Kolkata:
The Calcutta High Court on Monday acquitted four Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists, including two Pakistani nationals, who were sentenced to death for waging war against the country while convicted of other crimes.
All four were found guilty of “conspiracy” to wage war against the Government of India and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
The four persons were acquitted of the charges under Section 121 of the IPC for waging war against the Government of India, and a division bench chaired by Judge Joymalya Bagchi indicated that the two Pakistani nationals – Md Younus and Md Abdullah, those who have already served the sentence are forced back to their country.
The court ruled that of the two Indian nationals who were also found guilty of conspiracy to wage war against the country under Section 121A of IPC and who have also served the sentence, Muzaffar Ahamed prefers to be released from the penitentiary while Sk Nayeem must be released. produced for Patiala House Court in Delhi in connection with another case.
“In view of the acquittal under Section 121 of the IPC, the death penalty and fine of Rs 50,000 each imposed on the plaintiffs under such score shall be set aside,” the division bench, which also consists of Judge Ananya Badopadhyay, in her judgment on the appeals against a court order from the hearing that awarded the death penalty.
The court said that since an offense under section 121A IPC involves conspiracy to wage war or to overwhelm the sovereign authority of a democratically elected government by display of criminal force, it is a serious offense and “indoctrinated members of a terrorist organization whose goal is to sow terror and destabilize the nation.”
The court finds that the defendants are not men who belonged to the higher echelons of the terrorist organization, but notes that they are foot soldiers recruited by enticement or coercion for the activities of the organization.
The court said extenuating circumstances show that the applicants are not prominent players in the organization and there is little chance of them returning to the path of terrorism.
“Now that Md. Younus and Md. Abdullah have served their sentences, the appropriate authorities are ordered to push them to their country of origin, i.e. Pakistan,” the court said.
The two Pakistani nationals were also found guilty under the Aliens Act and were sentenced to five years’ imprisonment, which coincided.
A district court in North 24 Parganas had sentenced three LeT terrorists – Md Younus, Md Abdullah and Muzaffar Ahamed Rather to death in January 2017 and awarded the death penalty to fourth terror module Abdul Nayeem in December 2018 for “waging war against the country”. .
The divisional bench heard the death statement of the four, as a high court must uphold a death sentence imposed by a sitting court, subject to their appeal of conviction and sentence.
On April 3, 2007, BSF had arrested the four individuals on suspicion of membership of the terrorist group LeT and handed them over to the local police.
The West Bengal Criminal Investigation Department, which took over the investigation, had charged them with waging war against the country and procuring weapons and explosives, among other charges.
Nayeem had escaped from custody in 2013 while being taken to Maharashtra for questioning in connection with the 2006 Mumbai train blast, but was arrested again in October 2018 by NIA sleuths.
While Rather was taken to Pakistan by the LeT for weapons training, Nayeem was ordered to meet the three in Bangladesh and help them cross into India and then take them to Jammu and Kashmir.
The four LeT agents illegally crossed the border at Petrapole in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal and were then arrested by the BSF after a chase.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is being published from a syndicated feed.)
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