A Lucknow court held two alleged LeT militants guilty of waging war against the state, carrying arms and explosives and of charges under the Prevention of Terrorism Act.

District Judge Shivanand Mishra, who delivered the judgment on Friday, will pronounce the sentence on Monday.

Mohammad Atharuddin and Mohammad Irfan were arrested by the Special Task Force on May 12, 2004, from Chinhat while they were about to board a Faizabad-bound bus.

One AK-56, five kg ammonium nitrate, two detonators, a map of Lucknow and other items were found on them.

A case was registered against them under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) and sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 121-A (conspiracy to wage war against the state), 122 (collecting arms with the intention of waging war against the state), 123 (concealing with the intent to facilitate design to wage war), 124-A (sedition), 467 (forgery) and 420.

According to the prosecution, Atharuddin was a native of Pakistan and had been staying in Lucknow for four years before he was arrested. He had even bought land in Chinhat.

Mohammad Irfan, a resident of Lucknow, was staying with Atharuddin and the two worked as carpenters.

“Atharuddin was also involved in two other criminal cases lodged in Delhi and Jammu & Kashmir.

The Delhi Police had even declared a reward of Rs 10,000 on him in connection with the Red Fort blast in 2000,” said prosecution counsel Ram Saran Dwivedi.

Defence lawyer Javed Murtaza, however, claimed the prosecution failed to prove Atharuddin was a Pakistani national and that two criminal cases were pending against him.