Maqsudan blasts: Charges framed against seven Kashmiri students

MOHALI : The special CBI judge, also designated as a special judge, National Investigation Agency (NIA), Mohali, on Thursday framed charges against seven Kashmiri students in the case of four hand-grenade explosions at Maqsudan police station in Jalandhar.

The accused, Fazil Bashir Pinchoo; Shahid Quyoom; Amair Nazir Mir; Zahid Gulzar; Yasir Rafiq Bhat alias Zasir Rafiq; Mohammad Idris Shah and Suhail Ahmed Bhat, would face trial from November 4. Probe showed Fazil Bashir Pinchoo; Shahid Quyoom; Rouf Ahmed Mir; and Ummer Ramzan, alias Gazi, had targeted the police station in in association with Amir Nazir Mir and Rasik Ahmed Mir, both residents of Pulwama. According to the investigation, the conspiracy was hatched by a terror organisation, Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind (AGH), led by its selfstyled chief Zakir Rashid Bhat, alias Zakir Musa, to target security installations across the country. A policeman had received splinter injuries in his chest in the attack.

The Sections under which the trial will start are 120B (criminal conspiracy); 121 (waging or attempting to wage war against state); 121A (attempt to overawe the governments by criminal force); 122 (collection of arms); 307 (attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal Code and under Sections 16, 18, 20, 23 of Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and Section 3 of the Explosives Substances Act.

Pinchoo and Quyoom were students at St Soldiers Institute, Jalandhar, Punjab, the investigation had found. As part of the conspiracy, these two had collected four hand grenades from an unidentified cadre of AGH near Verka Plant, Jalandhar, on September 9, 2018. On September 13, Rauf Ahmed Mir and Ramzan, alias Gazi, travelled from Kashmir to Chandigarh on an IndiGo flight, and onwards to Jalandhar by road. Recce of potential targets was conducted on September 13, and after selecting Maqsudan police station building as the target, the attack was executed on September 14, the probe found. After the attack, the four men, went separately to Kashmir.

Three other accused Rouf Ahmed Mir, Ummer Ramzan and Rasik Ahmed Mir were killed in an encounter on December 22, 2018 in Jammu and Kashmir.