3 ‘Indian Mujahideen operatives’ acquitted in car theft cases

Mumbai: A local court in Panvel on Friday acquitted three alleged operatives of banned terror outfit Indian Mujahideen (IM) from two different car theft cases. According to the prosecution, the cars were used in the Ahmedabad bomb blast in 2008 and to plant explosives in Surat. However, before packing explosives the IM operatives allegedly used these cars to hack unsecured WiFi networks at Khalsa College in Matunga and Kamran Power Control Pvt Ltd in suburban Chembur to send e-mails to media houses, threatening about the impending blasts. Those acquitted include Afzal Usmani, who is already convicted for escaping from a sessions court premises when he was brought to court in the said matter.

Magistrate J.M. Chavan of Panvel court acquitted Usmani, Mubin alias Irfan Khan and Amin Shaikh from section 379 (theft). Though the cars were used in terror activities, the case about the theft of these cars were separately registered and tried. According to advocates Tahwar Khan Pathan and Ishrat Ali Khan, who appeared for the accused on behalf of Jamiat-e-Ulema Maharashtra, there was no evidence against the accused to show they had stolen those cars and hence the judge acquitted them.

The prosecution case is that on July 26, 2008, 21 bomb explosions had rocked Ahmedabad in a span of 70 minutes, killing 56 people and injuring over 200. The prosecution said one of these cars was used in these blasts while explosives were found the next day in Surat and second car was one amongst these. “Our first contention was that the cognisance of the crime was taken after more than seven years, which is contrary to provisions of law because maximum punishment in the case is three years and cognisance should have been taken within this period,” said Mr Khan.

Advocate Pathan claimed that even the investigation officer Anil Surwase also accepted during cross-examination that neither he nor his predecessor obtained information from the RTO regarding the vehicles and never went to Ahmedabad for investigation though the prosecution case is that the car was used in the blast there. The defence claimed that the prosecution could not establish that the recovered vehicles by the Gujarat police bear the same engine and chassis number that were missing from Panvel. The prosecution case is that on July 26, 2008, 21 bomb explosions had rocked Ahmedabad in a span of 70 minutes, killing 56 people and injuring over 200. The prosecution said one of these cars was used in these blasts while explosives were found the next day in Surat and second car was one amongst these. However, before packing explosives in these cars the accused used them to search for an unsecured WiFi network in Mumbai and send e-mails from them to media houses, the prosecution said.

According to the prosecution, two months prior to the blasts Usmani had allegedly told the duo to arrange for four-wheelers, which were required for packing them with explosives following which cars were stolen and handed over to associates. But these three were arrested by the Mumbai police after their names appeared in chargesheet filed by the Gujarat police.