7 LeT men convicted of terror plans

They were not guilty of staging IISc blasts, but were hatching other plots

Judge Revankar found the seven guilty of the offence and convicted them. The prono­uncement of the sentence and the quantum of punishment has been posted for Monday.
However, the accused were not involved in the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) blasts.
Special public prosecutor K K Seetharam clarified, “The conviction of the seven terrorists has nothing to do with the IISc shoot out case. However, the court was convinced that they were attempting to wage a war against the country,” he added.

Those convicted include Mohammad Razur, 45, of Nalgonda (Andhra Pradesh); Afsar Pasha, 33, of Bangalore and a native of Chintamani; Ibrahim Sab Chopdar, 38, of Guledgudda (Bagalkot); Noorualla Khan, 33, of Chintamani; Mohammad Irfan, 32, (UP); Munna, 28, of Chintamani and Chand Pasha, 55, of K G Halli.

They were convicted under IPC Sections 120 (conspiracy), 121 (waging, or attempting to wage war, or abetting waging of war, against the Government of India), 121A (conspiracy to commit offences), sections 3 and 4 of Explosives Substance Act (causing explosion likely to endanger life or property/ attempt to cause explosion, or for making or keeping explosive with intent to endanger life or property).

Then Commissioner of Police, Bangalore City, Dr Ajai Kumar Singh had constituted several teams to investigate the IISc terror attack case. The Central intelligence sources tipped the City police about some names including Mohammad Razur saying he might have been the mastermind behind the IISc attack. The police arrested him when he was coming out of a masjid on January 1, 2006.

The police arrested the remaining terrorists within a couple of weeks.

Conspiracy in Saudi

During interrogation of the suspects, it came to light that they played no role in the IISc case, but had stored arms and explosives to carry out attacks.

The police recovered explosives and arms from Kadu Malleshwara area, Laskhmipura in Chikkaballapur district and Hessaraghatta.

The police also recovered Jihadi literature and other material written by extremists such as Azar Masood.  During the search, the police recovered a diary from Bangladesh published in 2003, in which the terrorists had recorded their doings. The diary played a vital role in ensuring the conviction, said Seetharam.

Mohammad Razur was in Saudi Arabia before 2000 where he met others who harboured a soft corner for LeT. Later, he met six others who were also in Saudi Arabia then.

They thought that Muslims were treated as second class citizens in the country and were being targeted after the demolition of Babri Masjid. They decided to wage a war against India, conduct activities leading to civil wars and others.

Thereafter, they returned to India.  Mohammad Razur was a self-styled South Indian Commander of LeT. Soon, they st­arted a trust at Chintamani and attracted Muslims.

Prime concern

Their prime concern was to recruit youths for terrorist activities. They preached about Jihad, how to pray and how to behave as a good Muslim. They told the local Muslims not to visit Dargahs as these symbolised idol worship, which is banned in Islam.

They reportedly decided to demolish the Dargahs so that Muslims stopped visiting them and it would look as if Hindus were targeting Dargahs. They calculated that such an act would lead to civil war in the country.

As many as 73 out of 102 witnesses were examined, incluidng Dr Ajai Kumar Singh and then Home Secretary Bipin Gopalkrishna.