New Delhi, Jan 22: A National Investigation Agency (NIA) special court on Wednesday sentenced Sayyad M. Idris, a resident of Uttara Kannada district in Karnataka, to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment in a Pakistan-linked case involving recruitment and radicalisation of Muslim youth for the banned terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) in West Bengal.
The court also imposed a fine of Rs 70,000. Idris was convicted under multiple sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, with the maximum sentence set at 10 years RI.
The NIA had taken over the case from West Bengal Police in April 2020 and had arrested Idris along with Altaf Ahmed Rather of Jammu and Kashmir during its investigation.
Investigations revealed that the two men, in conspiracy with Tania Parveen, sought to form an LeT module by recruiting local youth. Tania Parveen had been earlier arrested by the Special Task Force of West Bengal Police in March 2020 at Baduria, North 24 Parganas, where authorities seized jihadi textbooks and other incriminating materials.
The probe also found that youth were being radicalised via social media to carry out jihad against the Indian government.
Following arrests, NIA filed chargesheets in September 2020 and May 2021 against the three detained accused, along with two Pakistan-based absconders identified as Ayesha @ Ayesha Burhan @ Ayesha Siddiqi @ Syed Ayesha and Bilal @ Bilal Durani. Red and Blue corner notices have been issued against the absconders, while trials continue against the other arrested accused under case RC-20/2020/NIA/DLI.
