December 2005 IISc attack: 4 years after arrest Tripura man freed; court says no proof he helped key accused

Bengaluru: Tripura resident Mohammed Habeeb, who was arrested in the December 2005 terror attack at the IISc in Bengaluru acquitted by the special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Bengaluru.

Prof Munish Chandra Puri of IIT-Delhi had died, and four other scientists had suffered injuries after gunmen had opened fire at the ongoing meeting of international scientists on the IISc campus on December 28, 2005.

Habeeb (41), a garage mechanic, was arrested in 2017 by NIA on the basis of a confessional statement by the accused, Sabahuddin, who was arrested by Lucknow police in 2008 in the IISc case.

The latter had reportedly claimed that Habeeb helped him cross the border to Bangladesh after the IISc attack.

Special Judge Dr. Kasanappa Naik discharged the accused saying “The prosecution has not made out prima facie case against accused No.7 (Habeeb) to frame charge against him for the offence punishable under Sections 120-B, 121, 121-A, 122, 123, 307, 302 of the IPC, Sections 25, 27 of the Indian Arms Act, Sections 3, 4, 5 and 6 of the Explosive Substance Act and Sections 10, 13, 16, 17,18 and 20 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.”

The NIA court disagreed with the prosecution and accepted Habeeb’s plea that the “police have not stated anything in the chargesheet about the accused, and also not collected any evidence which show that the accused has any distinct knowledge of the incident or crime involved in this case at any point of time”, Habeeb’s lawyer Mohammed Tahir had argued before the court.