Court convicts 5 for 'anti-India activities', links with an IS front

NEW DELHI: A Delhi court has handed down jail terms to a Kashmiri couple and three others found guilty under UAPA for engaging in anti-India activities and their affiliation with IS K P, an IS front .

It sentenced main accused Jahanzaib Sami to 20 years for raising, receiving, & providing funds through cryptocurrency to propagate IS ideology.

He had pleaded guilty. "For any organisation to survive, continue and act to achieve its objectives, availability and movement of funds is one of the most important factors. In absence of funds, despite having the most dedicated cadre, an organisation cannot inch forward. Therefore, to say that funds are the lifeline of an organisation would not be an exaggeration," additional sessions judge Chander Jit Singh remarked.

NIA alleged that the accused incited the minority community by promoting seditious slogans and creating graffiti in public places, sharing it on social and international media platforms. NIA also said the accused were instigating youths to participate in anti-CAA protests.

"Convict Jahanzaib Sami was also involved in procuring arms, remote of IED, and suicide jackets. Convict was also involved in raising funds through Bitcoin, which is a veiled method of raising funds online...therefore, he can be said to be a person of reasonable intelligence who cannot take shelter under the arguments of not understanding the impact of his (mis)deeds," the court said.It sentenced his wife Hina Bashir Beg to eight years, for her involvement on social media with Sami. Convict Abdulla Basit was sentenced to the period already served by him. Journalism student Sadiya Anwar Shaikh Sadiya, at the time of arrest, was sentenced to seven years, as court found her highly influenced by ISIS ideology. Nabeel Siddick Khatri was sentenced to 15 years for raising funds to further IS activities in India.