A special court of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in Delhi handed down 10-year prison sentences to four individuals involved in the Indian Mujahideen conspiracy case. The probe pertains to a plot orchestrated by Pakistan-backed terrorists to carry out bomb blasts across India. The conviction has paved the way for their release, however, given the length of time they have already spent behind bars.
According to the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, the accused named Danish Ansari (Darbhanga, Bihar), Aftab Alam (Purnea, Bihar), Imran Khan (Nanded, Maharashtra) and Obaid-Ur-Rehman (Hyderabad, Telangana), were found guilty on 7 July. They were apprehended between January and March 2013. The Special Judge also imposed fines of Rs 2,000 on Danish Ansari and Rs 10,000 on Aftab Alam as part of the judgement delivered on 12 July.
The perpetrators were closely associated with Indian Mujahideen members, notably the prime accused Riyaz Bhatkal with ties to Pakistan and Yasin Bhatkal, who is based in India. They reportedly had conducted reconnaissance in significant locations, such as Hyderabad and Delhi and had also acquired explosives as well as weapons and ammunition.
A Delhi court filed charges against 11 members of the outlawed terrorist group Indian Mujahideen, including these four, on 31 March for plotting to launch an assault on India. The other seven have been identified as Yasin Bhatkal, Asadullah Akhtar, Zia-Ur-Rehman, Tehsin Akhter and Hyder Ali, who are facing trials. However, the court also exonerated three defendants in the same case due to a lack of evidence.
In accordance with the NIA, they were members of the Indian Mujahideen who engaged in “large scale recruitment/induction of new members for the commission of terrorist activities in various parts of India, with active aid and support from Pakistan based associates as well as sleeper cells within the country to commit terrorist acts by bomb blasts at prominent places in India, especially in Delhi.”
It is noteworthy to mention the inclusion of the Indian Mujahideen in the UAPA’s First Schedule as a prohibited terrorist group as of 22 June 2009.
The NIA stated that Yasin Bhatkal, one of the founding members of the Indian Mujahideen, was “instrumental in motivating young Muslim boys into the path of violent Jihad and to further indoctrinated them and to induct them into Indian Mujahideen.” He actively participated in “causing bomb blasts resulting in the loss of several lives and destruction of properties,” based on the agency’s submission.
The case focuses on the conspiracy hatched by the Indian Mujahideen, which was behind a number of attacks across the country, including the Varanasi blasts in March 2006, the Mumbai sequential explosions in July 2006, the detonations in the courts of Uttar Pradesh in Varanasi, Faizabad and Lucknow in November 2007 as well as the Jaipur periodic bomb blasts, Delhi serial explosions and the Hyderabad twin blasts in August 2007.
Indian Mujahideen
Indian Mujahideen is an Islamist terrorist group which has been particularly active in India. The jihadist group was founded as an offshoot of the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) by several radicalized members including Iqbal Bhatkal, Riyaz Bhatkal, Yasin Bhatkal, Abdul Subhan Qureshi, Amir Reza Khan and Sadiq Israr Sheikh, among others.
SIMI is a banned terrorist outfit that was formed in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh in April 1977. The stated mission of SIMI is the ‘liberation of India’ by converting it to an Islamic land.
Indian Mujahideen has been active since at least 2005 when it bombed the Dashashwamedh Ghat in Varanasi where eight people were injured. It carried out several serial bombings in Indian cities in the following years notably the 2007 Uttar Pradesh bombings, 2008 Jaipur bombings, 2008 Ahmedabad bombings, 2008 Delhi bombings, 2010 Pune bombing, 2011 Mumbai bombings, 2011 Delhi bombing, 2013 Patna bombings, 2013 Hyderabad blasts and the 2013 Bodh Gaya bombings.
Indian Mujahideen is believed to be one of the numerous organisations made up of lower-level SIMI members, per the investigators.