INDIA. Mumbai: The special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in New Delhi on Thursday sentenced an Indian Mujahideen (IM) operative, Syed Maqbool, to ten years in jail for hatching a terror conspiracy.
Maqbool was arrested by the NIA on February 28, 2013 for his active involvement with members of the Indian Mujahideen, based in Pakistan as well as in India. He was also involved in the crime and the conspiracy.
He was booked under the FIR( RC-06/2012/NIA/DLI). He became the fifth accused among the 11 against whom the sentence has already been pronounced. On March 31, charges were formally framed against 11 accused, including Yasin Bhatkal, Asadullah Akhtar, Zia-Ur-Rehman, Tehsin Akhter, and Hyder Ali, by the Special NIA Court, Delhi, under sections 121 and 122 of the Indian Penal Code and sections 17, 18, 19, 21, 38, 39, and 40 of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) 1967 (amended in 2008).
Maqbool maintained close ties with Indian Mujahideen members, including Riyaz Bhatkal, a Pakistani-based terrorist, and others. He, along with others, also hatched a conspiracy to carry out explosive attacks at various locations within India, with Hyderabad being a primary target. Extensive reconnaissance of important sites, including those in Hyderabad, was conducted by the accused and his associates, the NIA said in a statement.
On July 12, four accused identified as Danish Ansari, Aftab Alam, Imran Khan, and Obaid-Ur-Rehman were convicted by the NIA court.
The Indian Mujahideen is responsible for organising a series of serial blasts across the country, which include the Varanasi blasts of March 2006, the Mumbai serial blasts of July 11, 2006, the UP Courts serial blasts in Varanasi, Faizabad, and Lucknow in November 2007, the Hyderabad twin blasts of 2007, the Jaipur serial blasts of 2008, the Delhi serial blasts of 2008, the Ahmedabad serial blasts of 2008, the Chinnaswamy Stadium blast in Bangalore of 2010, and the Hyderabad twin blasts in 2013, among other terror activities, the NIA statement read.
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