Anti-Terror Agency Special Court Gives 5 Years In Jail To Hizbul Operative In Assam

A special NIA court in Assam has convicted a person and sentenced him to five years of rigorous imprisonment in connection with a 2018 conspiracy case related to the formation of a Hizbul Mujahideen module, an official said on Wednesday.

A spokesperson for the federal agency said the special court in Guwahati also imposed a fine on Mohammad Saidul Alam, a resident of Hojai area of Assam.

Five people were chargesheeted by the NIA on March 11, 2019 in the case after the agency took the investigation on October 5, 2018 from Jamanamukh police station in Hojai district.

Two of the accused -- Sahnawaj Alom and Omar Faruque -- were convicted by the NIA Court on December 23 last year.

"NIA investigations have revealed that the three convicted accused had conspired with one Kamruj Zaman to establish a Hizbul Mujahideen module in Assam. During 2017-2018, they had organised a series of meetings in various mosques, such as Milonpur Masjid, Islampur Masjid and Solmari Masjid, in and around Jamunamukh area.

"The meetings were used to spread the banned outfit's hardcore fundamentalist ideology, with speeches about alleged atrocities and Jihad. Youth attending these meetings were told about the need to raise a module of Hizbul Mujahideen for committing terrorist acts in response to the alleged atrocities," the spokesperson said.

The official said Zaman, Alom and Faruque had conspired to raise funds for procurement of arms and ammunition.

"Faruque, alongwith another accused Jaynal Uddin, provided logistic support. To keep their communications a secret, Zaman and Alam had also installed the blackberry messenger (BBM) App on their mobile sets. Zaman had used this app to stay in touch with Hizbul Mujahideen cadres in Jammu and Kashmir," the spokesperson said.

The official said investigations also revealed that Alam, alongwith Zaman, Alom and Faruque, had conspired to cause bomb blasts and armed attacks on innocent civilians in the non-Muslim localities of Lumding and Hojai on the eve of Dussehra.

"They had also planned to procure arms and ammunition for these attacks," the spokesperson said. 

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