A Special NIA Court in Kochi on Monday found 18 accused including four Keralites guilty in the case pertaining to a terror training camp conducted by the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) at Vagamon heights in Kerala’s Idukki district in December, 2007. The court also acquitted 17 accused for lack of evidence.
The court found the 18 accused guilty under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), Explosive Substances Act and various sections of the Indian Penal Code. Sources in the NIA said the agency was satisfied about the court’s verdict. The court will pronounce the quantum of punishment for the convicts on Tuesday.
The trial, which had started on January 23, 2017, was conducted via video-conferencing by connecting the Kochi court with jails in Bhopal, Bangalore, New Delhi and Ahmedabad where most of the accused were lodged. Video-conferencing had also been arranged for the pronouncement of the verdict. Only two of the accused were produced in the court on Monday.
The case pertained to a secret training camp organised by the banned organisation, SIMI, on the ragged rocky heights of Thangalpara, Kolahalamedu at Vagamon in Idukki district in Kerala between December 10 and 12. According to the investigators, the camp had become the de-facto launch-pad for a series of terror activities in the country.
The Keralites convicted in the case are first accused Shibili, fourth accused Shaduli (both hailing from Irattupetta in Kottayam district), fifth accused Muhammad Ansar Nadvi and eighth accused Abdul Sattar (both natives of Aluva). Abdul Subhan Qureshi, 35th accused and a founding member of the Indian Mujahideen, was produced before the Kochi court last week.
The NIA had made Qureshi, an accused in connection with the financial assistance SIMI, had received for organising the camp. Another accused, Mehaboob Malik, had been shot dead in Bhopal while trying to escape from the Central Prison there. Wasiq Billa is the sole accused absconding in the terror camp case.
According to the NIA chargesheet, the organisers of the camp had imparted training to the participants in advanced weapons, firing, bomb-making, rope-climbing, motorcycle maneuvering on the rocky hill of Thangalpara. The agency had found that six engineers and three doctors had participated in the camp.
As per the NIA’s finding, the SIMI leaders had conspired to conduct training camps for its active operatives and had held such camps in Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and many other places. The role of several of the accused had been identified in the explosions that had occurred at Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Surat and Bhopal.
The case was investigated initially by the anti-terror wing of the Kerala Police but the NIA took it over considering its seriousness and national dimensions. The authorities had come under heavy criticism over the failure of the Intelligence agencies in acquiring information about such a planned training camp.
It was alleged that office-bearers and operatives of SIMI had entered into a conspiracy in November, 2007 at Indore for conducting training camps. The SIMI operatives had also allegedly conducted classes at the Vagamon camp for training the operatives to advocate, incite and abet terror activities and to disrupt communal harmony.
