Bengaluru, Feb 15: A Special Court in the city has refused to discharge Syed Wahab, one of the accused in St Paul and Peter’s Church blast case at Jagjivan Ram Nagar in the City.
Wahab, a resident of Wynchipet in Vijayawada, is one among the 29 accused. According to police they had decided to blast a church on July 9, 2000. In a fresh judgment, Judge G Basavaraja said that the arguments of the counsel for the accused were not sufficient to discharge Wahab from the alleged offences at this stage. His arguments may be considered only after trial, the judge added.
Considering the facts and circumstances of this case and also keeping in mind the observations made by the apex court, the Judge noted, “I am of the opinion that the prosecution has placed sufficient materials to proceed against Wahab for the alleged offences as alleged by the prosecution. Hence, the application is dismissed.”
Police said Wahab, S M Ibrahim and Zakir went inside the church premises and placed an Improvised Explosive Device with timer on a rear window of the building of St Peter and Paul Church. The bomb exploded at the scheduled time causing severe damage to the church during its annual feast on July 9. Based on a complaint filed by Thomayar, the Church’s Father, police had registered a case against Sahab Zada Zia Ul Hassan and 28 others.
Later, the case was handed over to Corps of Detectives (COD) Police, Bengaluru. Wahab (accused no.16) filed an application on October 15, 2015 requesting to be discharged from the alleged offences. However, the public prosecutor filed an objection, contending that Wahab’s application is not maintainable in law and facts as there was prima facie evidence to proceed against the accused for the offences.
Serial blasts
The serial blasts occurred between May and July 2000 in various churches within Karnataka, Goa and Andhra Pradesh, had created panic among the people in the region.
On July 9, the perpetrators fell into a trap of their own making in Bengaluru. The extremists were returning by a Maruti van after bombing churches in Jagajeevan Ram Nagar when several bombs kept in their vehicle went off. According to police, it occurred when their van shook while negotiating a road hump. Two occupants of the van, Zakir and Siddiqi, died on the spot while the third, S M Ibrahim, sustained injuries.
Soon afterwards, the police raided Ibrahim's house at Murugeshpalya and seized several documents and a computer hard disk - which led to the arrests of several others in the three states. All of them belonged to an outfit called Deedar Anjuman (Religious Association), an unknown terrorist outfit till that time.
Deendar Anjuman
Deendar Anjuman or Deendar Channabasaveshwara Anjuman was founded by Hazrath Moulana Siddique - alias Deendar Channabasaveshwara - at Bellampet, Gulbarga district, in 1924. Its head office was at Asif Nagar, Hyderabad. Though the organisation operated behind the façade of establishing religious equality, it had a hidden terror agenda, which is widely condemned by Indian Muslims.
Terror track
1. On June 8, 2000, two crude bombs were set off at Saint Anne's Church in Wadi, Gulbarga District. The church was damaged and two persons were injured.
2. On July 9, 2000, bombs were set off at St Peter Paul Church in Jagajeevanaramnagar, Bengaluru.
3. On July 8, 2000, the group triggered off bombs blasts at the St John Luthern Church in Hubli. Sixteen persons faced trial in the case.
4. The final blast occurred when a bomb went off accidentally while the terrorists were transporting them in a Maruti van on July 9.
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