Hindustan Times ST (Mumbai) - HT Navi Mumbai Live
Accused in Gorakhnath temple attack charged under UAPA: Cops
LUCKNOW: The Uttar Pradesh anti-terror squad (ATS) has invoked the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) against accused Ahmad Murtaza Abbasi in the Gorakhnath temple attack case, senior police officials said on Saturday.
Abbasi was sent to 14-day judicial custody after his police custody ended on Saturday, they added.
The UAPA allows the investigating agencies to get a longer remand of the accused and an extended duration to file a charge sheet.
“Charges under UAPA section 16 pertaining to terrorist act, section 18 (terror conspiracy), section 20 (for being a member of a terrorist gang or organisation) and section 40 (raising fund for a terrorist organisation) have been added against Abbasi,” said Naveen Arora, UP ATS addiistrate tional director general (ADG).
The UAPA were invoked based on the interrogation of the accused, as well as electronic and financial transactions related to terror funding against him, Arora said.
The ATS has been interrogating Abbasi since April 4 after taking his custody for seven days from a Gorakhpur court. Later, the custody was extended for five more days.
Earlier in the day, the ATS team presented Abbasi in the court of the additional chief judicial mag(ACJM) in Gorakhpur. After hearing the arguments of the prosecution, the court sent Abbasi to Gorakhpur jail in judicial custody for 14 days. The ATS in a statement said it will now appeal to get the case transferred to ATS special court in Lucknow for further hearing.
Abbasi, an IIT-Mumbai graduate, tried to forcibly enter the Gorakhnath temple premises on April 3. When the security personnel tried to stop him, he attacked them with a sickle, injuring two constables of the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC). He was soon overpowered by other security staff and arrested. The security staff seized the sickle used in the attack and a knife from his possession.
The Gorakhnath temple premises in Gorakhpur also houses the residence of chief minister Yogi Adityanath as the head priest of the temple. The CM was not in the temple premises at the time of the attack.