NIA Court Holds Six Guilty In 2016 Islamist Plot To Assassinate Prominent Personalities In South Indian States

In a major development in a 2016 case relating to a Islamist plot to carry out major terrorist attacks across the state of Kerala, an NIA court on Monday (25 November) pronounced six of the accused guilty, reports The Indian Express.

The guilty in the case, namely, Manseed Mehmood, Swalih Mohammed, Rashid Ali, Ramshad N K, Safvan and Moinuddin had been caught concocting a plan to attack prominent personalities across Kerala and neighbourinig states, including judges, politicians and police.

The court however observed that, unlike originally suspected, the accused had no links to the IS, even though the court went on to state that the six were qualified to be called members of a terrorist gang. The case was heard by Special Judge P Krishnakumar.

The court has not yet pronounced the punishment for the six and will be reading the sentence on Wednesday. It should be noted that the court has held the six accused under the stringent provisions of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).