A National Investigation Agency (NIA) court here on Friday sentenced Palakkad native Riyas Aboobacker to 25 years of imprisonment for conspiring to carry out IS-model suicide attacks in Kerala.

It also imposed a fine of Rs 1.25 lakh on him.

Advertisement

The convict was awarded rigorous imprisonment for 10 years each under the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention (UAPA) Act and section 120B of IPC. The court also ruled that the punishments will run concurrently.

It said the term the convict has spent in jail will be set off against the punishment awarded to him. Aboobacker had been in jail for the last five years.

Earlier on Wednesday,Mini S. Das, the special judge found Riyas Aboobacker(34) guilty under IPC section 120 (b) for conspiracy, Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) section 30 for having membership of a terrorist organisation and section 39 for giving support to terrorist organisations.

The charges against him included attempts to recruit youths to the ISIS, a proscribed organisation, and planning to carry out explosions in Kerala.

Riyas Aboobacker was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in 2019 as part of the probe against 14 persons from Kasaragod district who joined Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) in 2016.

As many as 22 witnesses, 37 documents and one material object were examined by the court during the trial of the case

The investigation revealed that Riyas Aboobacker was inspired by Amal-Istishhadi (divine martyrdom) and was planning a fidayeen attack (suicide attack) at a religious place in Kerala..

He was in touch with Keralites who joined ISIS in Afghanistan and his handlers in Afghanistan inspired him for a suicide attack. He was following radical speeches of Sri Lankan Easter Sunday bomb blast mastermind Zaharan Hashim and preacher Zakir Naik.

Earlier, two persons were also convicted in the same case. First, a Bihar native Yasmeen Mohammed Zahid who attempted to reach Afghanistan, was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment by the NIA Court in 2018. Later, in 2021 the court awarded five-year imprisonment to Kalpetta native Nashidul Hamzafar who was deported from Afghanistan after being caught there while attempting to cross the border from Iran in 2017.