Calcutta high court on Friday upheld the death sentence to don Aftab Ansari and his associate Jamiluddin Nasir in the attack on the
American Center on January 22, 2002, that left five policemen dead and 12 injured. The shooting — a seemingly localised event — turned out to be part of a worldwide terror strategy with links to the 9/11 attacks in the US.
Five other death-row convicts in the case were given a lease of life on Friday. While the court acquitted Adil Hasan and Rehan Alam alias Monty, it held Musarrat Hussain, Hasrat Alam and Sakir Akhtar guilty only of forgery. Since they have spent eight years behind bars, the trio will also be set free. All five are expected to walk out of Presidency Jail on Saturday.
The American Center attack was Kolkata’s first brush with terrorism. Two motorcycle-borne youths struck the United States Information Service (USIS) on JL Nehru Road around 6 am, just when the night security detail was being relieved. One of the bikers got off, whipped out an AK-56 and blazed away. Casually walking about, he changed magazines and blazed away again. The policemen, who were in the middle of a change of guard, were caught completely unawares.
The gunman was later identified as Sadaqat Hussain. His accomplice, Idris Mohammad Zahid, was killed in an encounter in Hazaribagh four days later. Sadaqat was arrested by Mumbai Police that September.
Source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/HC-upholds-death-for-Aftab/articleshow/5541362.cms
American Center on January 22, 2002, that left five policemen dead and 12 injured. The shooting — a seemingly localised event — turned out to be part of a worldwide terror strategy with links to the 9/11 attacks in the US.
Five other death-row convicts in the case were given a lease of life on Friday. While the court acquitted Adil Hasan and Rehan Alam alias Monty, it held Musarrat Hussain, Hasrat Alam and Sakir Akhtar guilty only of forgery. Since they have spent eight years behind bars, the trio will also be set free. All five are expected to walk out of Presidency Jail on Saturday.
The American Center attack was Kolkata’s first brush with terrorism. Two motorcycle-borne youths struck the United States Information Service (USIS) on JL Nehru Road around 6 am, just when the night security detail was being relieved. One of the bikers got off, whipped out an AK-56 and blazed away. Casually walking about, he changed magazines and blazed away again. The policemen, who were in the middle of a change of guard, were caught completely unawares.
The gunman was later identified as Sadaqat Hussain. His accomplice, Idris Mohammad Zahid, was killed in an encounter in Hazaribagh four days later. Sadaqat was arrested by Mumbai Police that September.
Source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/HC-upholds-death-for-Aftab/articleshow/5541362.cms
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