The Special NIA Court in Kochi on Friday sentenced 13 Islamist extremists to life imprisonment for recruiting Muslim youths from Kerala for terror training and operations in Kashmir.
The convicts were funded and directed by Pakistani terror groups. Three of the 13 accused were given double life imprisonment. Special Judge S Vijayakumar, who had on Tuesday found the 13 guilty, also slapped a fine of Rs 50,000 each on them. Awarding the punishment, the judge observed that the convicts who had threatened the unity and integrity of the nation deserved no mercy and asked the prison authorities to make arrangements for them to learn about India's Constitution.
Those sentenced to life term included leT's South India commander Thadiyantavide Nazeer of Kannur and its Indian fund-raiser Sarfaraz Nawaz from Ernakulam, both accused in the 2008 Bangalore bombings. Those awarded double-life terms were Nawaz, 23rd accused, 15th accused Abdul Jabbar of Malappuram and 16th accused Sabir Buhari from Ernakulam.
Though the NIA had sought a death sentence for Jabbar, who had engaged the security forces in an encounter in Kashmir, the court limited his punishment to double life term to give him the opportunity to reform himself and return to the life of a normal citizen in society. Jabbar had begged the court not to sentence him to death.
The Special NIA Court itself had in August, 2011 sentenced Nazeer to life imprisonment in the case relating to the twin blasts that occurred in Kozhikode city on March 3, 2006, an incident described as the first direct Islamist terror strike in Kerala.
The others who were given life sentence were Abdul Jaleel (Kannur), Sainuddin alias Sattar Bhai (Malappuram), MH Faizal, P Mujeeb, Feroze (Ernakulam), Muhammad Nawaz, Shafaz (Kannur), Ibrahim Moulvi (Wayanad) and Umar Ul Farooq (Malappuram). Pakistani national Abdul Rahman Wali and Ayoob alias Sabir were declared as absconders. Five of the accused were acquitted.
The accused faced trial on charges like indulging in anti-national activities, conspiracy to wage war against the nation, promoting religious enmity and various offences that came under unlawful activities. The trial had started before the Special NIA Court in February, 2012 in which 186 witnesses and 604 documents and exhibits were examined.
Stating that the accused had forgotten the fact that religion was meant to unite people and not to divide them, Judge Vijayakumar said that the punishment should serve as a warning to all those who were trying to drag youths into extremism. He said the prison authorities should keep an eye on the convicts to learn the changes the imprisonment was bringing to them.
The terror recruitment plot had come to light after four Kerala-based militants of a five-man group were killed in encounters with security forces in Kupwara sector, Kashmir in October, 2008. Abdul Jabbar, the fifth militant, had escaped the encounter with injuries. The case was first probed by the Kerala police but the NIA took over after the wider ramifications were revealed.
The recruitment of young Malayalees for terror operations was carried out through the Twareeqat religious study sessions organized in several places by Nazeer and others between 2006 and 2008, according to the charge sheet filed by the NIA. Funds for this had been arranged from Pakistan via Bangladesh by Nazeer and Nawaz, it said.
Five youths - Fayaz and Faiz from Kannur, Abdul Raheem from Malappuram, Varghese Joseph alias Muhammad Yasin from Kochi and Abdul Jabbar - were sent to Kashmir for training after their recruitment in Kerala. While returning, they were intercepted by the security forces in Kupwara, leading to the killing of four of them.
Though the NIA had initially drawn up a list of 24 accused including the four killed in Kashmir, the charge sheet it filed was against 18 excluding these four and the two absconders.