Kalamassery bus burning case: NIA court sentences three to rigorous imprisonment

Kochi: A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Kochi on Monday sentenced two persons to seven years of rigorous imprisonment and a third to six years in prison after they were found guilty in a 2005 case in which a Tamil Nadu state government bus was set on fire.
The case was initially registered on September 9, 2005 at Kalamassery Police Station, in Ernakulum, Kerala but moved to NIA for investigation on January 22, 2010. The NIA filed a charge sheet on December 17, 2010, against 13 accused.

The convicted accused have been identified as Nazeer Thadiyantavidatha alias Ummer Haji alias Haji from Kerala's Kannur while Sabir Buhari and Thajudin hailed from Ernakulam.
Nazeer Thadiyantavidatha and Sabir Buhari have been sentenced to seven years of rigorous imprisonment (RI) and a fine of Rs 2,35,000 for offenses under sections 120B (punishment of criminal conspiracy), 121A (conspiracy to commit offenses, like waging or attempting to wage war or abetting waging of war, against the Government of India), 323, 364, 435, 506 (ii) of IPC section 4 of PDPP Act besides sections 16(1)(b) (punishment for the terrorist act) and 18 (punishment for conspiracy, etc.) of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
Thajudin has been sentenced to six years of RI and a fine of Rs. 1,60,000 for the offense under section 120B, 121A, 323, 364 of IPC, 435, 506 (ii) of IPC, section 4 of PDPP Act besides sections 16(1)(b) and 18 of UAPA Act.

The NIA claimed that the accused persons had entered into a criminal conspiracy in the first week of September 2005 to wage war, strike terror, and damage government property in retaliation to the continued detention of Abdul Nasar Madani, Chairman of PDP who was detained in Coimbatore jail at that time.
The accused persons had assembled on September 8, 2005, at Aluva Masjid and chalked out a plan at the instigation of another accused person to set fire to a Tamil Nadu government-owned bus.
Trial against eight other accused persons, including one absconding, is in progress. (ANI)