A NIA Court on Thursday awarded life term to five activists of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), for possession of explosives.
The court awarded life term to Abdul Aziz, Javed, Abdul Wahid, Jubar and Mohammad Adil. Special NIA judge Girish Dixit also imposed a fine of Rs. 2,000 each.
Out of the total 12 accused in the case, two were killed in an encounter with the police in October two years ago. Five others namely Umar, Sajid, Sadiq, Abu Faizal and Irfan Nagori were acquitted by the court due to lack of evidence against them.
The Anti Terrorism Squad of Madhya Pradesh initially arrested three with a large haul of explosives during a raid in state's Ujjain district. Nine others were also arrested later. The ATS recovered 800 gelatin sticks, 540 detonators, a pipe bomb and some other kinds of explosives from their possession.
Public Prosecutor Rajendra Upadhyay claimed that the seized explosives were lethal and could have caused massive damage and hence, pushed for maximum punishment for the arrested accused.