NIA files chargesheet against 5 LeT men

Hyderabad: NIA filed its chargesheet in Darbhanga railway station blast case, involving five alleged LeT operatives in Patna court on Thursday. Two of the accused who prepared the IED that exploded were arrested by the NIA from Hyderabad.

However, the federal probe agency has not charged any locals in the case. Chargesheet was filed in NIA special court, under sections 120-B, 468 and 471 of the IPC, the Explosive Substances Act, and the UAPA against Md Nasir Khan alias Nasir Malik, his brother Imran Malik, their associates, Saleem Ahmed alias Haji Saleem Kairana, Kafil Ahmad, and Iqbal Mohammed alias Iqbal Kana, all natives of Kairana, Shamli, Uttar Pradesh.

Among the five accused, NIA arrested Nasir and Imran, garment sellers from their rented house in Mallepally of Hyderabad on June 30, while Saleem and Kafil Ahmad were arrested later from UP. Iqbal Kana is absconding. According to NIA, he is presently staying in Lahore, Pakistan. On June 17, 2021, an incendiary IED kept in a parcel of clothes, exploded at Darbhanga railway station when the parcel was unloaded on the platform. Luckily no one suffered injuries.

According to NIA, the investigation revealed that LeT operatives had planned to set ablaze a moving long-distance train by placing incendiary IED. “To execute the task, on the directions of Pakistan based LeT operative Hafeez Iqbal, Md Nasir Khan and Imran Malik fabricated an IED using locally procured chemicals and placed it in a parcel of clothes.

The parcel was booked in Secunderabad-Darbhanga Express with an intention that the IED explosion would trigger a rapid fire in the moving train,” NIA mentioned in the charge sheet.

NIA investigators also stated that Nasir Khan had travelled to Pakistan and received training in espionage, handling of fire arms and IED preparation. Nasir received funds from Pakistan on various occasions.