New Delhi, Apr 27 (PTI) A special NIA court has convicted and sentenced a cadre of the Islamic State to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment for spreading terror ideology and raising funds for the proscribed outfit.
The special court at Bengaluru also imposed Rs 92,000 fine on Mohamed Shariq, who is also an accused in the 2022 Mangaluru pressure cooker blast case, the National Investigation Agency said in a statement on Monday. NIA investigation found the accused to have been radicalised into the ideology of the Islamic State (ISIS) terror outfit by his associate Arafath Ali – an accused in the Shivamogga Islamic State conspiracy case.
Arafath is already undergoing six years of rigorous imprisonment.
Shariq had conspired with co-accused Syed Yasin and a foreign-based ISIS handler to promote terror activities in India with the aim to terrorise the society through IED attacks, said the statement.
He was also involved in fund raising activities for the Islamic State, it added.
In November 2022, Shariq was carrying a pressure cooker IED in an auto-rickshaw with an intent to plant it at a temple in Mangaluru, the NIA said.
However, it exploded prematurely, causing injuries to Shariq as well as one other person, who later filed a complaint with the Karnataka Police.
On the instructions of his online handler, Shariq had exchanged explosive materials with Yasin and had absconded after the arrest of Yasin and others in the Shivamogga Islamic State conspiracy case in September 2022, the federal agency said.
Shariq has forged identity documents, used fraudulently obtained SIM cards and bank accounts for terror financing, and frequently changed mobile phones to destroy evidence, it agency said.
He had established a hideout in Mysuru, procured IED raw materials and conducted reconnaissance of sensitive target places across Mangaluru, Davanagere, and Udupi areas of Karnataka, according to NIA investigations.
The Karnataka Police registered a case and subsequently seized a large quantity of IED raw materials from the accused’s hideout in Mysuru.
After taking over the case, the NIA arrested two individuals and unravelled the larger Islamic State terror module involved in the anti-India conspiracy. PTI AKV KVK KVK
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