Three Kerala men found guilty of joining ISIS

An NIA special court in Kochi on Tuesday, July 12 convicted three accused in the Valapattanam Islamic State (IS)-related case in which they were accused of spreading the terror outfit's ideology and attempting to migrate to Syria. National Investigation Agency (NIA) court Special Judge Anil K Bhaskar, convicted Midhilaj (27), Abdul Rasaq (34) and Hamsa (57) in the case and said the sentencing will be pronounced on Friday.

The court 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 case was first registered at Valapattanam police station in Kannur district before the NIA took over the probe in 2017 after reports that over 15 persons from various parts of the district joined IS.

The court has now convicted the first, second and the fifth accused. The third and the fourth accused have turned approvers, NIA counsel P G Manu told PTI.

The court examined 234 documents and 143 witnesses in the case in which the arrest was recorded on October 25, 2017.

Meanwhile, the accused pleaded before the court to be lenient on the sentencing as they have been under custody for the past five years.

In March, the NIA had filed a charge sheet against two persons in Tamil Nadu for allegedly favouring the Islamic State. The case was registered in Madurai and relates to one Mohammed Iqbal using his Facebook account "Thoonga Vizhigal Rendu is in Kazimar Street" to upload posts that insulted a particular community and stirred communal discontent among different religions.

The NIA later took over the case in April 2021 from the Madurai police and on probing further, found that Mohammed Iqbal was a member of an Islamic outfit Hizb- Ut-Tahrir which was an affiliated unit of the IS.