A special court on Thursday sentenced three Bangladeshi nationals to five years of rigorous imprisonment for harbouring members of the banned Islamic outfit Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), an alleged front for Al Qaeda.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA), which took over the case in 2018, identified the accused as Mohammed Habibur Rehman Habib, Hannan Anwar Hussain Khan, and Mohd Azarali Subhanallah. The trio was convicted under the Foreigners Act and various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Arrests and Investigation
The case originated in March 2018 when the Pune unit of the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) arrested five Bangladeshi nationals for illegal entry and suspected ties with ABT. The ATS alleged that the accused used forged documents to enter India and were aiding banned outfit members.
Following directions from the Ministry of Home Affairs, the NIA assumed charge of the investigation in May 2018. The agency discovered that the accused had entered India illegally in 2007, 2012, and 2014. They obtained fraudulent identification documents, including PAN cards, Aadhaar cards, and voter IDs, to secure employment at construction sites in Pune. The fake documents were also used to procure SIM cards and facilitate the activities of ABT members.
Guilty Pleas by Accomplices
In October 2023, the special court sentenced two of the five accused, Mohammed Ropen Hossain and Mohd Hassanali Mohd Amirali, to five years of rigorous imprisonment after they pleaded guilty. The latest verdict pertains to the remaining three accused who were found guilty after a full trial.
Stringent Charges and Sentencing
The accused were charged under multiple acts, including:
Foreigners Act, 1946: For illegal entry into India.
Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920: For crossing borders without valid travel documents.
Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA): For aiding and abetting activities of a banned outfit.
Indian Penal Code (IPC): For forgery and criminal conspiracy.
The NIA’s chargesheet, filed in September 2018, detailed how the accused fraudulently procured Indian identification documents and actively harboured ABT members, including a key figure identified as Samad Mia.
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