Eight members of the Pakistan-based terror organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) were awarded life imprisonment b... Read More

JAIPU: Eight Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operatives, including three from Pakistan, were awarded life imprisonment by an additional district court in Jaipur on Wednesday for plotting terror strikes and recruiting Indians to the Pak-based militant organization.

Along with their life sentences, the three have been slapped with a penalty of Rs 3 lakh each under Section 20 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

The Pakistani LeT members - Asgar Ali, Shakkar Ulla and Mohammad Iqbal - were lodged in separate jails in India. Despite being in prison, they were able to make contacts with people outside to recruit members for their organization. They were acting at the behest of Lashkar commander in Pakistan Walid alias Vicky.

The court also made strong remarks against the jail officials who had given a "free hand" to the Pakistanis. "There were serious lapses and dereliction of duty by the jail superintendents and other prison officials as they gave the Pakistanis, jailed for serious crimes, a free hand to use mobiles phones in jail to make contact with the Indians [recruits]," the court said.

While Asgar Ali was lodged in Bikaner and Jodhpur Jail, Shakkar Ulla was imprisoned in Nabha jail in Punjab and Mohammad Iqbal was confined in Amritsar jail in Punjab.

The court asked the respective home departments to take action against the jail officials in Bikaner and Jodhpur in Rajasthan and Nabha and Patiala in Punjab. The five Indians sentenced in the case are Babu alias Nishachand Ali, Hafiz Abdul, Pawan Puri, Arun Jain, and Kabil. All of them were in touch with a LeT commander based in Pakistan and the jailed Pakistani LeT men.

