SIMI activist Abu Faisal, convicted for ATS constable murder

A sealed SIMI office. (Express Archive)

Faisal, who had hatched the conspiracy to kill Yadav, was also the mastermind of the daring jailbreak in Khandwa after which six SIMI activists escaped in October 2013. Faisal, who wanted for several cases, was caught two months later, the police said.

B S Bhadoriya, the special judge in Bhopal, is likely to announce the quantum of punishment on Saturday. Faisal was found guilty of murder and conspiracy and also under the Arms Act.

Mehtab, another SIMI activist, was acquitted of the murder charge but convicted under the Arms Act, said his lawyer Parvez Alam.

Faisal, described in police records as Amir of SIMI, had hatched a conspiracy to kill constable Yadav in revenge for using his network to crack down on SIMI activists in Khandwa. The conspiracy was hatched in a rented place in Satna. Faisal was also accused of plotting to kill judges who gave the judgement in the Ayodhya case.