Tovino Thomas leads voter turnout as Kerala polls heat up
Actor Tovino Thomas casts his vote in Thrissur as Kerala records impressive voter turnout. Key constituencies see fierce electoral battles in the second phase of Lok Sabha elections.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Kochi on Wednesday found Palakkad resident Riyas Aboobacker guilty of planning to carry out suicide attacks in Kerala in 2016.
Riyas Aboobacker (34) was found guilty under IPC’s Section 120 (b) for conspiracy, Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) Section 30 for having membership of a terrorist organisation and section 39 for giving support to terrorist organisations. The quantum of punishment will be pronounced on Thursday.
Riyas Aboobacker was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in 2019 as a part of the probe against 14 persons from Kasaragod district, who joined Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) in 2016.
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As many as 22 witnesses, 37 documents and one material object were examined by the court during the trial of the case.
The investigation revealed that Riyas Aboobacker was inspired by Amal-Istishhadi and was planning a fidayeen attack at a religious place in Kerala.
He was in touch with Keralites, who joined ISIS in Afghanistan and his handlers in Afghanistan inspired him for a suicide attack.
He was following radical speeches of Sri Lankan Easter Sunday bomb blast mastermind Zaharan Hashim and preacher Zakir Naik.
Earlier, two persons were also convicted in the same case. First, a Bihar native Yasmeen Mohammed Zahid who attempted to reach Afghanistan, was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment by the NIA Court in 2018.
Later, in 2021 the court awarded five-year imprisonment to Kalpetta native Nashidul Hamzafar, who was deported from Afghanistan after being caught there while attempting to cross the border from Iran in 2017.
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