ATS charge: ‘Yasin Butt an absconder in a POTA case’

“Butt did not appear in the POTA court and he was an absconder. We have charged him under IPC section 174 A for non-attendance in obedience to an order from public servant, along with other sections,” said a senior official of the ATS.

Two armed terrorists had attacked the temple in Gandhinagar, killing 33 people including a National Security Guard (NSG) commando and two Gujarat police officers, on September 24, 2002. The two terrorists identified as Ashraf Ali Mohammed Farooq and Murtuza Hafiz Yasin were gunned down by NSG commandos. The attack left more than 80 people injured.

According to officials, Butt had fled to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir after the attack and eluded the security forces since. He was finally nabbed following a tip-off stating that he had returned to Jammu and Kashmir and was working at a timber warehouse.

Officials also said that Butt allegedly carried out the conspiracy on the directives of Pakistan’s secret service agency- Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). “On the directives of ISI, Butt and other accused collaborated with banned organisations such as Jaish-e-Mohhamad and Lashkar-e-Toiba to conspire attacks against India and wage war against the state. He is a big catch for us and was the only link between Chand Khan and Kashmir,” said an official.

Butt is currently locked up in the custody of Local Crime Branch (LCB), as a court in Jammu and Kashmir has provided a five-day transit remand to the Gujarat ATS.