Three SIMI members get life for bid to murder BJP youth wing activist

Three SIMI members were on Tuesday sentenced to life imprisonment by a Bhopal special court for attempted murder of a Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) activist in Madhya Pradesh’s Khandwa town in 2009. While BJYM president Pramod Tiwari had escaped unhurt, a BJYM activist was critically injured in the attack that took place on the night of January 2, 2009. There were seven accused in the murder case, but four of them were killed in an alleged encounter near Bhopal last year.

Like all other cases involving Madhya Pradesh’s SIMI activists, this case was also shifted to Bhopal and the accused were produced in court through video conferencing. Besides Abu Faisal — who was the key conspirator in the attack and is facing trial in other terror-related cases — Abdullah Hussain and Raquib were sentenced to life imprisonment for attempt to murder Dubey. The trio were also sentenced to 10 years in jail for the attempt on Tiwari’s life by Special Judge Girish Dixeet. Both the sentences will run concurrently.

Defence lawyer Zeenat Anwar told The Indian Express that the trio was acquitted under sections related to sedition, promoting enmity between religious groups and Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, as charges under these sections could not be proved. Akeel Khilji, Zakir Hussain, Amjad Khan and Mehboob were among the SIMI members who were killed in an alleged encounter on October 31, 2016, after they allegedly escaped from Bhopal Central Jail.