Overview
- Special Judge Rohan Sinha delivered the life sentences on Wednesday at the City Sessions Court after a Kolkata Police Special Task Force investigation.
- Two convicts are Bangladeshi nationals, Anwar Hossain Faruque and Mohd Rubel from Jamalpur, and both were penalised under the Foreigners Act.
- The other convicts are Maulana Yusuf Sheikh, Mohd Sahidul Islam and Jabirul Islam, with Yusuf receiving an additional life term under IPC Section 121A.
- A sixth accused, Abdul Kalam, was discharged for lack of evidence after the case proceeded under multiple IPC counts and the Foreigners Act.
- The case stems from September 26, 2016 arrests in West Bengal and Assam that recovered explosives, IED components, organisational charts, cash, a laptop and an SD card, and investigators said intelligence pointed to plans to enter via the Indo-Bangladesh border for attacks in the Northeast and southern states, with links reported to the 2014 Khagragarh blast.