Court sentences Hizbul operative Ahmad to life

Hyderabad: A court in Hyderabad has awarded the life sentence to Mujeeb Ahmad, a Hyderabad-based operative of terrorist organisation Hizbul Mujahideen after finding him guilty of sedition and waging war against the state and many other counts.

His six associates, including a woman, Zohra Nishat, were also sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment each. The first additional metropolitan sessions judge L Srirama Murthy, who had indicted all the seven accused, pronounced the judgement yesterday.

The accused were found guilty under section 122 (collecting arms with intention of waging war against the country), 124-A (sedition), 23-A of unlawful activities (prevention) act. However they were acquitted of the charges of criminal conspiracy.

Those convicted and sentenced also included a driver from Kashmir Shabbir Ahma and cleaner Ravinder in whose truck Hizbul Mujahideen had sent a consignment of arms in 2005. Others sentenced include Ahmad's brother-in-law Yaseen and Shaikh Awadi.

However, two accused - Hizbul chief Salah Al Deen and a former naxalite Nayeemuddin - were shown as absconding.

This is the second time that Ahmad has been sentenced to life imprisonment.

Earlier, he was sentenced in the killing of a police officer Krishna Prasad in November 1992. He was released in December 2004 on the remission of his sentence and he again resumed his anti-national activities.

While being taken to the Charlapally jail of Hyderabad, Ahmad described the case against him as "fabricated and politically motivated".

He blamed it on the Hyderabad member of Parliament and Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) President Asaduddin Owaisi and the additional director general of police K. Arvind Rao.

"Let the police make arrangements for the security of the family of the MP," he said in an apparent revenge threat.

Ahmad and his associates were arrested by Hyderabad police on December 26, 2005, after his attempt to smuggle sophisticated arms from Kashmir to Hyderabad was busted.

It came to light when Rajasthan police caught a marble-laden truck in Ajmer district with three Ak-47 rifles, 220 rounds of ammunition and 15 detonators. Police arrested driver Ahma and cleaner Ravinder. On their statement that the arms consignment was meant for Ahmad, the Hyderabad police arrested him and others.