S.A. Basha, leader of the banned Al-Umma, and 11 others were today convicted by the Special court for Bomb Blast Cases at Poonamalee, for conspiring to blow up important places in Chennai including the LIC Building and the BJP office.Another 11 persons were absolved of the conspiracy charges but were, nevertheless found guilty of supporting the outlawed organisation. While one of the 24 accused in the 1998 case probed by the CB-CID, Mohammed Rafiq (42), was acquitted of all 19 charges, the court also dropped the charge of attempt-to-murder against six of them. One of the two women accused, Arifa Begum, was found guilty of supporting the Al-Umma, the only charge proved against her. The prosecution had charged her with possession of explosives, rioting and preventing government servants from performing their duty.Delivering his verdict in the case, Special Judge L Rajedran said the sentences would be pronounced on Monday after providing the convicted persons an opportunity to be heard and after evaluating their offences.He said this was done on the basis of a Supreme Court directive that the convicted persons should be heard before the verdict on the sentences are delivered under Section 235 (2) of the Criminal Procedure Code.He said the prosecution had proved beyond doubt he conspiracy to blow up the Chennai buildings, by establishing that the accused had stocked explosives at different places and tried to destroy evidence. The 1998 case filed in Kodambakkam, Tambaram, Vepery and Poonamalee relates to stocking of explosive material and weapons at different places in and around the city with an intent to blowing up strategically significant places in Chennai in 1998. The city police recovered explosives from a house on Masjid Street in Kodambakkam, a vacant land on GST Road in Tambaram, a house in Zam Bazaar and a mechanic’s shop at Poonamalee in 1998.All the accused were caught by the police after the Coimbatore serial bomb blasts on February 14, 1998. One of the accused in the case, Ayesha alias Sangeetha, who was to be a human bomb, eluded the police net for almost two years before being nabbed in North India. The chargesheet was filed in 2000, listing 89 witnesses and 118 documents as evidence. The accused were charged under Sections 120-B (conspiracy), 307 (attempt to murder), 147, 148 and 149 (all relating to illegal assembly armed with weapons and rioting), 353 (preventing a government servant from performing duties), read with 4 (b) and 5 of the Explosives Substances Act (transportation and possession), 25 (1 (b) (a) of Arms Act (using a firearm to threaten) and 17 (1) of the Criminal Law Amendment Act (supporting a banned outfit).
