A special NIA court in Uttar Pradesh pronounced death sentence to two Terrorist associated with ISIS for the murder of a retired school principal in Kanpur and their involvement in terrorist activities. The court stated that the “motive behind this murder was to instill fear among non-Muslims.”
Additionally, the NIA court has imposed a fine of Rs 11.20 lakh on each of the two convicts, Atif Muzaffar and Mohammad Faisal. This fine will be directed towards the dependents of the deceased principal, Ramesh Babu Shukla. The court has declared that once the high court confirms the death penalty, both individuals will face execution by hanging.
Judge Dinesh Kumar Mishra, while pronouncing the sentence, emphasized that the actions of the convicts fell into the category of the “rarest of the rare” cases, justifying the imposition of the death penalty.
“The murder of Ramesh Babu Shukla was not an ordinary crime because the accused committed it to demonstrate allegiance to the banned terrorist group ISIS. The murder was carried out deliberately upon confirming Shukla’s non-Muslim faith,” the court stated.
“The convicts did not have any personal enmity with the deceased, nor had the deceased made any objectionable comments against Muslims. The motive behind this murder was to propagate Shariat (Islamic law) and instill fear among non-Muslims,” it added.
Ramesh Babu Shukla was fatally shot in Kanpur on October 24, 2016. Initially, the FIR in the case was filed by his son, Akshay Shukla, with the Chakeri police station against unidentified individuals.
Muzaffar and Faisal were initially arrested by the NIA in connection with the Bhopal-Ujjain passenger train blast on March 8, 2017. Later, Muzaffar confessed that he, along with Faisal and others, had committed the murder of retired principal Shukla after confirming his Hindu faith by recognizing his ‘kalawa’ (sacred thread).
On the day of the train blast, a terrorist associated with the banned ISIS group, Mohammad Saifullah, was killed in an encounter in Lucknow. Eight firearms and numerous cartridges were discovered at his residence. The NIA conducted the investigation into the case, and a forensic examination revealed that the bullet recovered from Shukla’s body had been fired from a gun found in Saifullah’s house. Following the completion of the investigation, the NIA filed a charge sheet against the two accused in the special court.