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Synopsis

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) Court, Delhi last week sentenced four Indian Mujahideen (IM) operatives to 10 years in jail for hatching a criminal conspiracy to wage war against the government by carrying out terrorist attacks across the country in 2012.

Special Judge Shailender Malik of Patiala House Court awarded the punishment to Danish Ansari, Aftab Alam, Imran Khan and Obaid-Ur-Rehman under various sections of the IPC and the anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

Noting that the accused had pleaded guilty on July 7, the court passed the order on July 12. 

As per the NIA investigations, the four accused were in close association with IM members, including Pakistan-based key accused Riyaz Bhatkal and Yasin Bhatkal, based in India. They had done recce of important places, including Hyderabad and Delhi, and had also 'procured explosives as well as arms and ammunition'.

"The case pertains to the conspiracy hatched by the members of the Indian Mujahideen, which is responsible for carrying out various blasts in the country, including Varanasi blasts of March2006, Mumbai serial blasts of July 2006, UP courts serial blasts at Varanasi, Faizabad and Lucknow in November 2007, Hyderabad twin blasts of August 2007, besides the Jaipur serial blasts, Delhi serial blasts and the Ahmedabad serial blasts in 2008. IM was also behind the Chinnaswamy, Bengaluru Stadium blast of 2010 and the Hyderabad twin blasts of 2013", the agency's press release stated.

All four were convicted on July 7, 2023, under UA(P) Act. They had been arrested between January and March 2013.

The Special Judge also imposed a fine of Rs. 2,000 on accused Danish Ansari and Rs. 10,000 on Aftab Alam.

The NIA Special Court had earlier framed charges against the four, along with seven others, on March 31, 2023. The other seven have been identified as Yasin Bhatkal, Asadullah Akhtar, Zia-Ur-Rehman, Tehsin Akhter and Hyder Ali.