LeT operative sentenced to 7-year RI in Bengaluru prison radicalisation case: NIA

Another key operative of Pakistan-based terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) has been convicted and sentenced by an NIA special court in the 2023 Bengaluru prison radicalisation case.

The Bengaluru special court has sentenced Vikram Kumar alias Chota Usman to seven years’ rigorous imprisonment (RI), a statement issued by the NIA on Saturday said.

Vikram is the eighth accused to be convicted and sentenced in the case.

The court had last month sentenced seven other accused, including mastermind and LeT member T Naseer, who had hatched the radicalisation plot while being an undertrial in the Parapanna Agrahara Central Prisons in the 2008 Bengaluru serial blast case.

The NIA investigation revealed that the accused Vikram Kumar was radicalised and recruited by Naseer and co-accused Junaid Ahmed while lodged in the Bengaluru prison.

He had stayed in touch with Naseer and Junaid after his release. In May 2023, Vikram had collected a dead drop of hand grenades and walkie-talkies from Ambala in Haryana and handed them to a co-accused in Bengaluru, the probe agency said.

Vikram, who was funded by Junaid, was also involved in the larger conspiracy to facilitate the escape of Naseer while he was being taken to a court from prison, as part of LeT’s agenda to promote terror activities in India and damage national security and sovereignty, the NIA probe revealed.

The case was originally registered by the Bengaluru Central Crime Branch (CCB) in July 2023 following the seizure of arms, ammunition and digital devices from habitual offenders, who had planned to unleash a series of terrorist attacks in Bengaluru to further the nefarious schemes of the Pakistan-based terror organisation.

NIA, which took over the case from CCB, has uncovered the larger conspiracy involved in the case, including the plot to facilitate Naseer’s escape.

The agency had filed a chargesheet against 12 accused persons, including Junaid, who is still absconding. Efforts are on to track Junaid, the NIA said.