By IANS,
Mumbai : Mumbai Police Tuesday filed a charge sheet against 27 Indian Mujahideen (IM) members, including six absconders, for their alleged involvement in the series of bombings in the country over the past three years, while one of the suspects who earlier agreed to turn approver has gone back on his offer.
The 27 men have been charged under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime (MCOCA) Act with plotting and carrying out the serial blasts in various parts of the country, including in Bangalore, Ahmedabad and New Delhi in 2008.
The accused have also been slapped with various provisions of the Indian Penal Code, the Arms Act, the Explosives Act, the Explosives Substances Act, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Information Technology Act, according to a police official.
Filed by Special Public Prosecutor Kalpana Chavan, the charge sheet runs into more than 1,800 pages, and has listed crimes ranging from murder to waging war against the country.
The case is scheduled to come up for hearing March 25 before the MCOCA Court Special Judge Y.D. Shinde.
Among the accused, 12 are from the IT and educational hub of Pune, Maharashtra, four from different places in Karnataka, two from Mumbai, two from Thane and one from Secunderabad, Andhra Pradesh.
One of the accused, Mohammed Mansoor Asghar Peerbhoy alias Munna of Pune, who earlier offered to turn approver, has declined to do so and his name has been included in the charge sheet.
Minutes before the July 26 serial blasts in Ahmedabad, which claimed 50 lives, and the Sep 13 serial blasts in New Delhi that killed 26, the IM had sent out warning emails to media houses hacking unsecured wi-fi Internet accounts – two in Mumbai (Khalsa College and a private company in Chembur suburb) and one in Navi Mumbai’s Sanpada suburb, belonging to an American citizen, Ken Haywood.
While Mumbai Police nabbed five IM terrorists Sep 23, 16 others were nabbed from different parts of the country, including Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Kerala, in the following fortnight.
The IT professionals nabbed are:
Mohammed Mansoor Asghar Peerbhoy alias Munna (31), who worked as principal software engineer in a multinational company on a salary of Rs.1.9 million a year,
Salman Kadar Shaikh alias Mobin (24), who served as senior technical advisor in an IT firm in Pune, and
Asif Bashiruddin Shaikh (22), a mechanical engineer from Pune.
They were instructed to send the emails a few minutes before the blasts in Ahmedabad and New Delhi, which they did on the dot, the police have said, adding that the terrorists were financed through the money laundering route.
The other accused are:
– Dastagir Feroze Mujawar alias Afrosh (25), a commerce graduate from Pune who was training youth in Jehadi activities;
– Mohammed Atik Mohammed Iqbal (25), a computer science graduate from Pune and active member of IM terror modules;
– Anique Shafique Syed (27), who runs a computer and mobile retail shop in Pune and was actively involved in the Surat and Ahmedabad blasts;
– Majid Akthar Shaikh (26), who runs a mobile phone repairs and servicing shop in Pune and is an active member of IM terror modules;
– Yasir Anis Syed alias Huzefa (20), who runs a computer and mobile reparing shop in Pune, and is an active member of IM and accused of criminal conspiracy;
– Syed Mohammed Naushad alias Sayedna (25), a civil works contractor based in Mangalore who was involved in planting bombs in Surat, Gujarat;
– Javed Mohammed Ali (19), a Karnataka-based Islamic studies scholar active with IM terror modules;
– Farooq Sharifuddin Tarkash alias Abdullah (25), a Pune-based computer science graduate, member of IM terror modules and was trained by Riyaz Bhatkal in Karnataka;
– Mohammed Ali Ahmed (44), a civil works contractor from Mangalore, who also ran a safe house for IM members;
– Ahmed Bawa Abubakar alias Abu (33), a Karnataka farmer , nabbed for his role in Ahmedabad bombings and for placing bombs in Surat;
– Faisal-e-Rehma Muskhan Durrani (23), a robber on Pune police records, also involved in Surat and Ahmedabad;
– Mohammed Afzal Mutalib Usmani, from Trombay here;
– Mohammed Sadik Israr Ahmed Shaikh, from Trombay;
– Mohammed Arif Badruddin Shaikh, from Mumbra, Thane;
– Mohammed Zakir Abdul Haz Shaikh, from Bhiwandi, Thane;
– Ansar Ahmed Badshah Shaikh, from Trombay;
– Mohammed Akbar Ismail Choudhary alias Syed alias Yakub of Pune; and
– Anwar Ali Bagwan, a medical doctor from Secunderabad, Andhra Pradesh.
Six absconders are: Riyaz Bhatkal and Iqbal Bhatkar (Mangalore, Karnataka), Abu R. Ikhlaq Shaikh (Sewri, Mumbai), Amir Raza (Kolkata), Mohammed Mobin Adbul S. Khan alias Irfan and Amin alias Raja Ayub Shaikh (Indore, Madhya Pradesh).