NIA special court sentences 2 persons in Pune Ansarullah Bangla Team case

Mumbai: A National Investigation Agency (NIA) Special Court here on Monday sentenced two persons to 5 years imprisonment in the Pune Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) case for harbouring terrorists.

As per NIA, two accused persons namely, Ripen Hussain alias Rubel and Mohmmad Hasan Ali Mohammad Amer Ali were convicted by the Special Court under relevant sections of the IPC and Foreigners Act. The court sentenced them to imprisonment of five years and a fine of Rs 2000 each.

Maharashtra Police had initially registered a case on March 16, 2018, on inputs that several Bangladeshi nationals were staying in Pune without valid documents. They were involved in abetting and aiding members of the ABT, a front organization of Al Qaida.

Acting upon the information, police intercepted Mohamed Habibur Rehman Habib alias Raj Jesub Mondal at Dhobighat, Bhairoba Nala, Pune, Maharashtra and subsequently arrested five Bangladeshi nationals. NIA had taken over the investigations of the case on May 18, 2018.
As per officials, NIA investigations had revealed that, arrested Bangladeshi nationals had illegally infiltrated into India.

"They had fraudulently obtained PAN cards, Aadhaar Cards, Voter IDs, and Ration Cards under fictitious names by providing fake documents and intentionally used the said Aadhaar and PAN cards for procuring Indian SIM cards, opening bank accounts, and seeking employment in India. Furthermore, they harboured Samad Mia and other ABT members at a construction site in Pune. They also gave money to Tushar Biswas, a member of ABT and other members. NIA had filed charge sheets against all the arrested accused on September 7, 2018," NIA added.
The trial against the remaining three accused persons is ongoing.