Kerala SIMI camp: NIA files chargesheet against 30

The camp was organised to train the participants in advocating,inciting and abetting terrorist activites,and disrupting communal harmony,and threatened the sovereignty and integrity of the country,the NIA stated in the chargesheet. While the agency has adequate prosecutable evidence against seven other accused who are absconding,it decided not to name them in the chargesheet till it conducts further investigations against them.

All the 30 named in the chargesheet are accused in the 2008 Gujarat serial blasts. While 29 of them have been arrested and are lodged in Ahmedabads Sabarmati Central Jail,one of the accused,Abdul Sattar from Kerala,is absconding and is reported to have fled the country. He has been declared a proclaimed offender and a reward has been issued for him.

Investigations have revealed that in and around November 2007,office-bearers and functionaries of the SIMI held a meeting at Choral near Indore in Madhya Pradesh and decided to conduct training camps for their active cadres. Accordingly,camps were conducted in Karnataka,Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat. Between December 10 and 12,2007,the SIMI allegedly organised a secret training camp at Thangalpara in Vagamon hill station.

The NIA has established on the basis of testimonies of witnesses as well as documentary evidence that in the camp,the accused underwent physical and arms training and firing practice. They also were taught how to make petrol bombs,as well as race motorbikes and climb ropes.

There are 79 witnesses and 89 lists of documents in the case. Forensic evidence collected from the site of the camp reportedly also confirmed the presence of explosives. Of the 30 accused,who were all active cadres of SIMI,four are from Kerala,nine from Karnataka,10 from Gujarat,eight from Madhya Pradesh,two from Jharkhand,three from Uttar Pradesh and one from Maharashtra.

This is one of the five cases being investigated by the NIA in Kerala.