New Delhi/Bengaluru, May 19 (IANS) A special court of the National Investigation Agency in Bengaluru has convicted and sentenced a key accused in a terror radicalisation and recruitment case linked to the banned Taliban and Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan terrorist organisations to seven years of rigorous imprisonment, an official statement by the National Investigation Agency said on Tuesday.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 63,000 on the accused.

The accused has been identified as Thane resident in Maharashtra, Hamraz Worshid Shaikh, who pleaded guilty during the trial that commenced in April 2026.

According to the National Investigation Agency, Hamraz was convicted under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in the case, commonly referred to as the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan case.

The agency had registered the case in April 2023.

The National Investigation Agency had filed a chargesheet in October 2023 against Hamraz and another accused, Mohammad Arif, whose trial is still continuing.

Investigations revealed that Hamraz was radicalised into the Taliban and Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan ideology through contacts in Pakistan and Afghanistan during his stay in Saudi Arabia between 2019 and 2022.

The probe also identified an online handler identified as “Hanzala”, who allegedly carried out radicalisation activities through an Instagram account named “Kashmir Pages”.

The agency stated that after returning to India, Hamraz allegedly conspired with co-accused Arif to identify and recruit vulnerable youth by spreading the ideology of the Taliban and Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan.

According to the National Investigation Agency, the accused had also formed a terrorist gang with the objective of joining the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan in Afghanistan to wage jihad and war against India.

It may be noted that the National Investigation Agency investigations revealed that Shaikh and his co-conspirator, Mohammed Arif, were in contact with foreign-based handlers online and attempted to propagate Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan ideology to recruit youth and raise funds for the terror outfit.

He pleaded guilty during the trial.

The National Investigation Agency had filed a chargesheet against two accused for raising funds to carry out terrorist and disruptive activities for Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, a proscribed terrorist organisation.

The accused also attempted to radicalise and recruit gullible Muslim youth in India to join the banned terror outfit to carry out terror activities, the National Investigation Agency alleged.

The National Investigation Agency had registered a case against the accused Mohammad Arif, 42, a resident of Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh, who was working as a French translator in Bengaluru, and his associate, Hamraz Worshid Shaikh.

–IANS

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