New Delhi, Nov 29 (IANS) A special court of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has convicted two more accused in the Lucknow Al-Qaeda terror conspiracy case, the agency said on Saturday.

According to a press note issued by the NIA, Mohd. Mustaqueem and Shakeel, both residents of Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh), were convicted by the NIA court under section 25 (1B)(a) of the Arms Act, read with section 120B of the IPC.

“The Special Court at Lucknow sentenced the duo for a period of 20 months. A fine of Rs. 5000 each has also been imposed against them,” the NIA said.

Earlier, on October 30 2025, the court had convicted one Mohammad Moid of Lucknow in the same case, related to the arrest of two members of the banned Al-Qaeda terrorist organisation.

On July 11, 2021, the UP Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) arrested an Al-Qaeda member, Umar Halmandi, in Lucknow for radicalisation and recruitment for AQIS (Al-Qaeda in Indian Subcontinent).

“The arrest by the UP Anti-Terrorist Squad had taken place on July 11 2021, based on information that an Al Qaeda member, Umar Halmandi, was involved in radicalisation and recruitment of members for AQIS (Al-Qaeda in Indian Subcontinent) in Lucknow,” it said.

The probe into the case revealed that Umar, based near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, was in Lucknow recruiting youth to execute terrorist acts in various U.P. cities before Independence Day 2021.

“Umar, who was based at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, was operating in Lucknow, intending to prepare youth to carry out terrorist acts before Independence Day 2021 in various cities of U.P., it was found during the probe in the case,” it added.

Following the investigation, the NIA filed one main and one supplementary chargesheet against a total of six arrested accused persons in the case.

–IANS

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