The National Investigation Agency (NIA) Special Court in Bengaluru convicted two radicalised members of Al-Qaeda in Indian Sub-Continent (AQIS) and sentenced them to 7 years imprisonment on Wednesday, December 27.
The duo, Akthar Hussain Laskar alias Mohammed Hussain of Assam and Abdul Aleem Mondal alias Mohammed Juba of West Bengal, have also been slapped with a fine of ₹41,000 and ₹51,000 respectively by the NIA court.
The NIA in August 2022 had registered a case against the duo charging them under Sections 153A, 153B, 120B, 121, 121A, 114 and 511 of IPC and sections 10, 13, 15, 16, 18 & 20 of UA (P) Act, 1967.
The conviction of the two AQIS members is a major success in NIA’s sustained efforts to identify the banned outfit’s ‘Handlers’ and prosecute them, NIA said. NIA investigations revealed that the two convicts had been radicalised and recruited by foreign-based online handlers of AQIS and were actively engaged in furthering the activities of the AQIS. Post recruitment by AQIS, the men had joined various Telegram Groups, NIA said in a statement.
NIA investigations have further revealed that the men had conspired to undertake Hijra to the Khorasan Province of Afghanistan, where they also intended to undergo training, NIA alleged. The duo had planned to carry out Jihad against members of a particular community in India after undertaking training in Khorasan, as part of the AQIS conspiracy to promote its anti-India agenda through acts of terror and violence. They were also in the process of radicalising and recruiting other youth into the AQIS, besides motivating them to commit Hijra to Khorasan of Afghanistan, NIA claimed.
