4 JIHADI SUSPECTS ADMITTED LONDON BOMB PLOT

Four men inspired by Al Qaeda, Mohammed Moksudur Rahman Chowdhury, Shah Mohammed Lutfar Rahman, Gurukanth Desai and Abdul-Malik Miah, have admitted, on Wednesday 01/02/2012, planning to detonate a bomb at the London Stock Exchange (see – UK Arrests 12.20.10 ). They pleaded guilty to engaging in conduct in preparation for acts of terrorism.

The men, from London and Cardiff, were arrested on 12/20/010 and were set to stand trial at Woolwich Crown Court. Five other men have pleaded guilty to other terrorism offences and all nine will be sentenced next week. The men, who are all British nationals, had been inspired by the preachings of the recently-killed radical extremist Anwar al-Awlaki.

It emerged that those who admitted planning to target the London Stock Exchange wanted to send five mail bombs to various targets during the run up to Christmas 2010 and discussed launching a “Mumbai-style” atrocity (see – U.K Christmas 2010 Plot). A hand-written target list discovered at the home Mohammed Chowdhury (1), the ringleader, listed the names and addresses of London Mayor Boris Johnson, two Rabbis, the US embassy and the Stock Exchange.

The terrorists met because of their membership of various radical groups and stayed in touch over the internet, through mobile phones and at specially arranged meetings. They gathered in parks in a bid to make surveillance difficult. The quartet talked about leaving homemade bombs in the toilets of their city’s pubs and discussed travelling abroad for terror training.

The court heard that Mohammed Chowdhury, 21, and his London accomplice Shah Rahman (2), 28, were followed by undercover detectives on 11/28/2010, observing Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, the London Eye and the Palace of Westminster.

Mohammed Chowdhury, of Stanliff House, Tower Hamlets and Shah Rahman, of St Bernard’s Road, Newham, admitted preparing for acts of terrorism by planning to plant an improvised explosive device in the toilets of the London Stock Exchange. The men admitted the crime after a hearing was held to give them an indication of their maximum sentences.

Mohammed Chowdhury, was told by judge Mr Justice Wilkie that he would receive 18-and-a-half years. And Shah Rahman was told he would receive a maximum of 17 years. However, the pair will only serve in the region of six years, because five are served on licence, prisoners only serve half their term as standard and the men have already been behind bars for more than 12 months.

Brothers Gurukanth Desai (3), 30, of Albert Street, Cardiff, and Abdul-Malik Miah (4), 25, of Ninian Park Road, Cardiff, also admitted the same count. The four men aimed to plant the bomb “with the obvious attendant risk but without any intention to cause death or even injury, but with the intention to terrorise, damage property and to cause economic damage,” Chowdhury’s barrister, Christopher Blaxland QC, told the court.

Usman Khan (5), 20, of Persia Walk, Abul Bosher Mohammed Shahjahan (6), 27, of Burmarsh Walk and Nazam Hussain (7), 26, of Grove Street, all Stoke, admitted attending operational meetings in Roath Park, Cardiff, on 11/07/2010, and in a Newport country park on 12/12/2010.

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NOTE – Usman Khan was released on licence from jail in late 2018. On 11/29/2019 he was shot dead by London Police after killing 2 bypassers in a stabbing spree at London Bridge .

Omar Sharif Latif (8), 28, of Cardiff admitted attending the meeting in Cardiff, on 11/07/2010, with the intention of assisting others to prepare an act of terror. Mohibur Rahman (9), 27, of North Road, Stoke-on-Trent, admitted possessing two editions of Al Qaeda’s INSPIRE MAGAZINE for terrorist purposes.

 

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* Mohammed Chowdhury from east London, who was described as the “lynchpin” of the group, was sentenced, on Friday 02/10/2012, to 13 years and eight month, Shah Rahman from east London and Gurukanth Desai from Cardif were jailed for 12 years, Abdul-Nalik Miah from Cardiff received 16 years and 10 months.

Mohammed Shahjahan was jailed, on Friday 02/10/2012, for a minimum term of eight years and 10 months, while fellow Stoke-on-Trent-based radicals Usman Khan and Nazam Hussain, were ordered to serve at least eight years behind bars.Omar Latif from Cardiff, was jailed for 10 years and four months, with an extended period on licence of another five years, and Mohibur Rahman from Stoke-on-Trent received a five-year prison sentence.