Kochi (Kerala): A suspected member of the Islamic State (ISIS) was found guilty by a National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Kochi on Wednesday. The operative had been charged with planning to carry out terror activities in India.
Riyas Aboobacker (34), a native of Palakkad has been found guilty of plotting a suicide attack in Kerala in 2016 by the court. He was arrested in 2019 as part of an investigation by the NIA into 14 individuals from the Kasaragod district, who joined the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) in 2016.
He was found guilty of conspiracy under Indian Penal Code section 120(b) (criminal conspiracy), section 30 and 39 of Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), for having membership of a terrorist organisation and providing assistance to terrorist organisations.
Aboobacker was presented in the NIA court on Wednesday in connection with the case. The court examined one material object, 37 documents, and up to 22 witnesses during the trial.
According to the investigation, Aboobacker was preparing a 'fidayeen' attack, or suicide attack, on a place of worship in Kerala and he was motivated by the divine martyrdom of Amal-Istishhadi.
As per NIA sources, at least two men from a group of 22, who left Kerala in 2016 to join ISIS in Afghanistan, had communication with Aboobacker. As per sources, Aboobacker revealed that he had communicated online with Abdul Rashid Abdulla, a prominent member of the ISIS Kasaragod cell that surfaced in 2016.
According to the NIA, Aboobacker also said that he had been watching films and speeches by Indian Islamic orator Zakir Naik and Sri Lankan Zahran Hashim for over a year. The NIA claimed that he was radicalised by the ideology of ISIS.
