Mangaluru, Apr 12: Three men from coastal Karnataka, convicted of charges related to terror activities, were sentenced to life imprisonment by a local court in Mangaluru on Wednesday.
The convicts are Sayyed Mohammed Noushad, a resident of Pandeshwar in Mangaluru; Ahmed Bava alias Aboobakker of Bollur in Haleyangadi; and Fakir Ahmed, from Uchila in Udupi district.
Additional district and sessions court judge SH Pushpanjali Devi awarded the jail term to the trio two days after she held thm guilty under sections of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), Explosive Substances Act, Arms Act and the Indian Penal Code.
While announcing the quantum of punishment, the judge also allowed the convicts to meet their family members for 15 minutes. She also granted permission to the police to handcuff the accused during transit.
The convicts, on the occasion, handed over a letter to the judge claiming that they were innocents and deprived of justice.
9 year old case
As many as 13 people were named suspects in the 2008 case registered in Ullal police station. The court completed the trial against seven accused and acquitted four among them on Monday. The four acquitted are: Javed Ali, Mohammed Ali, Moulana Shabbir Bhatkal and Mohammed Rafeeq.
The arrest spree had started on October 3, 2008 in Mangaluru taluk. 20-year-old Javed Ali, and his 60-year-old father Mohammed Ali were dragged out of their house at Ullal in a pre-dawn operation carried out jointly by Mumbai Police with the help of Karnataka Anti-Naxal Force and the Dakshina Kannada district Police, on October 3, 2008.
Later, the team cops claimed to have seized five live bombs and 10 mobile phones after raiding a rented house in Chembugudde near Thokkotu.
Similarly, police seized 11 items, including maps, CPU, telephone numbers, passport, bank passbook, a bike with fake number plate and a book titled 'Commander of Muslim Army', from the house of Mohammed Noushad in Pandeshwar.
Police arrested Mohammed Rafeeq and Fakir Ahmed from Bolanthur and Muloor, in Dakshina Kannada district, respectively. Based on the information collected from them, the team later raided the house and three acres of land belonging to sixth accused Fakir Ahmed in Vittalamakki of Kuduregundi village in Chikkamagaluru.
The police claimed that a total of 38 items, including a gun, black oxide, hand gloves, fibre pieces, iron pieces, glass pieces, nylon materials, glycerine bottle and white powder required to make bombs were seized from Fakir Ahmed's house in Vittalamakki. They also claimed that 20 electric sticks, 19 detonators and four timers were seized from the second accused Ahmed Bava.
However, the family members of the convicts continued to deny the claim of the police and allege that the youths were implicated in false cases.
Also Read: Ullal explosive recovery case: Three convicted, four acquitted after 9 years
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