BENGALURU: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) Special Court in Bengaluru on Monday sentenced Bangladeshi national Jahidul Islam, alias Kausar, to seven years of rigorous imprisonment (RI) in a series of cases related to the promotion of the activities of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh India (JMB - India).
Jahidul was also fined ₹57,000 in cases connected with offences of dacoity, conspiracy, raising funds, and the procurement of ammunition.
With this, a total of 11 accused have been convicted in these cases.
The initial case was registered by the Bengaluru City Police in June 2019, based on information generated by the NIA during the investigation of the Burdwan blast case by the agency’s Kolkata Branch Office.
The NIA subsequently registered the case and initiated a probe into the matter, along with connected dacoity cases.
According to NIA investigations, Jahidul, the JMB Amir of India, along with the absconding JMB head Salauddin Salehin, had illegally crossed into India in 2014 after escaping from the custody of Bangladesh police in connection with the 2005 serial blasts in Bangladesh.
While in hiding, he and his associates were involved in the October 2014 Burdwan blast case.
After the blast, Jahidul and his aides fled to Bengaluru, where he radicalized and recruited gullible Muslim youth from West Bengal and Assam to further the anti-India activities of JMB.
The accused and his associates were also responsible for the blast in Bodhgaya in January 2018.
NIA investigations further revealed that the accused and his associates had conspired to raise funds through dacoity to advance the activities of JMB. In 2018, they committed four dacoities in Bengaluru as part of this agenda, using the looted money to procure ammunition, arrange hideouts, and provide training for carrying out terrorist activities.