Bengaluru, Jul 8: The four suspected members of the banned Indian Mujahideen terror group, who were arrested by the Bengaluru police in January, have been charged with supplying explosives for the blasts that occurred in the country between 2010 and 2014.
The police filed a 1,700-page charge sheet with the names of 123 witnesses before the special court on Monday. In it, the police claim that the prime accused, Syed Ismail Afaaque (39), a homoeopathic doctor, married a Karachi-based girl to create an alibi for his terror activities.
In January, the city police arrested Afaaque, Syed Suboor (24), Saddam Hussain (29) and Riyaz Ahmed Sayeedi (32), all residents of Bhatkal town in Uttara Kannada district, from different locations.
Sayeedi, who was a salesman at a hardware shop in Dubai was picked up from Mangaluru International Airport. The police gradually claimed that a large quantity of electronic detonators and circuit boards, gelatin sticks, ammonium nitrate, and jihadi literature and posters were seized.
The charge sheet mentions that Afaaque would go to Karachi with a valid visa on the pretext of visiting his in-laws, but would meet suspected IM founders Riyaz Bhatkal and Iqbal Bhatkal, and other extremists. He obtained training in arms and improvised explosive devices, say the police. He was asked to supply explosives to IM contacts across the country to carry out blasts, the charge sheet says.
Several alleged IM members, who were arrested across the country, have allegedly “confessed” that they got the explosive consignment from Mangaluru, and the police say the source was a mystery until the arrest of the four.
The police have also stated in the charge sheet that the accused were planning to carry out blasts across India during U.S. President Barack Obama’s visit on Republic Day.
Sayeedi is now accused of providing logistic support to terror groups. Investigators have said the timing of blasts coincide with Sayeedi’s trips to India.
The accused have been charged under sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 121A , 511 (punishment for attempting to commit offences punishable with imprisonment for life ) of the IPC; sections 13, 16, 18, 20 and 38 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and sections 4, 5 and 6 of the Explosive Substances Act.
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