Lucknow men get 20-month jail term in al-Qaeda terror conspiracy
Lucknow men get 20-month jail term in al-Qaeda terror conspiracy
Two Lucknow residents are sentenced to 20 months in prison with a fine in an al-Qaeda-linked conspiracy case, following an earlier related conviction in the same probe.
A special court of the National Investigation Agency has convicted two more accused in an al-Qaeda linked terror conspiracy, sentencing Mohd Mustaqueem and Shakeel of Lucknow to 20 months in prison and imposing a ₹5,000 fine on each. Earlier, on October 30, the court had convicted Mohammad Moid of Lucknow in the same case, connected to the arrest of two al-Qaeda members. The investigation began after the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorist Squad arrested suspects on July 11, 2021, based on information that an al-Qaeda member, Umar Halmandi, was involved in radicalisation and recruitment for AQIS in Lucknow. Umar, based at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, was operating in Lucknow with the aim of preparing youth to carry out terrorist acts before Independence Day 2021 in various cities of Uttar Pradesh. Following the probe, the NIA filed one main and one supplementary charge sheet against a total of six arrested accused in the case.
