SIMI operatives get lifer in robbery case

Two operatives of the Students Islamic Movement of India were sentenced to life imprisonment in connection with the August 2010 Manappuram Gold Loan Finance Company robbery case.

The two included the self-styled head of the Madhya Pradesh unit of the SIMI, Abu Faisal alias Doctor.

The special judge (NIA cases) Girish Dixit held the two accused Abu Faisal alias Doctor (35) a resident of Mumbai and Mohd Ikrar (43) resident of Khandwa (MP) guilty for the crime and pronounced life sentence to them.

Both the convicted men are presently lodged with other alleged SIMI operatives at the Bhopal Central Jail.

According to the prosecution counsels, a total of eight men are accused in the case. Out of the eight accused, four men, among them Zakir, Mohd Aslam, Mohd Aizazuddin and Sheikh Mujeeb Ahmad have been killed allegedly in encounters with police in the past, while two others Sharad Singh and Shailendra Kumar Mahato are yet to be arrested in the case.

The remaining two accused Faisal and Ikrar were sentenced to life by the special court in Bhopal on Saturday.

The six SIMI men with the aid of two others had executed broad daylight armed robbery at the Manappuram Gold Loan Finance Company located at the Hamidia Road on August 23, 2010. The alleged SIMI men had looted cash and gold worth around Rs 1.90 crores.

OneIndia News