7 ACCUSED, INCLUDING MASTERMIND T NASEER, SENTENCED IN PRISON RADICALISATION (LeT) CASE
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A total of seven accused persons, including mastermind and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) member T Naseer, have been sentenced by a special court of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in the
2023 Bengaluru prison radicalisation (LeT) case.
Apart from Naseer, the court has sentenced accused Syed Suhail Khan, Mohammed Umar, Zahid Tabrez, Syed Mudassir Pasha, Mohammed Faisal Rabbani and Salman Khan to seven years of Rigorous imprisonment along with fine of Rs. 48,000 under various sections of IPC, UA (P) Act, Arms Act and Explosives Substances Act.
The accused had earlier pleaded guilty of the charges filed by the NIA in the case RC-28/2023/NIA/ DLI - relating to a LeT linked terror conspiracy hatched inside the Parapanna Agrahara Central Prisons, Bengaluru, by T Naseer. The conspiracy involved identification, recruitment, training, conversion and radicalisation of gullible youth lodged in the prison to execute terror activities in India.
The case was initially registered by the Bengaluru Central Crime Branch (CCB) in July 2023 following the seizure of arms, ammunition and digital devices from habitual offenders. The offenders had planned to carry out terror strikes in Bengaluru City in furtherance of the violent anti-India agenda of the proscribed LeT terror outfit.
The case was taken over by NIA, which unveiled a larger conspiracy to facilitate the escape of T Naseer, a life convict in several terror cases, while on way from the prison to court. Naseer was an under-trial prisoner in the 2008 Bengaluru serial blast cases at the time.
Following meticulous investigation, NIA had chargesheeted 11 arrested accused and an absconder, identified as Junaid Ahmed, in the case. Of these, accused Salman Khan was arrested after he was successfully extradited from the Republic of Rwanda as a result of the coordinated efforts of NIA and the concerned agencies in Rwanda. Efforts are on to track and arrest Junaid Ahmed, NIA stated in a press release.