KOCHI: The NIA Court in Kochi will announce the verdict in the first case related to the Islamic State registered in Kerala on Saturday. The final hearing of the case - related to 15 Kasargod natives migrating to Afghanistan to join IS in 2016 - was completed on Tuesday.
The lone person arrested - Yasmin Mohammed Zahid of Bihar - is facing trial. NIA had filed the chargesheet against Yasmin and the first accused Abdul Rashid, suspected to be in Afghanistan currently.
“As part of the trial, the court had examined 52 prosecution witnesses, one defence witness and nearly 50 material objects. We had produced all available evidence to prove the case against the accused,” an NIA officer said.
Yasmin is currently out on bail. The 15 Kasargod natives had moved to the Nangarhar Province of Afghanistan. Initially, the Kerala Police registered a missing case (534/2016) in this regard at the Kasargod police station. Yasmin, who had attempted to join IS with her son, was intercepted by the Kerala Police at the Delhi International Airport on July 30, 2016. While investigation is still on against the remaining accused, red corner notices are pending after NIA sought Interpol’s assistance in tracking them down. Several of the accused in the case are reported to have died while fighting for IS in Afghanistan.
The case from Kasargod was registered along with a similar incident in Palakkad where two brothers, along with their family members, migrated to Afghanistan. NIA also probed the involvement of the Islamic Research Foundation over the conversion of the youth who later migrated to Afghanistan. In another case related to IS, a former employee of the Islamic Research Foundation was named the accused.