Two Pak nationals among 3 LeT militants sentenced to death in Bengal
The Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) members had come from Karachi and tried to enter India from Bangladesh to attack specific targets. Explosives were seized from their possession.
Three Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) members, including two Pakistani nationals, who were arrested by the BSF at the Petrapole border in North 24 Parganas in April 2007 were sentenced to death by the Bongaon court on Saturday.
The three convicts are Md Yunus, Sheikh Abdullah (both are Pakistani nationals) and Muzaffar Ahmed Rathod. They had come from Karachi and tried to enter India from Bangladesh to attack specific targets, said the prosecution. Explosives were seized from their possession.
After their arrest, the trio was taken into custody by the Bengal CID. Yunus had told the CID that he was a member of the LeT suicide squad but never revealed where he was supposed to carry out the attacks.
A fourth terrorist, Sheikh Samir, who was also arrested at that time, escaped from police custody in 2014 by jumping off a train in Chhattisgarh while he was being taken to Mumbai for interrogation. He was wanted in Mumbai in connection with several cases, including the Aurangabad arms haul case.
Samir, alias Abdul Nayeem, reportedly confessed during a narco-analysis test that he helped Pakistani terrorists carry out the Mumbai train blasts and regularly aided terrorists sneak into India through the Bangladesh border.
The counsel for the accused said he would move higher court challenging the death sentence.
Forty-four witnesses were examined by the court.