The National Investigation Agency on Thursday filed a chargesheet in the December 2007 Wagamon Students Islamic Movement of India arms training camp case, naming 30 accused, who are involved in various terrorists cases in the country, including the Ahmedabad serial blasts case of 2008.
The camp was conducted with an intention to train the participants to advocate, incite and abet unlawful terror activities, disrupt communal harmony and cause threat to the sovereignty and integrity of the country, thereby waging war against lawfully established government of India, the NIA stated in the chargesheet filed before the Central Bureau of Investigation's Special Court Judge S Vijay Kumar.
All the 30 have already been accused in the 2008 Gujarat serial blasts case. Twenty nine of them were arrested and are lodged in Sabarmati Central Jail, Ahmedabad, while one accused is absconding.
Though there is no adequate prosecutable evidence against the seven other accused, who are absconding, the NIA has decided to conduct further investigations against them. Investigations have revealed that around November 2007, office bearers and functionaries of SIMI entered into a criminal conspiracy in Choral, Indore in Madhya Pradesh and other places to conduct training camps for their active cadres.
Accordingly, they have conducted camps at Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat. From December 10, 2007, they organised a secret training camp at Thangalpara in Wagamon within the limits of Munakayam police station in Kottayam.
Oral evidence gathered from witnesses and documentary evidence collected during the investigation established that in the camp the accused were engaged in physical training, arms training, firing practice, manufacture of petrol bombs, motor bike racing and rope climbing.
Forensic evidence collected from the scene of the crime confirmed that explosives were used in the camp. Similarly, training on preparing of petrol bombs and its use could be established from the crime scene and subsequent forensic examinations. In the camp, classes on 'Jihad in India' were also held.
Of the 30 accused, who are all active cadres of SIMI, four are from Kerala, 9 from Karnataka, 10 from Gujarat, 8 from Madhya Pradesh, 2 from Jharkhand, 3 from Uttar Pradesh and one from Maharashtra.
Among the accused are P A Saduli (Kerala), Hafeez Husain (Karnataka), Safdar Nagori (Madhya Pradesh), Shilby P Abdul Karim (Kerala), Mohammed Ansar Kerala), Abdul Sattar (Kerala), Aamil Parwaz (Madhya Pradesh), Mohammed Usman (Gujarat), Mohammed Ali (Madhya Pradesh), Kamran Siddique (Madhya Pradesh), Mohammed Sami Bagevadi (Karnataka), Mohammed Yasin (Karnakata), Mohammed Asif (Karnataka) and Nadeem (Karnataka).
The accused's previous and subsequent conduct such as their involvement in the Ahmedabad serial blasts established that they also conspired to incite communal feelings and thereby create communal disharmony and feelings of enmity between different religious communities, causing threat to the integrity of the country, said the chargesheet.
NIA teams conducted investigations at various places at Bangalore, Hubli, Indore, Ahmedabad, Jharkhand, Kerala etc and examined several witnesses. The evidence clearly established the involvement of 30 hardcore SIMI activists in the case. Investigations in the case began following a complaint filed by K R Krishna Kumar, deputy superintendent of police (internal security), Ernakulam, about the secret camp.
The FIR was registered against 30 SIMI activists in Mundakayam police station. The case was initially investigated by local police officers and later the crime branch, Kottayam, took up the investigation. The Union home ministry directed the NIA on December 24, 2009 to investigate the case.
