Five SIMI men get life sentence for possession of explosives

Five activists of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) were sentenced to life imprisonment by a special NIA court here Thursday for possession of explosives.

Special judge Girish Dixit acquitted five others.

Of the 12 accused in the case, Khalid Ahmed and Abdul Mazid were killed in a police encounter in October 2016, prosecutor Yogesh Tiwari said.

The special court for National Investigation Agency (NIA) cases awarded life imprisonment Thursday to Abdul Aziz, Javed, Abdul Wahid, Jubar and Mohammad Adil.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 8,000 on each of them.

Five others -- Umar, Sajid, Sadiq, Abu Faizal and Irfan Nagori -- were acquitted for want of evidence.

Madhya Pradesh Police's Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) had arrested three SIMI activists with a cache of explosives during a raid in Mahidpur area in Ujjain district on January 1, 2013.

Nine others were arrested subsequently.

Eight hundred gelatin sticks, 540 detonators, a 'gelatin bomb', a pipe bomb and 11 other types of bombs were recovered from the accused.

These explosives were lethal and could have caused massive damage, district public prosecutor Rajendra Upadhyay contended, seeking maximum punishment for the accused.