Kolkata: A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court on Wednesday sentenced a key accused to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment in a Pakistan-linked case involving the recruitment and radicalisation of Muslim youth for the banned terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) in West Bengal.
The NIA special court in Kolkata convicted Sayyad M Idris, a resident of Uttara Kannada district in Karnataka, under multiple provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The sentences will run concurrently, with the maximum punishment being 10 years of rigorous imprisonment. The court also imposed a fine of ₹70,000 on the accused.
The case was initially registered by the West Bengal Police and later taken over by the NIA in April 2020. During the investigation, the agency arrested Idris along with Altaf Ahmed Rather of Jammu and Kashmir.
Investigators found that Idris and Rather had conspired with Tania Parveen to establish an LeT module in West Bengal by recruiting and radicalising local youth. Tania Parveen was arrested earlier by the Special Task Force (STF) of the West Bengal Police during a search operation in Baduria area of North 24 Parganas district in March 2020, based on specific intelligence inputs.
During the STF search, several incriminating materials, including jihadi literature and textbooks, were recovered. The investigation revealed that the accused used social media platforms to indoctrinate and radicalise youth, motivating them to carry out jihad against the Government of India.
The NIA subsequently filed charge sheets in September 2020 and May 2021 against the three arrested accused, as well as two Pakistan-based operatives who remain absconding. The absconders have been identified as Ayesha alias Ayesha Burhan alias Ayesha Siddiqi alias Syed Ayesha and Bilal alias Bilal Durani.
Red Corner and Blue Corner notices have been issued against the two absconders. The trial against the remaining arrested accused in the case is still underway.
