Gujarat man convicted for conspiring with ISI agents to carry out terrorist acts in India

LUCKNOW: A special court here has convicted a man from Gujarat for conspiring with Pakistan-backed ISI agents to carry out terrorist acts in the country, a statement issued by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday said.

Rajakbhai Kumbhar is the second accused to be convicted in the case which was registered by the NIA in 2020, it said.

He was sentenced to rigorous imprisonment by the special NIA court on Tuesday under different provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, with a maximum sentence of six years, the statement said.

All sentences will run concurrently, it added.

Earlier, the NIA special court had sentenced accused Md Rashid from Chandauli district of Uttar Pradesh in the case, which was originally registered by the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS), Gomti Nagar here alleging that Rashid was in contact with agents of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

The ATS had charged Rashid with providing the Pakistani agents with photographs of sensitive, tactically and strategically important locations in India, as well as the Indian Army's movements. These photographs, including those of defence insignia, were clicked using his mobile phone, the NIA said.

The central agency, which took over the case in April 2020, chargesheeted Rashid in July 2020 and subsequently filed a supplementary charge sheet against Kumbhar in February 2021.

The agency's investigations revealed that Kumbhar had conspired with Rashid and Pakistan-based ISI agents to carry out terrorist acts, as well as acts preparatory to their commission, the NIA said.

The two had also conspired to conceal the "nefarious" anti-India design perpetrated by Pakistan-based operatives, it said.

Kumbhar had facilitated Rashid by providing funds in exchange for the sensitive photographs that the latter had sent to ISI agents, according to the NIA.