BENGALURU: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) Special Court, Bengaluru, on Wednesday convicted another terrorist — Arif Hussain — in the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen-Bangladesh (JMB) dacoity case. “Hussain was found guilty under Sections 120-B, 395, 452, 468, 471 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for criminal conspiracy, dacoity, house trespass, forgery for purpose of cheating and fraudulently or dishonestly using as genuine any document; Sections 17, 18, 20, and 23 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 and Section 25(1A) of Arms Act, 1959 in the case. Hussain has been sentenced to undergo seven years rigorous imprisonment with a fine,” the NIA stated in an official release on Thursday.
Hussain, an “expert at fabrication of improvised explosive devices (IEDs)”, hails from Panpara in Barpeta district of Assam. “He was operating from various hideouts in and around Bengaluru, along with 13 other members of JMB. They were involved in committing dacoities across the city for raising funds for the JMB cause,” the central counter-terrorist agency added.
The NIA further stated that “Hussain had imparted training to his co-accused terrorist operatives in the preparation of IEDs. He had sold the looted gold in Assam and the money generated was then used for furthering the activities of JMB in India,” the agency added.
The Special Court had earlier convicted Najir Sheikh, Habibur Rahaman and Mosaraf Hossain who pleaded guilty and were awarded seven years rigorous imprisonment with fine in November 2022. Khador Kazi, Mustafizur Rahman, Adil Sheikh and Abdul Karim also pleaded guilty later and were awarded seven years rigorous imprisonment with fine in January 2023.