NIA court sentences man to 10 years for Lashkar recruitment

A special NIA court in Kolkata sentenced a Karnataka man to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment for radicalising and recruiting youths for Lashkar-e-Taiba. The case relates to the formation of a terror module in West Bengal, the agency said

New Delhi: A special NIA court has sentenced a person to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment for being involved in the radicalisation and recruitment of youngsters for Lashkar-e-Taiba, a terror outfit based in Pakistan, an official statement issued on Thursday said.

The NIA special court in Kolkata on Wednesday sentenced Sayyad M Idris, a resident of Karnataka’s Uttara Kannada district, who was convicted under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment, the statement said.

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The court also imposed a fine of Rs 70,000 on the accused, it added.

The NIA had taken over the case from the West Bengal Police in April 2020 and arrested Idris along with Altaf Ahmed Rather of Jammu and Kashmir during the course of the investigation.

According to the agency, investigations revealed that Idris and Rather had conspired with Tania Parveen to form a LeT module by recruiting local youngsters in West Bengal.

Tania Parveen was arrested earlier by the Special Task Force (STF) of the West Bengal Police during a search operation at Baduria in North 24 Parganas district in March 2020, based on specific inputs.

During the search, the STF seized incriminating material, including jihadi textbooks, the agency said in the statement.

The investigation further found that youths were being radicalised through social media platforms to undertake jihad against the Government of India.

In September 2020 and May 2021, the NIA filed charge-sheets against the three arrested accused and two Pakistan-based absconders identified as Ayesha alias Ayesha Burhan alias Ayesha Siddiqi alias Syed Ayesha and Bilal alias Bilal Durani.

Red and Blue corner notices have been issued against the two absconders, while the trial against the remaining arrested accused is continuing, the agency said.