Man gets Seven years’ imprisonment by NIA court in ISIS case

On Sunday, a special court of the National Investigation Agency sentenced Syed Fasiur Rehaman, also known as Syed Faseeh Ur Rehman, to seven years in prison and fined him Rs 48,000 for his involvement in an ISIS-linked terror plot. Investigators said the plan aimed to carry out targeted killings to spark communal riots and support the banned group’s agenda.

This conviction is part of the Al-Hind ISIS case, which was first registered by Karnataka police in Bengaluru on January 10, 2020, and later taken over by the NIA on January 23. So far, the agency has filed three chargesheets against 20 people, all of whom have been arrested. Rehaman is the second person to be convicted. Earlier, Mohammed Haneef Khan received the same sentence and fine on July 14 after pleading guilty during a trial that started in October 2025.

According to the NIA, the conspiracy was. The NIA said that Mehaboob Pasha, the main accused, led the conspiracy by holding several meetings at his home in Gurappanapalya, Bengaluru. During these meetings, participants allegedly discussed plans for targeted killings to spark communal violence and support ISIS’s goals.

The agency said the group aimed to set up an ISIS province in India, focusing on Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Investigators found that Rehaman attended these meetings and bought tents and knives from a Decathlon store for jungle-camp training of Al-Hind members. Another ISIS-linked individual was Khaja Moideen. Investigators identified remote forest areas around Shivanasamudra in Chamarajanagar district and Gundlupet as potential sites for training camps and hideouts. In the earlier conviction, Haneef Khan was found to have been part of a reconnaissance team that surveyed those forest locations.

The NIA said Pasha gave him two pistols and 60 live rounds, and that the group also planned to get more weapons and explosives. Khan reportedly drove several co-accused from Bengaluru to West Bengal in a rented car as part of the plot. The NIA said it is still investigating and trying to identify the online handler who planned and coordinated the group.

This case shows the NIA’s efforts to break up networks that tried to radicalise people, run paramilitary-style training, and use violence to cause unrest. Officials said the sentencing is part of ongoing legal action against those accused of supporting a banned group and planning terrorist acts. The other accused are still on trial. The court examined evidence of meetings, equipment purchases, reconnaissance, and the group’s stated goal of establishing a base in India.

The case was registered in 2020 following intelligence reports on the formation of the Al-Hind module.

Later chargesheets described the roles of different members in logistics, reconnaissance, procurement, and planning. Both convictions so far have resulted in the same sentence of seven years in prison and a Rs 48,000 fine, reflecting the court’s view of the conspiracy’s seriousness, even though the roles varied.

Authorities have stressed that the plot was stopped before any attack took place, partly because the case was registered early and the NIA took over soon after. The agency described the module as a group that held local meetings in a neighbourhood in Bengaluru but aimed to expand operations, including training in forests and obtaining weapons.