An Indian court has convicted two men linked to ISIS activities in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, handing them eight years in prison each. The Ernakulam Special Court, run by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), found H. Mohammed Azarudheen and Y. Sheikh Hidayathullah guilty of spreading the terrorist group’s violent ideology and plotting attacks.
The duo faces charges under key sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, or UA(P) Act. Judges sentenced them to eight years of rigorous imprisonment for conspiracy under Section 120B combined with Sections 38 and 39 of the UA(P) Act. They also got eight years each under Sections 38 and 39 alone. All terms will run at the same time, meaning they serve just eight years total.
This ISIS Kerala-Tamil Nadu case stems from efforts to recruit young people in South India for terrorist strikes. Azarudheen and his group pushed the extremist views of ISIS, also known as Daish, to target vulnerable youth in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
The NIA took up the probe on its own in 2019, naming six suspects from Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu. Azarudheen and Hidayathullah now face separate charges in the shocking 2022 Coimbatore car bomb blast. In that attack, their associate Jameesha Mubin drove a vehicle packed with explosives— an IS-inspired improvised explosive device (IED)—into a crowd near an ancient temple. Mubin died in the blast, which he carried out to get revenge for Azarudheen’s arrest and long jail time by the NIA.
Before his 2019 capture, Azarudheen had brainwashed Mubin and others through hidden religious classes promoting ISIS violence. After getting bail in this case, Hidayathullah kept mentoring Mubin and helped set up the car bomb plot. Even from behind bars, Azarudheen stayed in touch, guiding Mubin during prison visits.
The NIA continues investigating the other suspects in the original ISIS case. This conviction highlights ongoing efforts to dismantle terrorist networks in India, especially those tied to ISIS radicalization and recruitment in southern states.
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