The Hindu : National : Aftab Ansari, 6 others convicted

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Wednesday, Apr 27, 2005

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National

Aftab Ansari, 6 others convicted

Kolkata Bureau

Sentencing in embassy attack case today

KOLKATA: A special court set up to hear the case of the terrorist attack on the American Centre here three years ago, convicted on Tuesday Aftab Ansari and six others for waging war against the State, murder and conspiracy.

The Chief Judicial Magistrate, Basudeb Majumdar, however, reserved the delivery of the sentence till Wednesday.

The conviction in the Presidency Jail where the special court was set up may lead to death or life sentence for Ansari and six others. The court held its sessions inside the jail as the authorities apprehended rescue attempts by Ansari's associates.

Even on Monday, the leader of the terrorist outfit, Harqat-ul-Jehadi, challenged the authorities with these words: "Chun chun kar maroonga. Ekbar jail se bhagne ko maoka mile to saab policewallah ki sar lenge. [Just wait till I get out of the jail. I will kill all the policemen."]

The police had been put on high alert across Bengal especially Kolkata and plainclothes policemen directed to keep strict vigil in sensitive areas.

The court acquitted two persons, Dilip Patel and Shakil Mallick, for lack of evidence.

Caught unawares

At 6 a.m. on January 22, 2002, Ansari and his gang, Sadaqat, Jamaluddin Nasser, Zahid and five others, riding motorbikes and armed with AK-47s, tried to storm into the American Centre located in Central Kolkata.

Policemen on duty then were caught unawares and five of them were shot dead. Resham Chhetri, a policeman, who received a bullet injury, was admitted to the hospital and a leg had to be amputed. Fifteen other policemen and two passers-by sustained injuries in the strike.

Ansari apart, the six others convicted in the case are: Jamaluddin Nasser, Rehan Alam, Adil Hasan, Musharat Hussain, Hasrat Alam and Shakir Akhtar. But Sadaqat and five others who took part in the attack are still absconding. A few hours after the attack, Ansari called a local English-language daily and owned responsibility for the strike.

The combined operation of the Kolkata police, the CBI, the Central Intelligence and the Interpol led to the arrests of Ansari in Dubai and his mates in India. Sensing that the police were closing in on him, Ansari attempted to flee to Karachi but was arrested at Abu Dhabi airport. His associate Zahid was killed in an encounter with the police in Hazaribag in Bihar.

The other associate, Asif Reza Khan, a resident of Benepukur in Central Kolkata, who fled to Gujarat, also died in a police encounter.

Gyanwant Singh, the chief of Koklkata Police's Detective Department, said the police prepared a charge sheet on April 26, 2002 against 15 persons connected with the attack. The hearing of the case began on April 22, 2003.

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