Abu Jundal, 11 others convicted in Aurangabad arms haul case

A Mumbai court on Thursday convicted 26/11 handler Abu Jundal and 11 others in a case of arms haul, saying the explosives and rifles were meant to eliminate Narendra Modi, then Gujarat chief minister, and VHP leader Pravin Togadia.

“This was a conspiracy after the 2002 Gujarat riots to eliminate then Modi and Togadia,” the MCOCA court said, upholding the prosecution’s claim. There was direct evidence that the consignment of arms was provided by Pakistan and brought in to avenge Godhra riots and spread unrest, the court said.

But, all the accused, including Lashkar operative Jundal, whose real name is Zabiuddin Ansari who was deported from Saudi Arabia in 2012, escaped the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA). Eight people were acquitted in what has come to be known as the 2006 Aurangabad arms haul case.

On May 8, 2006, a team of Maharashtra anti-terrorist squad chased two cars near Aurangabad and arrested three terror suspects. The ATS recovered 30kg RDX, 10 AK-47 rifles and 3,200 rounds of ammunition from one of the vehicles. Jundal, in the other car, managed to flee. Hailing from Beed district in Maharashtra, Jundal was on the radar of intelligence agencies, which, through phone intercepts, traced him to Pakistan and got to know in 2012 of his plans to move to Saudi Arabia.

Jundal was picked up for questioning by Saudi police in June 2012. A year later, he was brought to India and led the ATS to another hideout from where 13kg RDX, 1,200 cartridges and 50 hand grenades were recovered.

The special court framed charges against the 22 arrested accused in August 2013. The trial was stayed by Supreme Court for a while after one of the accused challenged the constitutional validity of certain provisions of MCOCA. The stay was vacated in 2009.

In August 2015, Bombay HC directed the lower court to expedite the trial.