NIA files charge sheet against 8 LeT cadres in Karnataka in 'fidayeen' attack conspiracy case

New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday filed a charge sheet against eight persons, including two absconders, in a case of prison radicalisation and 'fidayeen' (suicide) attack conspiracy by the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) in Karnataka, an official said.

Among the charge-sheeted accused is T Naseer of Kannur in Kerala, who is serving a life sentence in the Central Prison in Bengaluru in a separate case since 2013.

Two other accused -- Junaid Ahmed alias 'JD' and Salman Khan -- are suspected to have fled abroad, a spokesperson of the federal agency said.

The remaining accused have been identified as Syed Suhail Khan alias 'Suhail', Mohammed Umar alias 'Umar', Zahid Tabrez alias 'Zahid', Syed Mudassir Pasha and Mohammed Faisal Rabbani alias 'Sadath'.

They have been charge-sheeted under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Explosive Substances Act and the Arms Act, the spokesperson said.

The official said the case was originally registered by the Bengaluru City Police on July 18 last year following seizure of arms, ammunition, hand grenades and walkie-talkies from the possession of seven of the accused persons.

The recovery was made while the seven men were gathered in the house of one of the accused.

The spokesperson said the investigation into the case, which was taken over by the NIA in October 2023, revealed that Naseer, who was involved in several blast cases, had come in contact with the other accused while they were all lodged in the Bengaluru jail during 2017.

While Salman was in jail then in connection with a case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, the others were involved in a murder case.

Naseer had managed to get them shifted to his barracks after a careful assessment of their potential with a view to radicalize and recruit them into the proscribed terror group LeT, the spokesperson said.

The agency said he first managed to radicalize and recruit Ahmad and Salman Khan to further the activities of the LeT and thereafter, he conspired with Ahmad to radicalize and recruit the other accused, the official said.

Ahmad, following his release from prison, was believed to have fled abroad after committing some more offences.

According to the investigation, the official said he began sending funds to his co-accused from abroad to promote LeT activities within and outside the prison.

He also conspired with Salman Khan to deliver arms, ammunition, hand grenades and walkie talkies to the other accused as part of a plot to carry out a 'fidayeen' attack and help Naseer escape from police custody enroute to court, the official said.

The spokesperson said Ahmad also instructed his co-accused to steal used police caps for the attack and to commit arson on government buses as a practice run. The plot was foiled with the seizure of arms in July last year.

Further investigation in the case is underway, the official said.