Representative image showing a view from a prison cell.
Credit: iStock Photo
New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday secured the conviction and sentencing of two terrorists of Bangladeshi terror outfit Ansal-al-Islam over a conspiracy to unleash terrorist attacks in India.
The convicted terrorists (both Bangladeshi nationals) are Mahmud Hassan alias Shariful Hassan and Mohamad Sayad Hussain alias Mohamad Sa’ad Hussain alias Sohan Molla alias Shihab Hossain, a statement issued by the probe agency said.
The NIA special court in Aizawl, Mizoram, has sentenced both to imprisonment of five years each along with a fine of Rs 10,000 or one month in default after finding them guilty, it said.
The men had illegally entered India and had been staying in various places on fake Indian identity documents such as Aadhaar card etc., the NIA said.
They were charge sheeted on January 23, 2020, following investigations by the NIA, which took over the case in September 2019.
The probe in the case had revealed that they had aided and abetted a conspiracy hatched by Ansar-al-Islam, which claimed to be the Bangladesh wing of Al-Qaeda, for the commission of terrorist acts.
The agency unravelled their roles in the conspiracy through analysis of various digital documents, incriminating audios and inspirational speeches to promote Jihad, as well as images of hand written details of bomb making, among other seizures, the statement said.
A total of 11 mobile phones and 16 SIM cards had been seized from the two men, it added.
Mahmud Hassan, roped into the conspiracy by one Abdul Wadud, operated under guidance from his handler Munir.
The photographs of important public and religious places in Bengaluru recovered from his mobile phone showed that he had conducted a recce of the same, the NIA said.
Mohamad Sayad Hussain used to shift around frequently on directions from his handler Bashir Ahmed and disguised his profession to conceal his identity and avoid detection by the police and security personnel, as per the NIA investigations.