The National Investigation Agency court in Kochi, Kerala has sentenced ISIS recruiter Yasmeen Mohammad Zahid to seven years rigorous imprisonment for her involvement with recruiting people for the ISIS. Yasmeen had reportedly recruited people for ISIS from Kerala’s Kasargod district.
Justice Santhosh Kumar announced the verdict sentencing Yasmeen to 7 years of RI and a fine of Rs 25,000. She was charged under sections 120B and 125 of IPC and sections 38, 39 and 40 of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
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This was the first ISIS related case filed by the Kerala Police. The NIA had later taken up the case for investigation. Yasmeen was arrested at Delhi Airport in 2016 while trying to board a flight to Afganistan. The 30-year-old woman’s friend Abdul Rashid, a former engineer, is believed to be the mastermind behind the recruitment of people into ISIS.
Kerala Police had earlier stated that about 100 people from Kerala are believed to have joined the ISIS. When Yasmeen was arrested in 2016, she reportedly had admitted to the police that she and Abdul Rashid had managed to indoctrinate 40 people. The suspected people used to attend ‘jihadi classes’ in Kasargod district. Rashid is now believed to be operating in Afganistan. He was behind the disappearance of 21 people from Kerala.
The Special Investigation Team had traced the remaining 19 people who attended the indoctrination classes and have been keeping them on a watch list. Yasmeen was supposed to join Rashid in Afganistan along with the missing 21, but her travel plans were delayed and she was arrested.
The NIA charge sheet on Yasmeen which also charges Rashid as an accused stated that Rashid used to raise funds for ISIS activities and transfer them to Yasmeen. The conspiracy to indoctrinate people and send them to ISIS-controlled territories has been undergoing since 2015, the charge sheet also included. The indoctrination classes were conducted to urge people to undertake violent jihad.