A file photo of the Parappana Agrahara Central Prison in Bengaluru. The eight are among 12 people currently accused in the prison conspiracy case registered in 2023, which is being investigated by the National Investigation Agency.
Eight accused involved in the Bengaluru prison radicalisation, including the prime accused, moved an application before the National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Bengaluru pleading guilty.
The prime accused accused Thadiyantavida Naseer, 47, moved an application in the court on July 7, along with seven co-accused — Syed Suhail Khan alias Suhail, 24; Mohammed Umar alias Umar 30; Zahid Tabrez alias Zahid, 27; Syed Mudassir Pasha, 29; Mohammed Faisal Rabbani alias Sadath, 29, Salman Khan, 29, and Vikram Kumar alias Chhota Usman.
The eight are among 12 people currently accused in the prison conspiracy case registered in 2023, which is being investigated by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). They moved the application last week under Section 229 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC). The application allows the court to expedite the trial by convicting the accused based on their plea without a full trial. However, the NIA is preparing to submit its version on the application.
The accused in their application told the court that it was voluntary and without any coercion, and sought to reduce the quantum of sentence .
In July 2023, the CCB raided a house in Kodigehalli and recovered seven country-made pistols, 45 live rounds of ammunition, walkie-talkies and some documents. Further investigations led the police to believe that radicalisation happened inside the Bengaluru prison.
The NIA has accused Naseer of radicalising the youths lodged at the Parappana Agrahara Central Prison in Bengaluru. Naseer is an undertrial in the 2008 Bengaluru serial blasts case and was convicted in a terrorism case in Kerala and linked the LeT.
Last year, the NIA chargesheeted eight people, including T. Naseer and accused no: 52, Junaid Ahmed who is presently on the run, under various sections of IPC, UA(P) Act, 1967; Arms Act, 1959 and Explosive Substances Act, 1884.
The NIA court on Monday remanded three people arrested on July 8 in the same case to judicial custody. They were earlier under NIA custody for six days.
The three arrested are Anees Fathima, the mother of absconding accused Junaid Ahmed, prison psychiatrist Dr. Nagaraj S., and Chan Pasha, an ASI posted at the City Armed Reserve (CAR), North Bengaluru.
Published – July 14, 2025 10:04 pm IST
