A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Ernakulam, on Wednesday, April 20, has sentenced a man to three years of rigorous imprisonment and levied a fine of Rs 60,000 for his involvement in a conspiracy and the formation of an ISIS-inspired terror module in India, an official said on Friday, April 22. The person convicted is 31-year-old Sidhikhul Aslam of Thiruvananthapuram.

According to a report in The Hindu, Special Judge K Kamanees had convicted him under section 120B (Criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), besides offences under sections 38 (offence relating to membership of a terrorist organisation) and 39 (offence relating to support given to a terrorist organisation) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

The case was registered suo-motu by the NIA on October 1, 2016, based on information about the conspiracy and formation of the ISIS-inspired terrorist module Ansarul Khilafa-KL by the youth from southern India with the intention of furthering the objectives of ISIS, the spokesperson said. After investigation, the NIA had filed chargesheets against 10 accused including Sidhikhul Aslam in January last year. Six accused were convicted in November, 2019 and one was convicted in September 2020.

The prime accused named Mansidh Muhammad was sentenced to 14 years of rigorous imprisonment. Another accused, Salih Muhammad, was imprisoned for ten years. Other accused, including Rashid (seven years), Ramshad (three years) and NK Safwan (eight years) and Moinuddin Parakadavathu (three years) were convicted earlier. As the accused Sidhikul Aslam had pleaded guilty at the court and also “expressed remorse for his actions and wanted to live a life calm and complacent with his family,” the judgment noted that a reformist air should prevail in the award of the sentence, according to reports.

(With IANS and PTI inputs)