NIA filed charge sheet in 2025 explosives recovery case

Visakhapatnam: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) charge-sheeted a key accused in a 2025 case involving the recovery of explosives from his residence in Andhra Pradesh. Shaik Amanulla, alias Abubakar Siddique, was charged under various sections of the UA(P) Act, BNS, Explosive Substances Act 1908, and Arms Act in the charge-sheet filed before the NIA special court in Vijayawada.NIA investigations revealed that Abubakar Siddique lived in Rayachoty town, Annamayya district, on forged documents under the assumed name of Shaik Amanulla after absconding from Tamil Nadu in another criminal case in 1999. He was, in fact, wanted in Tamil Nadu in 14 cases. Initially, he was arrested by Tamil Nadu police on July 1, 2025, after he was identified as the absconding Abubakar Siddique. Subsequently, in Aug 2025, Andhra Pradesh police placed him under arrest in the case involving seizure of explosives, which the NIA later took over and re-registered.The NIA found during its investigation that the accused was in possession of illegal explosive substances and prohibited arms for intended use in carrying out terror acts. He was in the process of preparing for such acts and, at the time of his arrest, was engaged in the selection of targets, as well as in radicalisation and recruitment of gullible youth, along with their training in the preparation of IEDs.The cases in which he was accused in Tamil Nadu included sending parcel bombs (1995), planting bombs at five places in three cities (1999), carrying explosives illegally on a train (1999), harbouring absconders in various terror acts over a 30-year period, planting a bomb during the rath yatra of a prominent leader in 2011, and the brutal killings of several political leaders between 2012 and 2013. Further investigation in the case continues.