Pota accused sentenced

NEW DELHI: A special court on Monday sentenced two Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) activists to seven years of imprisonment on charges of sedition. Mohammed Yasin Patel and Mohammed Afsal Jaffrey were also convicted for five years under Prevention of Terrorism Act (Pota).
This is the second case where the accused have been convicted under Pota.The first was the Parliament Attack case where three persons recieved the death sentence. Additional sessions judge S N Dhingra had held the two persons guilty under Pota on July 16. Dhingra also charged them a fine of Rs 50,000 each.
The special cell arrested the two from Jamia Nagar area on May 27 last year while they were pasting provocative posters on the wall of Jamia Millia Islamia university library. The posters, according to police, proclaimed ‘‘destroy nationalism, establish khilafat.’’
Police had also recovered 35 such posters from their possession. During interrogation, the accused reportedly admitted that they were moved by the attacks on Muslims in Gujarat, police claimed. According to the police Patel, who hails from Ahmedabad, joined SIMI after graduating from the Jamiat-ul Falaha of Azamgarh district in Uttar Pradesh.
He also edited the SIMI publication for some time and had served as the outfit’s secretary. Jaffrey is a resident of Bijnaur in Uttar Pradesh and had also served as president of SIMI in that area.