Guwahati, Jan 31 (IANS): The Special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Guwahati has sentenced two more accused in the ABT (Ansarullah Bangla Team) case of Assam, sources said on Thursday.
NIA sources said that Mufti Suleiman Ali and Imran Hossen a.k.a. Imran Hossain have been punished with imprisonment and fine under various sections of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
In the same case seven accused were earlier convicted and sentenced by the special court. The two accused have been sentenced to simple imprisonment (SI) of 6 months and fine of Rs 500 with 14 additional days of SI in case of payment default.
They have also been punished with Rigorous Imprisonment (RI) for the period already undergone (2 years 8 month 21 days) under UAPA Act.
The case was registered in March 2022 and relates to an ABT module affiliated to the proscribed international terror organisation, the Al Qaeda in the Indian Sub-Continent (AQIS).
Headed by Bangladeshi national Saiful Islam alias Haroon Rashid, the module was active in Barpeta district of Assam.
NIA had originally chargesheet eight accused in the case in August 2022, and had subsequently filed a supplementary chargesheet against two others in August 2023. Further investigation and trial in the case continues.
Meanwhile, the Assam Police's Special Task Force (STF) has so far arrested 14 associates of the ABT, a Bangladesh-based terror group affiliated with Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) from Assam, West Bengal and Kerala.
The STF as part of its 'Operation Praghat' operation against fundamentalists and Global Terrorist Organisations (GTO) arrested these 14 ABT associates.
STF sources said that the 14 detainees, including Bangladeshi nationals, were working under the direction of Md Farhan Israk, a close associate of Jasimuddin Rahmani, the Chief of ABT. The ABT sent one Bangladeshi national Md Sad Radi alias Shab Sheikh a resident of Rajshahi, Bangladesh, to India to spread their nefarious ideology amongst like-minded people across India.
Sad Radi (32) was apprehended from Kerala in December last year.