SIMI activist sentenced to life imprisonment for attacking cops

An activist of the SIMI, a banned outfit, was sentenced to life imprisonment on Friday by a special NIA court here on multiple counts, including for killing an Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) constable and injuring two other police officials in 2011, the prosecution said.

The activist, identified only as Farhat, was convicted and sentenced by special NIA judge Girish Dixit, district prosecution office media in-charge Yogesh Tiwari said.

Farhat and another accused Zakir, both activists of the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), were accused of killing ATS constable Shivpratap and injuring two other policemen on June 3, 2011 in Ratlam, Tiwari said.

Both the assailants were caught on the spot and a pistol was seized from one of them, he added.

A case was registered against them under IPC sections 302 (murder) and 307 (attempt to murder), Tiwari said.

He said the case was later transferred to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Bhopal for trial as the firing on the policemen was treated as a "terror attack".

The trial was conducted through video-conferencing, Tiwari said.

Zakir was among the eight SIMI activists who were killed by the police after they escaped from the high-security Bhopal Central Jail in 2016, he added.

After taking into account the evidence submitted by the prosecution, the court awarded life imprisonment to Farhat for killing Shivpratap and also imposed a fine of Rs 2,000 on him, Tiwari said.

Farhat was also sentenced to life imprisonment for attempting to murder constable Jitendra and sub-inspector Manish Dube, he said, adding that a total fine of Rs 4,000 was imposed on him.

Farhat was awarded another life imprisonment under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Tiwari said.

The third accused in the case, Nizamuddin, was acquitted by the court for lack of evidence, he added.