Key accused gets 7 years jail for radicalising youth, propagating Taliban ideology: NIA

A key accused in a Bengaluru terror case has been sentenced to seven years in prison and fined Rs 63,000 for radicalising youth and promoting Taliban ideology.

An anti-terror court in Bengaluru has sentenced a key accused to seven years of rigorous imprisonment for radicalising youth and propagating the terror ideology of the Taliban, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) said on Tuesday.

The NIA special court also imposed a fine of Rs 63,000 on Maharashtra resident Hamraz Worshid Shaikh, who pleaded guilty during the trial that began in April 2026.

The accused was convicted in a case registered in April 2023. The NIA had filed a chargesheet in October 2023 against him and co-accused Mohammad Arif, whose trial is still underway.

NIA investigation in the case had revealed that Shaikh had himself been radicalised into the ideology of the Taliban and Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) terrorist organisations through Pakistani and Afghan contacts during his stay in Saudi Arabia between 2019 and 2022.

The probe agency had also identified an online handler known as ''Hanzala'', who was allegedly involved in radicalisation activities through an Instagram account named ''Kashmir Pages'', the NIA said in a statement.

After returning to India, Shaikh had allegedly conspired with Arif to identify and recruit vulnerable youth by propagating the ideology of the Taliban and TTP, it said.

The duo had also formed a terrorist gang in a bid to join the TTP in Afghanistan to wage jihad and carry out activities against India, the probe agency said.