A special NIA court here on Wednesday convicted a Palakkad native under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for being a member of terror outfit ISIS and providing support to its activities.
NIA Special court judge Mini S Das convicted Riyas Aboobacker (33) under sections 38 (membership of a terrorist organisation) and 39 (support given to a terrorist organisation) of the UAPA and section 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC.
The court said it will hear arguments on sentence on Thursday. According to the NIA, Aboobacker was in direct contact with members of ISIS and was sharing its ideology. The agency had also claimed that he had organised conspiracy meetings at Kochi where he had decided to carry out suicide attacks for furthering the terror outfit's activities in India.
The NIA had further claimed that Aboobacker had instigated others to carry out terror attacks in India. It had also told the court that Aboobacker, who was arrested in April 2019, followed the speeches and videos of Zahran Hashim, a supporter of ISIS in Sri Lanka and that the Palakkad native was also influenced by speeches of Zakir Naik, founder of banned organisation Islamic Research Foundation (IRF).
The IRF has been banned as an unlawful association under the UAPA by the Indian government. Hashim is the leader of the National Thowheeth Jama'ath, the group which claimed responsibility for the Easter bombings in Sri Lanka in April 2019 that killed 250 people.
