Four IM operatives awarded 10 years RI

Designated NIA court in Delhi awarded ten years rigorous imprisonment to the four accused in Indian Mujahideen (IM) conspiracy case. 

The four convicted terror operatives include Danish Ansari, Aftab Alam, Imran Khan, and Obaid-Ur-Rehman. They were convicted on July 7 under UA (P) Act.  

The special judge also imposed fine of Rs 2,000 on accused Danish Ansari and Rs 10,000 on Aftab Alam. They were arrested between January and March 2013. 

The four operatives were in close association with IM, including Pakistan-based key accused Riyaz Bhatkal and Yasin Bhatkal, based in India. 

They had done recce of important places, including Hyderabad and Delhi, and procured explosives as well as arms and ammunition, as per the probe agency. 

The case pertains to the conspiracy hatched by the members of the Indian Mujahideen, which is responsible for carrying out various blasts in the country, including Varanasi blasts of March 2006, Mumbai serial blasts of July 2006, UP courts serial blasts at Varanasi, Faizabad and Lucknow in November 2007, Hyderabad twin blasts of August 2007, besides the Jaipur serial blasts, Delhi serial blasts and the Ahmedabad serial blasts in 2008. 

IM was also behind the Chinnaswamy, Bengaluru Stadium blast of 2010 and the Hyderabad twin blasts of 2013. 

The other seven operatives have been identified as Yasin Bhatkal, Asadullah Akhtar, Zia-Ur-Rehman, Tehsin Akhter and Hyder Ali. The trial against them has been split and will continue.