The Ahmedabad Detection of Crime Branch (DCB) filed the chargesheet against Hyderabad-based cleric Abdul Kavi in connection with the 2003 “ISI Conspiracy case”, implicating him under various sections of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) and Arms Act, among others, before a special POTA court. The case that dates back to 2003, but the judgment was pronounced in 2010. The POTA court has proclaimed Kavi as an offender, along with other proclaimed offenders, such as underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, Chhota Shakeel, Mufti Sufiyan Ahmedmiya Patangiya and 20 others, who are still absconding. The chargesheet, filed on Saturday, states Kavi was part of the conspiracy that was hatched to avenge the 2002 riots. Kavi has also been booked for conspiring “war against the government”. On June 12, the home department gave its sanction to file the chargesheet against Kavi under POTA. The chargesheet claims that Kavi was in touch with Sufiyan and another gangster, Rasool Party, who are also accused of masterminding the killing of BJP leader Haren Pandya in 2003. According to DCB officials, Rasool had met Kavi in Hyderabad. There were a total of 44 accused who were tried by the POTA court. Out of them, 22 were convicted. The case was investigated by the suspended DSP Tarun Barot, whose name figures in the two encounter cases - Sadiq Jamal Mehtar and Ishrat Jahan encounter. The DCB claimed that a conspiracy was hatched by the accused to carry out terror activities in the state under the “leadership, guidance,inducement, inspiration and financial aid of a rich person, whose name has not been known, and by using the network of Dawood Ibrahim’s gang in Pakistan and the ISI, with a view to take revenge of the loss caused to Muslims during the 2002 communal riots in Gujarat. For this purpose, youth from Gujarat and Hyderabad were sent to Pakistan via Bangladesh and Nepal, it said. They were reportedly trained in handling weapons, making bombs, among others, in 2002. In 2003, the conspiracy was busted by the DCB. Kavi, 58, was arrested by DCB officials from Delhi airport. The DCB claimed that “Jihadi Conspiracy” resulted in the murder of Pandya, AMTS blasts and tiffin blasts. Kavi is lodged in Ahmedabad Central Jail.
