Jama Masjid attack: Delhi Police chargesheets Bhatkal, aide

Indian Mujahideen (IM) co-founder Yasin Bhatkal and his aide Asadullah Akhtar were today chargesheeted by Delhi Police in a court here in connection with the September 2010 Jama Masjid terror attack case where a bomb fitted in a car had exploded.

Special Cell of Delhi Police filed its charge sheet before Additional Sessions Judge Daya Prakash in which Bhatkal and Akhtar were charged for offences under the provisions of the IPC, the Explosive Substances Act, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Information Technology Act.

The court has fixed the matter for May 22 on the issue of consideration of the charge sheet.

The police, in its charge sheet, said after the terror strike at the historic mosque here on September 19, 2010, the members of IM had sent e-mails to the media claiming responsibility for the attack.

It said that on the instructions of Pakistan-based leaders, Riyaz Bhatkal and Iqbal Bhatkal, top IM members, Yasin Bhatkal and his associates had decided to carry out the terror strike at Jama Masjid on the second anniversary of the September 19, 2008 Batla House encounter.

It said that Yasin Bhatkal had prepared and planted a pressure cooker IED in a car which was parked near the gate number three of Jama Masjid.

The police claimed that on September 19, 2010, two suspected IM operatives had fired at a bus from which foreign tourists were descending near the gate number three of the mosque whereas Bhatkal had planted the bomb in the car.

Two Taiwanese tourists had sustained bullet injuries in the firing incident, it said.There was a mild explosion in the bomb fitted in the car, the police said. 

The police had earlier filed a charge sheet against Yasin Bhatkal and Akhtar in connection with firing at tourists.

The charge sheet was filed against the two top IM men under various sections of IPC including sections 307 (attempt to murder), 120B (criminal conspiracy) and under the provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Arms Act.

The police had claimed in the earlier charge sheet that IM's India operations chief Yasin Bhatkal was instructed by Pakistan-based handlers to carry out terror attacks just before the beginning of 2010 Commonwealth Games (CWG) which were held in Delhi.

It had said the conspiracy for the attack was hatched to "dissuade foreign nations from participating in the same (CWG) and to portray the image of India, the host nation, as a weak and disturbed nation".

Yasin Bhatkal and Akhtar were arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) from Indo-Nepal border on the night of August 28, last year. They were wanted for their roles in a string of terror attacks in the country.