Bengaluru: NIA court sentences 2 AQIS members to 7 years in jail

A special NIA court in Bengaluru on Wednesday convicted and sentenced two ”highly radicalised” members of Al-Qaeda in Indian Sub-continent (AQIS) to seven years of imprisonment, an official said.

Akthar Hussain Laskar alias Md Hussain of Assam and Abdul Aleem Mondal alias Md Juba of West Bengal have also been fined Rs 41,000 and Rs 51,000, respectively in a case registered on August 30 last year, a spokesperson of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) said.

The spokesperson said the NIA had registered the case under various sections of Indian Penal Code and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the conviction of the two AQIS members marks a major success in federal agency’s sustained efforts to identify the banned outfit’s ”handlers” and prosecute them.

As per the investigations, 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 in the country, the spokesperson said, adding post recruitment by AQIS, the men had joined various Telegram groups.

The official said the investigations further revealed that the two men had conspired to undertake ‘Hijra’ (migration) to the Khorasan province of Afghanistan, where they also intended to undergo training.

Further, the two men had planned to carry out ‘jihad’ (holy war) 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, the spokesperson said.

The agency said the convicts were also in the process of radicalising and recruiting other youths into the AQIS, besides motivating them to commit ‘Hijra’ to Khorasan.