Kolkata

A special court of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in Kolkata has sentenced a man to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment for his role in a Pakistan-backed conspiracy aimed at recruiting and radicalising Muslim youths in West Bengal for the banned terror organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), officials said on Thursday.

The Special NIA Court on Wednesday awarded the sentence to Sayyad M. Idris, a resident of Karnataka’s Uttara Kannada district, after holding him guilty under multiple provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

In addition to the prison term, the court imposed a fine of Rs 70,000 on the convict, officials of the probe agency said.

The case was initially registered by the West Bengal Police before being taken over by the NIA in April 2020, as part of its investigation into a terror recruitment module allegedly operating in the state. Idris was arrested by the agency along with another accused following the takeover of the case.

Earlier, in March 2020, the West Bengal Police had arrested another LeT operative, Tania Parvin, from Baduria in North 24 Parganas district. During the arrest, secessionist literature allegedly aimed at inciting Muslim youths to join jihad against India was recovered from her possession.

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The NIA said trials against other accused persons in the case are currently underway.