An NIA court in Kerala sentenced a person to six years rigorous imprisonment (RI) and a fine of Rs 1.6 lakh in connection with the hijacking and setting ablaze of a Tamil Nadu government bus.

An NIA spokesperson here said that on Monday an NIA Special Court in Ernakulam sentenced accused K.A. Anoop aka Anu to 6 years rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 1.6 lakh.

Anoop is allegedly a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist.

There are 14 accused in the case, including Sufia Madani, wife of PDP leader Abdul Nazar Madani. Thadiyantavida Nazeer, who claims to be the commander of the Lashkar-e-Taiba in South India, is the first accused.

The incident took place on September 9, 2005, when a Tamil Nadu Transport Corporation bus was burnt in retaliation for the long detention of Madani in connection with the Coimbatore blast case.

The bus from Ernakulam to Salem with 31 passengers was diverted from its route and set ablaze at Popemala near HMT colony, Kalamassery, after forcing all the passengers to alight from the bus.

As per the plan, six persons, including Nazeer, Ummar Haji, Abdul Haleem, Ismail, Shafeeq, Sabir Buhari and Mohammad Navaz boarded the bus from the Ernakulam bus station. Thajuddin, Nazar and K A Anoop waited with three motorcycles at Kalamassery. The bus started from Ernakulam bus station at 8.30 p.m.

When the bus reached near the Kalamassery Municipal Office, one of the group members threatened the bus driver at gunpoint and asked him to drive the vehicle towards Popemala neat HMT Colony, an isolated area.

As the bus reached Popemala, the accused persons asked the passengers to get down from the bus. Using cotton waste soaked in petrol, the accused burnt the bus and escaped on their motorbikes.

The NIA had registered the case on January 22, 2010.

After completion of the investigation, the NIA had filed a charge-sheet against 13 accused persons including Anoop under several sections of the Indian Penal Code, Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act and UA (P) Act on December 7, 2010.

Anoop, who was absconding abroad was arrested on April 7, 2016. The official said that on July 15 this year, the NIA Special court convicted Anoop for his offences. The official said that all sentences shall run concurrently.

…With IANS inputs