NIA convicts accused in B'luru Al-Hind ISIS conspiracy case; sent to 7 years in prison

Bengaluru: A Special Court of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) here has convicted Syed Fasiur Rehaman, a key accused in a terror conspiracy case linked to the proscribed ISIS terrorist organisation, and sentenced him to seven years of rigorous imprisonment, along with a fine of Rs 48,000.

The case was originally registered by the Karnataka State Police on January 10, 2020, in Bengaluru and was taken over and re-registered by NIA on January 23, 2020, as RC-04/2020/NIA/DLI (Al-Hind ISIS case).

To date, NIA has filed three chargesheets in the case against 20 accused, all of whom have been arrested.

Notably, accused Haneef Khan was the first to be convicted in the case, on July 14, 2026, after pleading guilty during the trial, which commenced in October 2025.

He was also sent to seven years of rigorous imprisonment with a fine of Rs 48,000.

Investigations revealed that he was part of a reconnaissance team that visited the Shivanasamudra area in Karnataka's Chamarajanagar district and the Gundlupet region in the state to identify deep forest locations for training camps and hideouts for members of the Al-Hind module.

According to the NIA investigation, the conspiracy was masterminded by Mehaboob Pasha, the prime accused in the case, who held several meetings at his residence in Gurappanapalya, Bengaluru. In these meetings, the accused planned to carry out targeted killings to incite communal riots and further the anti-national agenda of the proscribed ISIS terror outfit.

Convicted accused Syed Fasiur Rehaman alias Syed Faseeh Ur Rehman was found to have participated in the conspiracy meetings and to have purchased tents and knives from a Decathlon Sports showroom for jungle-camp training of Al-Hind group members.

The objective of the conspiracy was to establish an ISIS or Daish wilayah (province) in the region, the statement said.

As part of the continued investigation, NIA is attempting to trace the online handler who planned and conspired to set up the module involved in the conspiracy.

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