22 Kerala youth charged

Three months after four youths from Kerala were killed by security personnel in Jammu & Kashmir, Kerala Police pressed sedition charges against 22 accused, including the four deceased. Five of the accused are still at large, the police said after submitting a chargesheet before the Thalassery additional chief judicial magistrate’s court on Wednesday.

Special investigation team officer VK Akbar, who submitted the chargesheet, said the accused were charged under 12 sections, including sedition and forgery. “The accused have conspired and waged war against the country. They have acted against the unity and integrity of the country,” he said.

The court, meanwhile, granted bail to Abdul Jaleel, the first to land in police net. The labourer was arrested by Kerala police on October 19 after phone calls from suspects in Kashmir were traced to him. Investigations revealed a mercenary recruiting racket spread across Kerala. The police are probing the presence of a training camp conducted by the banned SIMI at Vagamon in Kottayam district about a year back.

Gujarat police had claimed that some of those involved in Ahmedabad blasts had
attended the camp.