Kochi: The Kerala High Court will today take a call on the appeals filed by alleged Lashkar-e-Taiba operative Thadiyantavide Nazeer and 12 others sentenced to life imprisonment over the recruitment of Malayali youths for terror activities in Kashmir.
In 2013 the National Investigation Agency (NIA) Court in Kochi had awarded life imprisonment to 10 accused and double life imprisonment to three others in the case.
Sarfaraz Nawaz, Abdul Jabbar and Sabir P Buhari are the three convicts seeking to overturn double life imprisonment.
The High Court will also decide on the appeal of the NIA against the trial court order to set aside a few charges against the accused in the sensational case which exposed the network of Islamic terror groups in Kerala.
The case
Kerala's links to terror activities came to light in October 2008 when four youths from the southern state were killed in the Kashmir by Indian security forces. Another Keralite terrorist who escaped this encounter was later arrested by the NIA from Hyderabad.
The four slain militants were among the 24 accused. Two accused are still on the run. The trial court had acquitted 5 accused in the case. The rest 18 were convicted and awarded life imprisonment, with three getting double lifer.
As per the charge sheet, Thadiyantavide Nazeer was a keyman of the Pakistani militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba who was engaged in drafting youth to its ranks from Kerala. He was earlier convicted in the 2006 Kozhikode twin blasts case and was also booked for the 2008 Bangaluru serial blasts case.
The Division Bench of the High Court will pronounce the verdicts on the appeal by Monday noon.
