Guwahati, Jan 19 (PTI) Two men have been convicted by a court here in a case related to recruitment and radicalisation of youths for raising a module of the Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) affiliated to terror group AQIS (Al-Qaeda in the Indian Sub-Continent), the National Investigation Agency (NIA) said on Friday.
The sentence will be pronounced on Saturday, it said in a statement.
Jalaluddin Sheikh and Abdus Subhan from Goalpara district of Assam had pleaded guilty to the crime under various sections of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in the case registered initially by Assam Police on August 22, 2022 and taken over by the NIA on September 26 that year, the statement said.
NIA investigations had revealed that Sheikh had forged close connections with Subhan, who later established links with the absconding handler of ABT Mehboob Alom and went on to recruit three others into the ABT/AQIS to further the terror-related activities of the terrorist organisation, it added.
The three recruits were identified as Abdus Sobahan, Hafizur Rahman and Azmal Hussain, the statement said.
The accused and other co-conspirators worked closely with the handlers of the module, namely Abu Talha, Mehaboob alias Sultan, Jahangir Alom alias Ali Noor alias Inamul Haque, Aminul Islam alias Mehadi Hassan and Saiful Islam alias Md. Suman, who were based across the border in Bangladesh, the NIA said.
“They were involved in organising gatherings at various places in Goalpara district of Assam to radicalise and recruit impressionable people into the fold of ABT/AQIS,” it said.
The NIA had, on January 30 last year, filed a charge sheet against six accused under section different sections of IPC and UA(P)A in the case.
“Two persons were on Thursday convicted by the NIA special court, Guwahati, in a case relating to recruitment and radicalisation of youth for raising a module of the ABT affiliated to Al-Qaeda in the Indian Sub-Continent,” it said, adding that further investigation in the case was continuing.