NIA court sentences two for affiliation with ISIS and promoting anti-India agenda

NEW DELHI: A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court on Thursday sentenced two men to five years imprisonment for promoting activities of the proscribed Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), also known as Islamic State, in the country.

Abdullah Basith and Abdul Qadir were arrested on August 12, 2018, for their affiliation with ISIS and for furthering their violent anti-India agenda through the ISIS Abu Dhabi module.

The NIA Special Court, Delhi sentenced them under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, and Explosive Substances Act, a spokesperson of the Central agency said. The official said the duo have been jailed for five years and fined Rs 2,000 each.

The NIA had launched its investigations and registered a case on January 28, 2016, on orders from the Union Home Ministry after details of the serious conspiracy came to light during investigations in another case, the spokesperson said.

The official said that the NIA had then discovered a criminal conspiracy hatched by three Indian nationals, namely Sheikh Azhar Al Islam Sattar Sheikh, Mohammed Farhan Mohammed Rafiq Shaikh and Adnan Hussain, all members of the ISIS.

"Along with other unknown associates, these three had conspired to identify, motivate, radicalise, recruit and train gullible Indian Muslim youth, both within and outside the country, to initiate them into the planning and execution of terrorist attacks," the spokesperson said.

The NIA had filed a charge sheet against the trio on July 25, 2016. In 2017, all three had pleaded guilty before the NIA Special Court, which then sentenced them to seven years of imprisonment of life.

The NIA said further investigations into these men's antecedents showed that one Abdullah Basith, an active member of ISIS, was also part of the ISIS Abu Dhabi module. "He was found engaged in actively propagating the organisation's ideology in furtherance of the larger criminal conspiracy." Basith had radicalised and motivated vulnerable youth to join ISIS and collected funds from accused Adnan Hussain and other associates.

“He had even facilitated the visas and passports of radicalised youth with the help of the funds collected. He had also been involved in arranging and managing meetings with his associates to strengthen and expand the ISIS footprint in India," the spokesperson said.

Qadir, the other accused, had come in contact with Basith after watching a television interview in May 2017, the official said, adding, that he also then became a part of the conspiracy and supported the activities in promoting the ISIS ideology. He openly professed to be a supporter and member of the Islamic State and had attended various meetings of ISIS organised by Basith," the spokesperson said.

A supplementary charge sheet was filed against the two accused on February 7, 2019.