Delhi court frames terror charges against Yasin Bhatkal & others for inducing people to join IM, wage war against India

A Delhi Court on Friday framed terror charges against Indian Mujahideen (IM) co-founder Yasin Bhatkal and 10 others in a case related to their involvement in 'motivating' people to join the banned terror outfit and waging war against India. .Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Shailender Malik of the Patiala House Courts charged Bhatkal under Sections 18, 18A, 18B, 21, 38(2), 39(2), 40(2) of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and Sections 121 and 122 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). In his order, Judge Malik noted that Bhatkal was not only involved with other accused for carrying out earlier terrorist activities, but was also involved in conspiracy of future terrorist activities with the assistance of Maoists in Nepal to collect arms and ammunition. "Above referred statements of witnesses, clearly give specific accusation attributable to A-6 being involved continuously since beginning in larger conspiracy of committing different terrorist activities to create terror and destabilize the society as a whole," the court observed. .Pertinently, the order took note of a conversation between Bhatkal and another accused in which they allegedly plotted the detonation of a nuclear bomb in Surat."...a chat between A-6 and A-10 reflect IM planning for planting nuclear bomb in Surat town and evacuating Muslims from Surat town before executing such terrorist act.".The ten other people who have been charged are:Md. Danish Ansari @ Abdul Wahab @ Saleem @ Abdullah, Mohd. Aftab Alam @ Farooq @ Shaikhchilli @ Hafij Ji, Imran Khan @ Zakaria @ Saleem @ Fazal @ Tabrez @ Raj @ Patel, Syed Maqbool @ Zuber, Obaid Ur Rehman, Asaudullah Akhtar @ Haddi @ Daniel @ Tabrez @ Asad, Ujjair Ahmad @ Ozair, Md. Tehsin Akhtar @ Monu @ Hasan, Haider Ali @ Abdullah @ Black Beauty and Zia Ur Rehman @ Wakas @ Javed.Manzar Imam @ Zamil @ Abbu Hanifa, Ariz Khan @ Junaid and Abdul Wahid Siddibappa @ Abdul Wahid @ Khan have been discharged of all the offences..The present case was registered by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in 2012 on the allegations that Bhatkal and several others entered into criminal conspiracy to wage war against India by being members of the terror group. It was stated that in furtherance of a criminal conspiracy, functionaries of Indian Mujahideen undertook large scale recruitment/induction of new members for commission of terrorist activities in various parts of India. The NIA had said that Pakistan-based associates aided these operatives who wanted to commit terrorist acts like bomb blasts at prominent places in India, especially in Delhi. Specifically with reference to Bhatkal, the NIA argued that he was the principal conspirator and was involved in the Hyderabad twin blast, Ahmedabad bombings, Sarojini Nagar serial blast, Pune German bakery attack as well as the Chinnaswamy Stadium bomb blast case in Bengaluru. He is also stated to be deeply involved in recruiting new cadre into the IM fold and also developing new modules for committing terrorist activities in other parts of India. .[Read Order].Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.