In a first such case, wherein an Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist admitted to his guilt before the National Investigation Agency (NIA), the Special Court of NIA in Himachal Pradesh in Shimla on Thursday convicted and sentenced Abid Khan to five years rigorous imprisonment (RI).

He was also fined of Rs 50,000. The court took a lenient view because of age and as he pleaded guilty to all the allegations. He told the court that wanted to join the mainstream and serve the country.

The accused did not opt to defend himself and trial got completed in just around 50 days. This was also a first case of NIA in Himachal Pradesh.

NIA Senior Public Prosecutor Surinder Singh submitted before the court that the 23-year-old Abid Khan was living as a Christian in Kullu when arrested.

Surinder Singh further told the court that Abid was a member of terrorist organisation and connected to Jund-ul-Khalifa-Fil-Hind, which is further working on the ideology of ISIS, international Jihadi terrorist organisation, with a motive to establish a Caliphate by indulging in terrorist activities across different countries in the world including India.

He was charge-sheeted for the conspiracy to commit terrorist acts and owing allegiance to banned terrorist organisation ISIS.

Kullu police had on December 17, 2016, arrested Paul, a Christian who was residing in Believers Church, Banjar, Sidwan, Kullu in Himachal Pradesh.

Further inquiry after verifying from Aadhar Card and identity, revealed that he was Abid Khan, a resident of Bengaluru, Karnataka.

On January 19, 2017, the NIA took over the case.

The investigation unearthed the conspiracy hatched by Abid Khan and his associates to train and motivate Muslim youths to carry out terrorist activities in India and also to shift them to countries like Syria, Iraq.

During investigation, Khan disclosed that Hizb-ut-Tahrir (HuT) was an organisation, whose objective was to resume the Islamic way of life by establishing an Islamic state that executes the systems of Islam.

Khan on the request of engineering students of the civil branch of HKBK Engineering College, Bengluru taught them Arabic, as per the chargesheet. During that period, Khan used to talk about Kashmir political scenario and other vulnerable issues and gradually turned the discussions towards the Islamic world, middle-east, Syria and ISIS.

To hide and evade his arrest, he took shelter in a church, All Nations Church, located at Hormar, Agre Ring Road Signal, Bengaluru with the help of a dentist in January, 2016. Disclosing about his past he expressed his desire to seek atonement.

Khan had an impression that if he went for Baptism, All Nations Church would extend all help to send him abroad. Convinced about his faith in Lord Jesus, he was baptized on March 17, 2016.

He also confided that he had befriended a girl from Indonesia through a chat group. But he was not sent to Indonesia as it was felt that he was new in the Christian faith.

Khan convinced them that he was not comfortable of staying in Bengaluru or any other place in India because he feared that he would be tracked soon if he stayed for a longer time.

With the help the Church, Khan was sent to Sri Lanka between March 21 to April 18 in 2016 and later shifted to Kullu – Manali in HP where he sought shelter in the local church.