Peerbhoy says no to being an approver

Mansoor Asghar Peerbhoy, a software engineer who worked for Yahoo in Pune, and allegedly headed the Indian Mujahideen’s (IM) media wing, on Tuesday withdrew his application to turn approver in the case. Instead, his name figured among the accused in the chargesheet filed  by the Crime Branch of Mumbai police.

The Crime Branch filed the chargesheet against 21 arrested accused and six wanted accused, including founders of the terrorist outfit - Riyaz and Iqbal Bhatkal. Fourteen of the arrested accused, currently lodged in Arthur Road jail, were produced in the special MCOCA court. Each of them was handed a copy of the 1809-page chargesheet.

Families of the accused queued up on the corridors of the court building, waiting to catch a glimpse of the accused. Peerbhoy’s mother said, “If I am alive after all this, it means that I am alright.”

The 27 accused, 21 of whom were arrested in September-October 2008, were chagesheeted for forming an organised crime syndicate for terrorist activities and hacking into WiFi accounts in Matunga and Chembur areas to send terror emails, claiming responsibility for the Ahmedabad and Delhi blasts, as well as for planting the unexploded bombs found in Surat.

All the accused were booked under the Indian Penal Code for waging war against the nation, criminal conspiracy, deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs, statements creating or promoting enmity, hatred or ill-will between classes, criminal intimidation, as well as sections of the Arms Act, Explosives Act and Explosives Substances Act and sections of the Information Technology and the MCOCA.