Gujarat court gives life imprisonment to 3 Bengal youth for terrorist activities

The trio were arrested by the Ahmedabad anti-terrorist squad in July-August 2023 after a team acted on a tip-off and closely monitored the suspects for several days

Ahmedabad: A sessions court in Gujarat’s Rajkot has sentenced three youths from West Bengal to life imprisonment until death for promoting terrorist ideology and waging war against the state.

The trio’s arrest came after Gujarat ATS in May 2023 had busted an Al Qaeda module and arrested four Bangladeshis who were living illegally in Ahmedabad. (Representational image)

Additional sessions judge I.B. Pathan has also imposed a fine of Rs.10,000 each on them.

The court in its 85-page order, dated September 30, observed that the accused conspired to travel to Kashmir to join Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind, a subgroup of the banned organisation Al-Qaeda, with the intention of attacking Indian Army and police forces. The court further noted that their conspiracy aimed to establish Sharia law in India and to recruit and incite Muslim youths in Rajkot to participate in jihad.

The court stated that the accused procured a pistol and 10 live cartridges specifically for carrying out their anti-national activities. They collectively paid ₹10,000 for the weapon after their handler, Muzzammil, sent them photos on WhatsApp.

“If the accused’s intention was not to carry out anti-national activities and Jihad, and to wage war against the government... then there would be no reason for them to acquire such illegal weapons and keep them in their possession,” the judge observed in his order.

From Abdul Shakur, police recovered a pistol and cartridges, while from Aman Malik, they seized a mobile phone and SIM cards. The mobile contained material related to an outfit named Rah-e-Hidayat, including writings inciting against the state.

On interrogation, the third accused, Shaknavaz Ek Shahid, 23, of Bardhaman district, was traced to a building in Rajkot’s Soni Bazaar, where ATS recovered more literature related to anti-national activities.

All three were taken into custody and they were booked under Section 121 A (conspiring to overawe, by means of criminal force or the show of criminal force, the central government or state government) of the Indian Penal Code and provisions of the Arms Act. Their arrest came after ATS in May that year had busted an Al Qaeda module and arrested four Bangladeshis who were living illegally in Ahmedabad.

ATS found that Nawaz had been in Rajkot for the past two years, while the other two had been there for the past seven to eight months.

Their interrogation revealed that Malik had been using highly-encrypted messaging apps including Telegram for the past one year to keep in touch with a foreign handler, who was the head of Al Qaeda in Bangladesh. Official said that Malik was entrusted with the task of radicalising others to join the outfit, and used two messaging apps to receive radical literature, videos, and training on how to use automatic weapons. He got in touch with Shukra Ali and Shaif Nawaz who shared the same mindset and agreed to work for the outfit, officials added.

During interrogation, the accused confessed their plan to the police, stating they were ready to carry out an attack whenever their “Amir” (leader) gave the command. They also admitted to their plan to go to Kashmir for training, the court observed in its order.

During the trial, the defence argued that Rah-e-Hidayat was not a terrorist group and produced witnesses who claimed the accused were never seen engaging in anti-national propaganda. The defense counsel argued that there was a lack of investigation regarding Muzzammil, specifically questioning details like who he is and where he resides.

The prosecution, represented by district government pleader, S.K. Vora, countered that WhatsApp chats recovered from the accused clearly showed efforts to instigate sections of the Muslim community to engage in anti-national activity. The prosecution also argued that the witnesses called by the defence visited the mosque only briefly and had no knowledge of the activities of the accused at other times.

The government lawyer also argued that during cross examination there was no denial or explanation given regarding the possession of firearms and cartridges, confirming their involvement in criminal activities. He further argued that a lighter sentence would allow them to be used again by extremist groups for more serious offences.

In addition to Section 121(a) of the IPC, the court also sentenced them to seven years of rigorous imprisonment for the offences under Section 25(1-B)A and 27 of the Arms Act, which run concurrently.