A special NIA court in Mohali has convicted three Kashmiri students for conspiring to wage war against India and collecting arms and explosives as part of a terror plot linked to the banned outfit Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind (AGH), while acquitting a fourth accused for lack of evidence.
Special judge Dinesh Kumar Wadhwa held Zahid Gulzar, Yasir Rafiq Bhat and Mohammad Idrish Shah, all residents of Pulwama, guilty under Sections 121-A (conspiracy to wage war against the Government of India ), 122 (collecting men, arms or ammunition with the intention of waging war) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC, Sections 18 and 20 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for conspiracy, abetment of a terrorist act and membership of a terrorist organisation, Section 25(A-1) (possession and handling of prohibited arms or ammunition without authorisation) of the Arms Act and Section 5 (possessing explosive substances under suspicious circumstances or for unlawful purposes) of the Explosive Substances Act. The court acquitted Suhail Ahmed Bhat, observing that the prosecution had failed to prove the charges against him.
According to the prosecution, AGH chief Zakir Bhatt alias Zakir Musa had conspired with associates to carry out attacks on important installations in Punjab and destabilise law and order in the state. Investigators alleged that Zahid Gulzar joined the outfit after being radicalised and subsequently collected a consignment of explosives from Gurdaspur on August 3, 2018, following instructions conveyed through encrypted communication channels. NIA further alleged that Gulzar and Mohammad Idris Shah collected another cache of arms and ammunition from Amritsar on October 7, 2018.
NIA investigation found that Zakir Rashid Bhat alias Zakir Musa broke away from Hizbul Mujahideen in 2017 to form Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind (AGH), which allegedly conspired to carry out terror activities in Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir and other parts of India as part of a plan to wage war against the country.
The conspiracy came to light after a raid Punjab Police on a hostel room at CT Institute, Jalandhar, on October 10, 2018. Investigators recovered an AK-series rifle, magazines, live cartridges, explosives and other incriminating material. Hostel records produced during trial established that Zahid Gulzar and Yasir Rafiq Bhat were occupants of the room from where the recovery was made. The FIR on the case was registered on October 10, 2018, and later taken over by the National Investigation Agency.
The prosecution examined about 62 witnesses, including protected witnesses, forensic experts and investigating officers. Digital evidence extracted from mobile phones and electronic devices allegedly showed photographs and propaganda material related to Zakir Musa, Burhan Wani and AGH. The court noted that photographs linked to locations where explosives were allegedly collected were also found in data recovered from Zahid Gulzar’s mobile phone.
During the trial, the defence challenged the validity of the charges, the recovery process, the sanction granted under the UAPA and the admissibility of evidence. The court, however, found the prosecution witnesses reliable and held that the chain of evidence was complete.
While convicting Zahid Gulzar, Yasir Rafiq Bhat and Mohammad Idris Shah, the court held that the prosecution had successfully proved the concealment and transportation of arms, ammunition and explosives from locations near Gurdaspur and Amritsar and their role in the conspiracy. It convicted them under Sections 121-A, 122 and 120-B of the IPC, Sections 18 and 20 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Section 25 of the Arms Act and Section 5 of the Explosive Substances Act.
However, the court found significant gaps in the case against Suhail Ahmed Bhat. It observed that the NIA failed to prove any communication between him and Zakir Musa, failed to establish his connection with the weapons recovered from the hostel room and could not conclusively prove that a laptop containing alleged extremist material belonged to him.
The three convicts have remained in custody since their arrest in October 2018. The court fixed June 4 for hearing the convicts on the quantum of sentence.
