Kochi: A National Investigation Agency (NIA) Special Court on Friday ordered 10 years of rigorous imprisonment to Riyas Aboobacker, the lone accused in ISIS recruitment case in Kochi, for planning a serial bomb blast and suicide attacks in Kerala. Also, a fine of Rs 1.25 lakh has been slapped on him.
The court has found Riyaz guilty under Section 38 (belonging to a terror outfit) and 39 (giving support to a terror outfit) of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and under Section 120(B) (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). This apart, the court has also found him guilty of recruiting youths to ISIS.
Riyaz, arrested by NIA during investigations into terror outfits following blasts in Sri Lanka, has already spent five years in jail during the trial period and will now have to spend another five and a half years behind the bars to serve this sentence.
He had gone to Afghanistan and planned a series of suicide bomb attacks in Kerala. Investigations revealed that they wanted to carry out the attack during the New Year celebrations. The investigation agency found that the accused had approached many people for this purpose.
Riyaz, the only accused in the case, was arrested in 2019 while collecting explosive materials needed for the attack. NIA officials said that Riyaz had planned the blasts on the instructions of Abdul Rashid Abdullah, who went to Afghanistan from Kerala and joined ISIS. The NIA had received Abdul Rashid's phone messages and audio clips from the accused's phone.
The final hearing was completed on January 31 in the NIA court in Kochi and the verdict was given today.
Read more
