A special Central Bureau of Investigation court in Indore on Monday sentenced 11 operatives of the Students Islamic Movement of India to life imprisonment on charges of sedition and indulging in terrorist activities. The verdict was passed through video conferencing because barring one, all other convicts, including SIMI’s former chief Safdar Naugauri, are lodged in Gujarat’s Sabarmati jail, according to CNN-News 18.
Apart from planning serial blasts in Gujarat in 2008, the convicts were also charged with plotting terror activities, possessing illegal arms and being part of the banned outfit. At least 56 people were killed in the serial blasts on July 26, 2008. The Indian Mujahideen had claimed responsibility for the attack.
The blasts were a part of a bigger conspiracy to avenge the 2002 post-Godhra riots, reported The Indian Express. SIMI is an Islamist extremist organisation that was started in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, in April 1977. It was banned by the government in 2006.
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