Two SIMI men acquitted in pipe bomb planting near VHP office in Nagpur

A local court has acquitted two activists of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) in connection with a case of allegedly planting a pipe bomb near Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) office in Mahal area on May 21, 2001.

The SIMI activists, Sheikh Rijwan Sheikh Rashid and Khalid Alidkan Ajamalkhan were let off by 14th session court in Nagpur yesterday as the court found loopholes in the prosecution theory and also rejected evidence in nature of confession and in absence of congent evidence and supporting corroborative material, thereby granting benefit of doubt.

The duo along with other SIMI activists had also planted bomb at Badkas square in Mahal, about one km from RSS HQ which triggered panic among the locals, on May 24.

The prosecution had contended that accused are natives of Jalgaon and were planting bombs thereby waging a war against the state.

During the trial, two persons, an executive magistrate who had recorded the confession and deputy secretary of law and judiciary department who had permitted prosecution were examined as witnesses.