Indian among nine Asians charged over bomb plot in UK

A man of Indian descent is among nine persons of South Asian origin who have been charged with plotting terror attacks in Britain in the run up to Christmas, a week after they were arrested in a series of raids across England and Wales.

The nine men, mostly of Pakistani and Bangladeshi origin appeared in a court today and were remanded in police custody.

Police said they have charged the men, all aged between 19 and 28, with plotting an explosion -- or explosions -- "of a nature likely to endanger life or cause serious injury to property" between October and December, in a run up to Christmas.

The men have also been charged with involvement in preparation of an attack by having downloaded and researched methods, materials and scouted potential targets.

One of the accused, 28-year-old Gurukanth Desai, who was arrested from Cardiff, is of Indian origin. Two other men were arrested from Cardiff.

Among the others arrested in the raids, two were from East London and four from Stoke-on-Trent, the West Midlands police said.

The men arrested from Cardiff were identified as Omar Sharif Latif, 26, and Abdul Malik Miah, 24.

Those charged from London are Mohammed Moksudur Rahman Chowdhury, 20, and Shah Mohammed Lutfar Rahman, 28.

The four charged from Stoke-on-Trent are Nazam Hussain, 25, Usman Khan, 19, Mohibur Rahman, 26, and Abul Bosher Mohammed Shahjahan, 26.

In all, 12 men were arrested in raids co-ordinated by the West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit on 20 December, but three were released without charge.

The nine men are also accused under 5(1) of the Terrorism Act 2006.

The accused have been ordered to appear in court on January 14.

Sue Hemming, head of the Crown Prosecution Service Counter Terrorism Division said, "I have advised the police that nine men should be charged with conspiracy to cause explosions and with engaging in conduct in preparation for acts of terrorism with the intention of either committing acts of terrorism, or assisting another to commit such acts".

She added, "Lawyers from the CPS Counter Terrorism Division have been working with the police on this case from an early stage and were on hand to give advice while the men were interviewed."

The recent bombings in Stockholm had triggered an alarm in Britain after it emerged that the man believed to have triggered the suicide bombing in the Swedish capital lived in Luton town near London.