge sheet was filed against the eight on August 8, 2017. Following a trial, the accused persons were convicted on February 24 this year. In another case, NIA special court in Ahmedabad sentenced two to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment in another case related to ISIS conspiracy.
An NIA official said that both cases relate to the online radicalization of the accused in the name of ISIS, and their motivation to commit terrorist attacks in the country. The NIA court in Ahmedabad sentenced two terrorists to 10 years rigorous imprisonment in RC-09/2017/NIA/DLI. The investigation in the case revealed the use of social media platforms, such as Skype and Telegram, to radicalise and recruit cadres to carry out terror acts in India in the name of ISIS.
Both accused Vaseem Arif Ramodia alias Ninja Fox and Naeem Arif Ramodia alias ND are brothers and residents of ‘Firdosh’, 2-Nehru Nagar, Raiya Road, Rajkot, Gujarat. Investigations have revealed that they used online chats and messages to advocate and spread the ideology of ISIS. "They arranged, participated and assisted in organising online discussions & meetings among active ISIS operatives to plan & execute acts of violence & terrorism.
They had tried to commit arson by burning vehicles and shops belonging to non-Muslims. They have unsuccessfully tried to fabricate an IED as well. On the directions of their online ISIS handlers, both the accused were preparing to carry out lone-wolf attack at Chotila Temple. They had already carried out a recce of the area but they were apprehended before they could carry out the attack," the NIA said.
The case was initially registered as FIR no 01/2017 in PS ATS Ahmedabad, Gujarat and re-registered by NIA on May 25,2017. Chargesheet was filed against them on August 22, 2017 and after the trial was completed, judgment convicting the accused was pronounced on Tuesday. Significantly, with the pronunciation of these two sentences, the conviction rate of NIA cases stands at 93.69 per cent, an official said.
