The NIA special court in Kochi has framed charges against four persons, including the suspected Lashkar-e-Taiba operative Thadiyantavide Nazeer, in connection with the Kalamassery bus-burning case.
The accused, identified as Thadiyantavida Nazeer, Sabir Buhari, Thajudin Chittatukara, and Ummar Farooque, were brought from Bengaluru to Kochi on Thursday as part of the proceedings.
Judge K.M. Balachandran read out charges against the accused, following which they requested the court to discharge them from the case.
Charges were framed against them separately as they had been lodged in Parappana Agrahara Jail and could not be produced in the Kochi NIA court due to the ongoing trial in the Bangalore blast case.
The accused were brought to Kochi in a police vehicle from Bengaluru amidst heavy security. The case has been posted for scheduling the trial on June 26.
The court had already framed charges against seven other accused in the case, including Sufiya Maudany, wife of Peoples Democratic Party leader Abdul Nasir Maudany.
As per the NIA charge sheet, Thadiyantavide Naseer is the prime accused while Sufiya Maudany figures as the 10th accused. The case relates to burning of a Tamil Nadu Transport Corporation bus at Kalamassery on September 9, 2005.
The NIA had included 13 persons in the charge sheet. The 12th accused Abdul Raheem, who was killed in an encounter with the army in Kashmir, was later excluded from the charge sheet.
The court has framed charges against seven other accused in the case, including Sufiya Maudany.
