The special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) court on Friday framed charges against the alleged handler of 26/11 attacks on Mumbai, Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal in the 2006 Aurangabad arms haul case.
The court has charged Ansari for being involved in the terrorist activities since 1996 to 2006. It has charged him to strike terror, to overawe by means of criminal force the government established law, to create instability in the state of Maharashtra and India, to shake and reduce the faith of the common citizen in its elected democratic government by large scale violence and also to exploit the communal sentiments of Muslims and provoke them in the name of religion among other illegal acts.
The charges framed against Ansari are under sections of MCOCA, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Explosive Substances Act and Arms Act.
Ansari however pleaded not guilty in front of the court. He denied of being a part of organisations like Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and Laskhar-e-Toiba (LeT). His lawyer Advocate Ejaj Naqvi has filed an application on his behalf asking the court not to keep him in the solitary confinement in the Arthur Road jail. He has also sent a letter to the Chief Justice of India and the Chief Justice of Bombay High Court alleging torture by some of the investigating officers during interrogation.
On May 8, 2006, a Maharashtra Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) team chased a Tata Sumo and an Indica car on Chandwad-Manmad highway near Aurangabad and arrested three terror suspects and seized 30 kg of RDX, 10 AK-47 assault rifles and 3,200 bullets. The Indica was allegedly driven by Ansari, who managed to give police the slip and drove to Malegaon.
He originally belongs to the Beed district in Maharashtra. After 2006, he escaped to Bangladesh and then to Pakistan. After the terror attacks on Mumbai, he was allegedly asked to move to Saudi Arabia on Pakistani passport. Following the hard rounds of negotiations with the Saudi Arabia, he was deported to India in June 2012.
