Gujarat court sentences three young men to life imprisonment for waging war against state
Rajkot: An additional sessions court in Rajkot on Tuesday sentenced three men from West Bengal to imprisonment for the remainder of their natural lives after convicting them of conspiring to wage war against the state.
The convicts, Abdul Sukarali alias Abdullah Hajrat Sheikh (20), Aman Siraj Malik (23), and Saif Navaz Abu Sahid (23), were arrested by the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) on July 31, 2023, while working as jewellery artisans in Rajkot’s Soni Bazaar.
The ATS charged them under Section 121(a) of the Indian Penal Code, which pertains to conspiring to overawe the government by force, as well as provisions of the Arms Act for unlawful possession and use of weapons. Authorities alleged the three had links with the militant organisation Al Qaeda.
According to investigators, intelligence received on July 26, 2023 suggested circulation of propaganda related to Kashmiri Muslims. The ATS said it recovered a pistol, 18 cartridges, and electronic devices containing inflammatory messages. Malik was accused of joining a network called Al Qaeda Tanzim via encrypted platforms, allegedly under the guidance of a man named Muzamil, and of persuading the other two to join.
The prosecution argued that weapons, encrypted chat records from a group named Rah-e-Hidayat, and mosque visits by the accused proved their intent to wage war, suggesting prolonged ideological influence.
The defence, however, maintained that the prosecution had failed to present credible evidence, contending that private conversations did not amount to incitement and that witnesses had testified the accused were never heard delivering anti-national speeches in mosques.
After a one-and-a-half-year trial, Additional Sessions Judge Ikramkhan Bashirkhan Pathan convicted the three, ruling that they had waged, attempted to wage, or abetted the attempt to wage war against the state. They were sentenced to remain in prison until the end of their natural lives.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
ED searches: Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah accuses Centre of targeting Cong leaders
Chamarajanagara (Karnataka) (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday accused the central government and its agencies of consistently targeting Congress members by using searches on their properties, and questioned why similar action is not taken against BJP leaders.
He was reacting to searches conducted by the Enforcement Directorate on Monday on several individuals, among them the sons of Karnataka Congress MLA N A Haris and the grandson of former Union Cabinet minister K Rahman Khan, in connection with a cryptocurrency-linked money laundering case.
"The central government always targets Congress leaders. Will they raid the houses of BJP leaders?" Siddaramaiah said in response to a question. More than a dozen premises in the city were searched as part of the operation carried out by the ED under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The premises searched comprised those of Mohammed Haris Nalapad and Omar Farook Nalapad, the sons of the MLA; Aqeeb Khan, the grandson of veteran Congress leader K Rahman Khan; and an alleged crypto hacker, Srikrishna Ramesh, alias Sriki, officials said.
The money laundering case stems from Karnataka Police FIRs and charge sheets filed in a 2017 case involving the hacking of national and international websites, theft of bitcoins, and the sale of these stolen virtual digital assets (VDAs) through crypto platforms by the alleged hacker Sriki and his associates.
Mohammed Haris Nalapad, Omar Farook Nalapad, and Aqeeb Khan are alleged to be beneficiaries of the proceeds of crime generated through this crypto-linked activity, officials added.
