Mahima
Jaipur District Court awarded life imprisonment to 12 SIMI members while acquitting one. The convicts were engineering students who were accused of working for Indian Mujahideen when they were arrested by ATS (Anti-Terrorism Squad) and SOG (Special Operations Group) of Rajasthan Police. The sleuths of the ATS and SOG arrested 13 suspects from Sikar, Jaipur, Jodhpur and Pali after receiving information from ATS in Delhi who interrogated some terrorists in the national capital.
The convicts were accused of being associated with SIMI, a banned organisation and acting as sleeper cells as well as engaging in bomb-making to carry out terrorist activities in Rajasthan. The prosecution presented piles of evidences including 178 witnesses and 506 documents. The ATS in Rajasthan also contended that these sleeper cells got activated after Omar, a relative of Maruf, who was arrested from Jodhpur, approached these youngsters through the internet.
The convicts are Mohammad Ammar Yasir (Gaya), Mohammad Maruf (Jaipur), Mohammad Sajjad (Sikar), Mohammad Waqar (Sikar), Mohammed Omar (Sikar), Waqar (Pali), Abdul Wahid Ghauri (Sikar), Abdul Majid alias Addas (Sikar), Mohammad Aqib (Sikar), Barkat (Jodhpur), Mohammad Saqib Ansari (Jodhpur) and Ashraf Ali Khan (Jodhpur). They have been found guilty of purchasing SIMs through fake documents, raising funds in name of Jihad, conducting recce for bombings and giving shelter to terrorists.
Several laptops, phones, documents, books, pen drives and electronic items were also recovered from their possession. Liaquat Khan from the prosecution stated, “All 12 accused were found guilty in the case of sedition under IPC Sections of 121 and 122. We pleaded and convinced the court that the life sentence is the minimum punishment in the sedition case and the court accepted all our arguments and has given life sentence to all these criminals. Besides sedition, we had also charged them under various sections of the UAPA Act and Explosive Act and all of them have been proved in the Court”. Along with life imprisonment, the convicts have also been fined Rs. 1.5 lakh each.
