CCB lists 123 witnesses, names several 'absconding' accused

Bengaluru, Jul 8 (DHNS): The Central Crime Branch (CCB) on Tuesday filed a 1,700-page charge sheet against four men it had arrested on charges of terrorism in Bengaluru, Bhatkal and Mangaluru in January this year.

Syed Ismail Afaaque, 36, Sadam Hussain, 29, Syed Abdus Suboor, 24, and Riyaz Ahmed Sayeedi, 32, all hailing from Bhatkal town in Uttara Kannada district, have been named in the charge sheet. The CCB has formally accused them of supplying gelatin sticks and other explosive material to various terror outfits which carried out bomb blasts in various parts of the country. The four men have been charged under sections 120(B), 121(A) and 511 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, sections 13, 16, 18, 20 and 38 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, and sections 4, 5 and 6 of the Explosive Substances Act, 1908, a senior police officer said on the condition of anonymity. The CCB has listed as many as 123 witnesses in the charge sheet but the identity of several key witnesses has not been disclosed so as to “protect their lives.”

Riyaz Bhatkal, Iqbal Bhatkal and Afeef of Bhatkal, who are said to be hiding in Karachi, Pakistan, and Zainul Abideen and Sameer, who are reportedly on the run, have also been charge-sheeted as “absconding accused”. The four accused in custody were “in constant touch” with Riyaz, Iqbal and Afeef. The three men are believed to be founder members of Indian Mujahideen (IM), a terrorist organisation, according to the CCB.

The main accused, Afaaque, is married to a Pakistani national. The CCB claimed that on the “pretext” of visiting his in-laws in Karachi, Afaaque met Riyaz, Iqbal and Afeef there. The men discussed providing logistics support for carrying out bomb blasts across India. Afaaque, the charge sheet states, “underwent training in using various weapons and assembling of Improvised Explosive Device (IED) which is used in bomb blasts”.

The CCB also claimed to have recovered a large quantity of electronic detonators, gelatin sticks, ammonium nitrate, Jihadi literature and posters, besides assembled circuit boards which are used in bomb blasts, while arresting the four accused.

While Afaaque and Hussein were arrested from a flat at Cox Town in Bengaluru, Suboor was apprehended in the Jamiya area of Bhatkal. Sayeedi was detained while he was about to board a flight to Dubai from the Mangaluru International Airport. The arrests were made in January 2015 following “credible tip-offs”, the CCB said.