ISIS Links: Kerala NIA Court Sentences Riyas Aboobacker to 10 Years of Imprisonment

A special NIA court in Kochi, Kerala, sentenced a Palakkad native to ten years of rigorous imprisonment under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for his involvement with the terror outfit Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and supporting its activities.

Special Court judge Mini S Das also imposed a fine of Rs 1.25 lakh on the accused, Riyas Aboobacker.

On February 7, the court convicted Aboobacker under Sections 38 (membership of a terrorist organization) and 39 (support given to a terrorist organization) of the UAPA and section 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC.

The NIA stated that Aboobacker was in direct contact with ISIS members and shared their ideology. The agency also claimed that he organized conspiracy meetings in Kochi, where plans for suicide attacks to further ISIS activities in India were made.

Furthermore, the NIA asserted that Aboobacker instigated others to carry out terror attacks in India. He was arrested in April 2019.

The NIA revealed that Aboobacker followed the speeches and videos of Zahran Hashim, an ISIS supporter in Sri Lanka, and was influenced by speeches of Zakir Naik, founder of the banned organization Islamic Research Foundation (IRF). The Indian government has banned IRF as an unlawful association under the UAPA.

Hashim is the leader of the National Thowheed Jamaath, the group responsible for the Easter bombings in Sri Lanka in April 2019, which resulted in the deaths of 250 people.