NIA files chargesheet in Kozhikode blast case

The National Investigation Agency on Monday filed the chargesheet in the 2006 Kozhikode twin blast case, listing suspected Lashkar-e-Tayiba militant T Naseer as the first accused. The chargesheet was filed before Central Bureau of Investigation's Special Court Judge S Vijaykumar.

Naseer is also a prime accused in the burning of a Tamil Nadu state owned bus at Kalamassery near Kochi in 2005 and the Bengaluru serial blasts in 2008. The chargesheet does not include the name of Abdul Jaleel, the fifth accused, since there was no evidence against him, NIA sources said.

The sixth accused, Fayaz, had been killed in an encounter with security forces in Kashmir. There are seven accused in the case.

The accused have been chargesheeted under various IPC sections including Section 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 153 (A) (promoting enmity between different groups) and Section 16 (1), Sections 18, 23 of Unlawful Assembly Prevention Act, 1967 and Sections 3,4,5 of the Explosive Substances Act.

Two policemen and a porter were injured in the bomb blasts which occurred on March 3, 2006. The first bomb exploded in a garbage dump at the KSRTC bus station and another shortly later at a drain near a bus stand. The NIA is probing various terror related cases in Kerala.