KOCHI: The Ernakulam NIA Special Court on Monday awarded eight years imprisonment to Mohammed Azarudeen H, the mastermind of the ISIS Tamil Nadu module, and Shiek Hidayathullah Y of Coimbatore in the Kerala-Tamil Nadu ISIS case.
The court found them guilty of the offence under Section 120B (Criminal Conspiracy) of the IPC, read with Sections 38 and 39 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
The court awarded eight years' imprisonment for each of the offences. While awarding imprisonment, the court made it clear that the sentence shall run concurrently. The counsel for the accused persons stated that they will file an appeal challenging the order before the High Court.
The NIA had found that the accused persons are active members of the proscribed terrorist organisation ISIS/Daesh from 2017 onwards and conspired to further its activities by forming a group/module comprising themselves along with three other accused persons.
They conducted several secret classes in Coimbatore to motivate associates with the violent extremist ideology of the organisation.
They knowingly and intentionally propagated the ideology of ISIS in Tamil Nadu and Kerala from 2017 onwards, through social media as well as in person, recruiting vulnerable youth into the organisation and thereby committing the said offences.
Investigations revealed that Mohammed Azarudeen of Coimbatore had been associated with Wahadath-e-Islami, a frontal organisation of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, and delivered speeches (bayans) on the organisation’s religious ideology and other Islamic topics at various places, including Rayan Mosque in Coimbatore, from 2013 onwards.
He was in contact with several Sri Lankan individuals through Facebook and other encrypted social media platforms, where they exchanged violent jihadi ideology, including that espoused by ISIS.
Forensic examination recovered speeches and other materials of Sri Lankan ISIS leader Zahran Hashim from the digital devices and social media accounts of the two accused.
The NIA stated that both accused became radicalised by extreme Salafi Islamic ideology through online material from 2016 onwards.
They regularly watched speeches of radical preachers such as Anwar al-Awlaki, Abu Bara, Moosa Cerantonio, Zahran Hashim of Sri Lanka, among others. They downloaded such content to their devices, which they disseminated among associates.