KOCHI: A Palakkad native has been found guilty of plotting a suicide attack in Kerala in 2016 by a NIA court in Kochi.
The accused Riyas Aboobacker (34) was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in 2019 as part of the probe against 14 persons from Kasaragod district who joined Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) in 2016.
He was found guilty under IPC section 120 (b) for conspiracy, Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) section 30 for having membership of a terrorist organisation and section 39 for giving support to terrorist organisations.
Aboobacker was produced at the court on Wednesday as part of announcing the verdict in the case.
After the verdict, NIA court judge Mini Das posted the case on Thursday to pronounce the sentence to be granted to the accused.
The trial of the case was completed at the court of NIA Judge Mini Das recently. As part of the trial, as many as 22 witnesses, 37 documents and one material object were examined by the court.
The investigation revealed that Aboobacker was inspired by Amal-Istishhadi (divine martyrdom) and was planning a fidayeen attack (suicide attack) at a religious place in Kerala.
He was in touch with Keralites who joined ISIS in Afghanistan and his handlers in Afghanistan inspired him for a suicide attack. He was following radical speeches of Sri Lankan Easter Sunday bomb blast mastermind Zaharan Hashim and preacher Zakir Naik.
Earlier, two persons were also convicted in the same case. First, a Bihar native Yasmeen Mohammed Zahid who attempted to reach Afghanistan, was sentenced to seven years' imprisonment by the NIA Court in 2018.
Later, in 2021 the court awarded five-year imprisonment to Kalpetta native Nashidul Hamzafar who was deported from Afghanistan after being caught there while attempting to cross the border from Iran in 2017.
14 people from Kasargod who joined ISKP were killed in Afghanistan fighting for the terror group.