Prayagraj, Jun 18 (UNI) After a long 24 years, a special court here on Tuesday handed down life term to four convicts in the 5th July, 2005, Ayodhya terror attack case when ultras had stormed into the disputed Ram Janambhoomi-Babri Masjid structure and sprayed bullets at random.
Special Judge (SC/ST) Dinesh Chand pronounced the judgment and found four of the five accused involved in the attack.
The court also imposed fine of Rs 2.40 lakhs on the four convicts- Irfan, Ashiq Iqbal alias Farooque, Shakeel Ahmed and Mohammad Naseem.
Mohammad Aziz was, however, acquitted from all charges by the special trial court.
Yogi welcomes verdict
In a statement here, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath welcomed the verdict. At the same time, Mr Adityanath wanted a review of the facts regarding the reason behind why one person was not convicted in the case and was let off.
Police had arrested five people on various charges, including hatching conspiracy and providing logistic and material help to terror suspects, who were gunned down at the site.
Seven people, including five alleged Jaish-e-Mohammad operatives and two local residents (Ramesh Panda and Shanti Devi) were killed, while seven Central Reserve Police Force jawans were injured in the attack.
UP police had arrested five people, Irfan, Ashiq Iqbal alias Farooque, Shakeel Ahmed, Mohammad Naseem and Mohammad Aziz, in the case and they are lodged at Naini jail in Allahabad. Dr Irfan hails from UP’s Saharanpur district while others are from Poonch in Jammu and Kashmir.
A total of 64 prosecution witnesses were examined during 371 dates by the court during the 14-year-long trial through video conferencing from Naini jail where the five were lodged.
Long arm of the law
On August 3, 2005, Asif Iqbal, Mohammed Aziz, Mohammed Nasim and Shaqeel Ahmed– were arrested on suspicion of involvement in the attack. Irfan Khan, was arrested a few days later.
As per the prosecution, on 5th July, 2005, the heavily guarded Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid complex was attacked by armed terrorists. The attack was foiled by security officials in an hour long encounter.
The terrorists were suspected to have entered India through Nepal. They posed as pilgrims on their way to Ayodhya, and boarded a Tata Sumo at Akbarpur near the Kichaucha village in Faizabad. At Faizabad, they abandoned the Sumo and hired a jeep driven by one Rehan Alam Ansari.
Sequence of events
According to a statement by the driver before the investigating team , the terrorists visited the Ram Temple at Ayodhya in the morning of 5th July, 2005, where they prayed, possibly to reinforce the impression that they were indeed pilgrims. The terrorists then drove the jeep into the Ram Janmabhoomi site, and forced the driver out of the vehicle, banging the jeep against the security cordon. At 0905 hours, they hurled M67 grenades from 50 metres away to breach the cordon fence. Ramesh Pandey, a pilgrim guide who happened to be near the site at this moment, died on the spot as a result of the grenade blast.
Firing indiscriminately, the five terrorists entered the Mata Sita Rasoi. Retaliating, a platoon of 35 CRPF soldiers killed all five of the terrorists in a gunfight that lasted for over an hour. Three CRPF soldiers also received serious injuries. All the terrorists died within 100 meters of the site.
The investigating team tracked the phone calls made from the cell phones carried by the terrorists using the International Mobile Equipment Identity numbers. Police recovered a RPG-7 rocket-propelled grenade launcher, five Type 56 assault rifles, five M1911 pistols, several M67 grenades and some jihadi documents.
UNI MB RP1720