A court here on Monday posted to Wednesday the pronouncement of quantum of punishment on eight Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) men, including three Pakistanis, it had convicted of involvement in terrorist activities in the country.
Additional District and Sessions Judge Pawan Garg was slated to sentence, on Monday, the eight, convicted on November 30 of various charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, included conspiracy and recruiting persons for terrorist activities. They were also held guilty of being members of a terrorist organisation.
The eight arrested in 2010 by the the Rajasthan Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) were Asgar Ali, Shakkar Ulla and Shahid Iqbal (all Pakistanis) and Babu alias Nishachand Ali, Hafiz Abdul, Pawan Puri, Arun Jain, and Kabil.
They were in constant touch with Pakistan-based LeT commander Walid alias Vicky.
The court found them guilty under Section 13 (abetting unlawful activity), Section 18 (punishment for conspiracy), Section 18 (B) (recruiting for terror act) and Section 20 (punishment for being member of terrorist gang or organisation) of the Act, according to Special ATS Public Prosecutor Mahaveer Jindal.
The punishment for these offences varies from five year jail to life imprisonment.
According to the prosecution, the three Pakistani LeT men, who were lodged in different jails across Rajasthan and Punjab, tried to recruit Indians for anti-national activities, such as acts of terrorism, smuggling of explosives and printing of Indian fake currency.
The Rajasthan ATS had intercepted telephonic conversations among the LeT men lodged in various jails, the LeT commander in Pakistan and their recruits in India in 2010. The case was registered on October 21, 2010 and the chargesheet was filed in court on April 15, 2015. The prosecution presented 69 witnesses during the trial.
--IANS
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