Kochi: A special NIA court here on Friday sentenced two men in the Valapattanam Islamic State (IS)-related case to seven years rigorous imprisonment while another has been awarded a six-year jail term. National Investigation Agency (NIA) court judge Anil K Bhaskar sentenced the first and fifth accused in the case -- Midlaj (31) and Hamsa (61) -- to seven years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 each.
The second accused, Abdul Rasak (38), was awarded six years and slapped with a fine of Rs 40,000. The trio was on Tuesday convicted by the court in the case in which it was charged with spreading the terror outfit's ideology and attempting to migrate to Syria. The court had convicted the culprits under Sections 38 (offence relating to membership of a terrorist organisation) and 39 (offence relating to support given to a terrorist organisation) of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and various other sections of the Indian Penal Code, including Section 120B (criminal conspiracy). "The substantive sentence of imprisonment imposed shall run concurrently," the court said in its order.
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Meanwhile, NIA standing counsel, PG Manu told the media that the prosecution was satisfied with the judgement as the conviction and the subsequent sentencing happened after that even though the conspiracy charges were also proved. The investigative agency had re-registered a Kerala Police (Valapattanam police station) FIR of October 2017 to start the probe into the case. It later filed a charge sheet in April 2018 against four people, including the above-mentioned three people. The case was first registered at the Valapattanam police station in Kannur district before the NIA took over the probe in 2017 after reports that over 15 people from various parts of the district joined IS.
