Pramesh S Jain
The special court of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in Bengaluru (Karnataka) has convicted and sentenced a key accused in a ISIS-linked terror conspiracy case of 2020.
Mohammed Haneef Khan has been sentenced to seven years of rigorous imprisonment (RI) along with a fine of Rs.48,000 in the case (Al-Hind ISIS case).
He is the first accused to be convicted in the case,in which NIA has till date chargesheeted a total of 20 accused,all of whom have been arrested.
Haneef,who pleaded guilty during the trial that began in October 2025,was found to be part of the recce team that had visited Shivanasamudra area in Chamarajanagra district and Gundlupet area in Karnataka to identify deep forest locations for training and establishing hideouts for Al-Hind members.
The aim of the conspiracy was to create ISIS/ Daishwilayah (province).
As per NIA investigation,the conspiracy was masterminded by Mehaboob Pasha,the prime accused of the case,who had conducted several meetings at his residence at Guruppanapalya.
In these meetings conspiracy was hatched to carry out targeted killings to spread communal riots and promote the anti-national agenda of the proscribed ISIS terror outfit.
NIA also found that Pasha,along with his relatives/ co-accused,had conspired to procure arms and explosives to further ISIS activities in the region.
Pasha had,in fact,provided Haneef with two pistols and 60 live rounds to carry out violent activities.Further,it was Haneef who drove several accused from Bengaluru to West Bengal in a rented car as part of the conspiracy.
The case was originally registered by Karnataka State Police on 10th January 2020 in Bengaluru City and was taken over by NIA a few days later.As part of its continuing probe in the case,NIA is also trying to track down the online handler who planned and conspired to set up the module involved in the conspiracy.
