Kochi: A special NIA court in Kochi on Monday sentenced two men from Coimbatore to eight years of rigorous imprisonment for recruiting and promoting the ideology of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in South India.
The court convicted Muhammad Azharudeen (27) of Anbu Nagar, Ukkadam, and Shiek Hidayathulla alias Firoz Khan (35) of South Ukkadam under IPC section 120B (criminal conspiracy) and UAPA sections 38 (membership of a terrorist organization) and 39 (supporting a terrorist organization). Both were sentenced to eight years each under the charges, with the court directing that the sentences run concurrently.
The case was registered in 2019 after intelligence inputs revealed that the duo was spreading ISIS propaganda with the aim of radicalizing and recruiting youth in Kerala and Tamil Nadu to carry out terrorist attacks. The probe was initiated in the aftermath of the Easter Sunday terror attack in Sri Lanka in April 2019.
Investigators found that the accused regularly watched and circulated speeches by radical clerics such as Anwar al-Awlaki, Abu Bara, Moosa Cerantonio and Sri Lankan ISIS leader Zahran Hashim. Digital evidence, including speeches and material linked to Hashim, was forensically retrieved from their devices and social media accounts.
According to the NIA, from 2017 until March 2019, the accused actively furthered ISIS activities in South India, visiting multiple locations across Kerala, meeting associates and pledging support to the proscribed outfit. Both men are also facing trial in the 2022 Coimbatore blast case.