Assam: NIA court awards 5 years imprisonment to terror operative from Hojai

A special NIA court in Assam has convicted and sentenced a person to five years in jail in connection with a 2018 conspiracy case involving the creation of a Hizbul Mujahideen module. 

According to a federal agency official, the special court in Guwahati also fined Mohammad Saidul Alam, a resident of Assam's Hojai district. 

The NIA charged five persons in the case on March 11, 2019, after taking over the investigation from Jamanamukh police station in Hojai district on October 5, 2018. 

On December 23, last year, the NIA Court convicted two of the suspects, Sahnawaj Alom and Omar Faruque. "According to NIA investigations, the three convicted accused conspired with one Kamruj Zaman to establish a Hizbul Mujahideen module in Assam." During 2017-2018, they held a series of gatherings at mosques in and near Jamunamukh, including Milonpur Masjid, Islampur Masjid, and Solmari Masjid. 

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"With speeches about alleged atrocities and Jihad, the meetings were used to spread the banned outfit's hardcore fundamentalist ideology." "Youth attending these meetings were told about the need to raise a Hizbul Mujahideen module to commit terrorist acts in response to the alleged atrocities," stated the spokesman. 

According to the official, Zaman, Alom, and Faruque collaborated to gather finances for the purchase of rifles and ammunition. "Both Faruque and another accused, Jaynal Uddin, provided logistical support." Zaman and Alam had also loaded the BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) App on their mobile phones to keep their communications private. "Zaman used this app to communicate with Hizbul Mujahideen cadres in Jammu and Kashmir," stated the spokesman. 

According to the official, Alam, together with Zaman, Alom, and Faruque, planned to trigger bomb explosions and armed attacks on innocent residents in the non-Muslim communities of Lumding and Hojai on the eve of Dussehra. 

"They had also planned to procure arms and ammunition for these attacks," the spokesperson said.