For the first time in the country, the trial of an entire case will be held through video conferencing at the Ernakulam NIA court with the court permitting the investigating agency to conduct it in the sensational Vagamon Simi camp case.
NIA court judge S.Vijayakumar on Saturday granted permission to the National Investigation Agency to conduct the preliminary proceedings through video conferencing. The agency completed the probe and filed a chargesheet against 30 of the accused.
The 29 accused are currently lodged in Sabarmathi jail in Gujarat and one in Belgaum jail, all in connection with the Gujarat blast case. The NIA sought the video conference as part of cost cutting measures which include the huge travelling expenses and security threat to the terror-accused. Both the Ernakulam sub jail and Sabarmathi jail are equipped with facilities for a video trial.
According to the NIA, a secret training camp was organized by SIMI, a banned organization, at Thangalpara in Vagamon in 2007. As per the chargesheet, P.A. Shaduly of Erattupetta in Kottayam district is the first accused while his brother P. A.Shibily is the fourth accused. Shaduly is also a key accused in the Panayikulam case of 2006. Of the 30 accused in the case, only four belong to Kerala.
The NIA had found that 30 hardcore terrorists from different states had taken part in the Vagamon training camp. The camp had nine people each from Karnataka and Gujarat, seven from Madhya Pradesh and one from Uttar Pradesh.
At the camp, SIMI leaders conspired to conduct training for its active cadres and conducted camps in Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and many other places in 2007. SIMI activists were imparted training in combat, handling arms, firing, bomb-making, motorcycling and rope climbing at this secret camp.