Lucknow/Guwahati: An NIA special court in Lucknow on Tuesday sentenced an Assam-origin operative of the banned terrorist group Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HuM) to multiple terms of rigorous imprisonment and life imprisonment for conspiring to attack Hindu temples and other terrorist activities.
Kamruz Zaman from Hojai in Assam has been convicted in a criminal conspiracy to execute terror attacks in Uttar Pradesh and other regions of India, the NIA said. He was arrested by UP ATS in Kanpur in Sept 2018.
The NIA special court pronounced three sentences of life imprisonment and three sentences of rigorous imprisonment for 10 years. Each of these prison terms comes with a fine of Rs 10,000. He will undergo an additional three months of simple imprisonment in case of default of fine in each case and all sentences would run concurrently. "The accused is well educated but if knowledge is without character and patriotism, it produces citizens who are extremely dangerous for society and the country," the court said. The case was registered by NIA after taking over the investigation from ATS in Lucknow in Sept 2018. Five accused were chargesheeted in the case, including absconding accused Osama Bin Javed, who was later killed in an encounter with security forces in Sept 2019.
NIA investigation established that Zaman purportedly orchestrated a criminal conspiracy to wage war against govt of India and had plotted to target various Hindu temples. He was additionally implicated in procuring funds, knowing that the funds would be utilised by HuM members for terrorist acts. Investigation further revealed that Zaman was radicalised by Javed to join the proscribed terrorist organisation, the NIA stated.
Zaman and Javed were recruited by two active militants, Mohammad Amin, a "district commander" of HuM, and Riyaz Ahmad alias Hazari, a "district deputy commander" of HuM, both residents of Kishtwar in Jammu and Kashmir.
The two HuM militants were involved in physical and weapons handling training of Zaman and Javed in the forests of Kishtwar, whereupon Zaman was instructed to establish bases, hideouts and select targets in UP, Assam and other regions of India for executing terrorist activities, the NIA said.
Subsequently, Zaman travelled to Kanpur where he conducted reconnaissance of several targets.