NIA files chargesheet in Delhi HC blast case

The National Investigation Agency on Tuesday filed a chargesheet in a New Delhi court against six persons in the September 7, 2011 Delhi high court blast case in which 17 people were killed and over 90 were injured.

The probe agency filed its 1,062-page chargesheet before the District Judge H S Sharma during an in-chamber proceeding against arrested accused Amir Abbas Dev, Wasim Akram Malik and a minor besides three others who are still absconding.

According to the court sources, the NIA said besides the three arrested accused, the chargesheet named Junaid Malik, Amir Kamal and Chota Hafeez as accused in the case.

The NIA told the court that they have initiated the process of issuing proclamation against the three persons who are evading arrest, the sources said. Dev and Wasim are behind bars since their arrest by the NIA sleuths for their alleged roles in the case.

Wasim has been dubbed by the NIA as a 'key link' in the conspiracy for the blast at gate 5 of the high court.

According to the NIA, information about Wasim was given by Azhar Ali, a Hizbul Mujahideen module, who is lodged in Jammu's Kotbalwal Jail since 2009.

During the investigation, the NIA had seized three mobile phones from Jammu and Kishtwar residences of Wasim, a Jammu and Kashmir native studying Unani medicine in Bangladesh.

Dev, a native of Jammu and Kashmir, was arrested on September 16 last year by the NIA after he was allegedly found to have sent terror e-mails to media groups after the blast.

A magistrate had earlier recorded Dev's statement under Section 164 of the CrPC in an in-camera proceeding.

A statement recorded by a magistrate under section 164 of the CrPC bars an accused from resiling from his depositions during the trial and make him liable for prosecution for perjury if he does so.