2 linked to IS get death for killing of retired school principal in UP
“Shukla was targeted for his religious identity. It has come to light during investigation that the assailants killed the retired principal after seeing a kalawa (sacred red thread) on his wrist and tilak on his forehead,” NIA special public prosecutor Kaushal Kishore Sharma said.
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The two men were arrested for their alleged involvement in the Bhopal-Ujjain passenger train blast case in March 2017. A National Investigation Agency special court in Lucknow Thursday awarded the death sentence to two persons for the killing of retired school principal Ramesh Babu Shukla in Kanpur in 2016.
The convicts, Atif Muzaffar and Mohammed Faisal, both in their 30s, were said to be members of a group influenced by the ideology of the Islamic State.
The prosecution said the men killed Shukla because of his “religious identity”.
The two men were arrested for their alleged involvement in the Bhopal-Ujjain passenger train blast case in March 2017.
Their role in the killing of Shukla came to light during questioning in the train blast case.
Investigators said that the two men, influenced by IS ideology, wanted to kill those they considered non-believers.
“Shukla was targeted for his religious identity. It has come to light during investigation that the assailants killed the retired principal after seeing a kalawa (sacred red thread) on his wrist and tilak on his forehead,” NIA special public prosecutor Kaushal Kishore Sharma said.
They opened fire on Shukla, who was on a motorcycle, with a new pistol they had bought.
Mithlesh Kumar Singh, also a special public prosecutor, said Atif and Faisal had told investigators that they wanted to explode a bomb at the Ramlila ground in Lucknow during the 2016 Dussehra celebrations, attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“They claimed to have planted a bomb at the Ramlila ground in 2016 but it did not explode,” Singh said.
On September 4, the NIA court held the two men guilty of murder.
“On Thursday, convicts Atif and Faisal appeared before the court through video conference. The court awarded the death sentence and also imposed a fine on them,” Sharma said.
Atif and Faisal are currently lodged in the Lucknow district jail.
They were convicted under IPC sections 302 (murder) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy), and sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and Arms Act.
In all, 24 witnesses including UP minister Aseem Arun, a former chief of the state ATS, were examined by the court.
Principal Shukla’s son Akshay Shukla, a teacher in a government school, said, “I am satisfied with the court judgment. It is shocking that my father was killed because of his Hindu identity and to prove (the assailants’) commitment to the IS.”
Defence counsel Mohammad Shoaib said he would appeal against the verdict.
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