Techie gets life term for cyberterrorism in Maharashtra; court says he may have harmed India's security

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New Delhi: A special court in Mumbai sentenced a computer engineer to life in prison on Friday for conspiring to attack children at the American School in Mumbai, saying the proven offence against the accused may have harmed "India's sovereignty and integrity." Additional Meetings Anees Ansari was convicted by Judge A A Joglekar under Indian Penal Code sections 115 (abetment of an offence) and 120B (punishment for criminal conspiracy), as well as relevant provisions of The Information Technology Act. He was also fined Rs 35000 by the court.

According to the prosecution, Ansari, who was arrested in October 2014 by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad and has been in jail since, was working as an associate geographic technician in a private company and had used the firm's computer to create a Facebook account in a false name and publish objectionable information. The prosecution accused him of supporting the terrorist group ISIS, claiming that his Facebook conversations with one Omar Elhaji revealed his desire to attack the American School in Bandra Kurla Complex, a business district in suburban Mumbai.

During the trial, Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Madhukar Dalvi cited evidence from 28 witnesses and sought the maximum punishment for the accused. The SPP had submitted the nature of the offence does not warrant any “undue leniency” as the accused was highly qualified and his expertise would naturally lay the scope of the further act of cyber terrorism by him. The court, after going through the evidence and material placed on record, noted "the proved offence against the accused is certainly a detriment for society and may have caused or likely to have caused injury to the interest of sovereignty and integrity of India and the security of the state and public order".

"No mitigating circumstance is brought out by the accused except his age and he being highly qualified and the sole earner for the family. That naturally cannot be at the cost of the security of the nation," the judge observed. The court further said the law demands that such perpetrators of crime are to be dealt with the required degree of deterrence proportionate to the severity of the offence committed. "It does not appear to this court that the accused deserves too much lenient and liberal consideration," it observed.

(With PTI inputs)