A Special Court of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has convicted and sentenced accused Huzair Farhan Baig @ Huzair to 6 Years of Rigorous Imprisonment (RI) along with a fine of Rs. 58,000/-, in a terror conspiracy case linked to the proscribed terrorist organisation Islamic State (IS).
The case was originally registered by Karnataka Police on 19th September 2022 and was subsequently taken over by NIA and re-registered on 15th November 2022 as RC-46/2022/NIA/DLI. Investigation unravelled an IS module operating clandestinely in Thirthahalli Town, Shivamogga district of Karnataka.
The accused persons were being mentored and steered by an online handler known as “Colonel,” who was later identified as Mohammed Shaheed Faisal, an absconding accused in various terror cases of NIA. He was radicalising and recruiting youths for propagating the ideology of the proscribed terrorist organisation Islamic State (IS), and to further commit terrorist activities in India.
The convicted accused Huzair Farhan Baig was radicalised and recruited by co-accused Maaz Muneer Ahmed and Syed Yasin. On the instructions of Maaz Muneer Ahmed, Huzair Farhan Baig arranged a hideout in Bengaluru for terrorist activity. He also received funds in the form of cryptocurrency into accounts belonging to his friends, which were subsequently converted into fiat currency to make payments towards the hideout. The funds were arranged by Maaz Muneer Ahmed through the online handler.
Till date, NIA has filed 4 chargesheets against 12 accused persons, 3 of whom have already been convicted and sentenced to 6 Years of Rigorous Imprisonment along with a fine.
In a continued effort, NIA is working to trace and identify the whereabouts of the online handler Mohammed Shaheed Faisal, who planned and conspired to set up the module involved in this case.
