A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court on Thursday sentenced Syed Maqbool, an Indian Mujahideen (IM) operative, to ten years in jail for hatching a terror conspiracy. Maqbool was arrested by the central agency on February 28, 2013 for his active involvement with members of Indian Mujahideen based in Pakistan as well as in India. He was also involved in the crime and conspiracy.
According to the NIA, Maqbool maintained close ties with IM members, including Riyaz Bhatkal, a Pakistani based terrorist, and others. The accused, along with others, also hatched a conspiracy to carry out explosive attacks at various locations within India, with Hyderabad being a primary target, the NIA said in a statement.
Extensive reconnaissance of important sites, including those in Hyderabad, was also conducted by the accused and his associates, the NIA statement added. Notably, Maqbool is the 11th person convicted in the case. Earlier in July, four accused identified as Danish Ansari, Aftab Alam, Imran Khan, and Obaid-Ur-Rehman were also convicted by the NIA court.
According to NIA, IM is responsible for organizing a series of serial blasts across the country, which include the Varanasi blasts of March 2006, the Mumbai serial blasts of July 2006, the UP Courts serial blasts in Varanasi, Faizabad, and Lucknow in 2007, the Hyderabad twin blasts of 2007, the Jaipur serial blasts of 2008, the Delhi serial blasts of 2008, the Ahmedabad serial blasts of 2008, the Chinnaswamy Stadium blast in Bangalore of 2010, and the Hyderabad twin blasts in 2013, among other terror activities.
Source: India Today
