NIA court sentences all accused in RT Nagar live grenades case to 7 years in jail

BENGALURU: The NIA special court on Tuesday ordered seven years of imprisonment for all the seven accused, including the prime accused T Nazeer, in the case related to the recovery of four live grenades from a house at RT Nagar in Bengaluru in 2023. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 48,000 on the accused.

The accused had allegedly conspired to carry out blasts in the city similar to the 2008 pattern. Four live grenades, a pistol and ammunition were seized from a house in R T Nagar. Acting on specific information, the CCB police conducted a raid and seized explosive materials, walkie-talkies, and maps. The case was later taken over and investigated by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

The accused were allegedly in contact with T Nazeer, the mastermind of the Bengaluru blasts. They were reportedly radicalised by Nazeer in jail. After being released from prison, they hatched a conspiracy to carry out bomb blasts at various locations. They were arrested in 2023 while plotting the attacks.

The accused are A1 T Nazeer, A2 Junaid, A3 Syed Suhail Khan, A4 Mohammed Umar, A5 Jahid Tabrez, A6 Syed, A7 Mudassir Pasha, A8 Mohammed Fazid, A9 Anees Fathim, A10 Chand Pasha, and A11 Dr Nagaraj, a physician. The NIA had filed a chargesheet against the accused.

Special Public Prosecutor Prasanna Kumar argued on behalf of the NIA. The NIA special court heard the arguments and had reserved its verdict before pronouncing the sentence on Tuesday.