BENGALURU: A special court of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has sentenced Huzair Farhan Baig alias Huzair to six years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 58,000 in connection with a terror conspiracy case linked to the proscribed Islamic State (IS).
The case relates to an alleged IS module that, according to the NIA investigation, operated clandestinely in Thirthahalli town of Shivamogga district. Karnataka Police initially registered the case on September 19, 2022, and the NIA took over and re-registered it on November 15, 2022.
According to the agency, the investigation uncovered an online network through which members of the module were allegedly guided and mentored by a handler operating under the name “Colonel”. The NIA later identified the handler as Mohammed Shaheed Faisal, who remains an absconding accused in several terror-related cases being investigated by the agency.
The NIA has alleged that Faisal was involved in radicalising and recruiting young people to propagate the ideology of the Islamic State and facilitate terrorist activities in India. Investigators said the online communication helped direct members of the alleged module.
Baig, according to the NIA, was radicalised and recruited by co-accused Maaz Muneer Ahmed and Syed Yasin. The agency alleged that Baig subsequently assisted the network by arranging a hideout in Bengaluru for terrorist activities on the instructions of Maaz Muneer Ahmed.
Investigators also scrutinised the financial trail connected to the alleged hideout. The NIA said Maaz Muneer Ahmed arranged the funds through the online handler and transferred them in cryptocurrency. Baig allegedly received the cryptocurrency through accounts belonging to his friends. The digital currency was subsequently converted into regular currency and used to meet expenses connected with the Bengaluru hideout, according to the agency.
The investigation into the module has resulted in multiple chargesheets. The NIA said it has filed four chargesheets so far against 12 accused persons in the case. With Baig’s conviction, three accused in the case have now been convicted and sentenced to six years of rigorous imprisonment along with fines. Proceedings against the remaining accused are continuing.
The case has been under investigation for nearly four years, since the Karnataka Police registered it in September 2022. After taking over the investigation, the NIA expanded the probe to examine the alleged recruitment network, online communications, funding channels and the roles played by individual accused.
The agency has also been pursuing the alleged online handler identified as Mohammed Shaheed Faisal.
According to the NIA, Faisal was central to the alleged conspiracy to establish and operate the module. He is yet to be traced and arrested, and efforts to locate him are continuing.
The prosecution case against Baig centred on his alleged role in supporting the Bengaluru hideout and handling funds linked to the network. After considering the case proceedings, the special NIA court convicted him and sentenced him to six years of rigorous imprisonment and a Rs 58,000 fine.
The latest conviction follows an earlier NIA court order in April 2026 against another accused, Arafath Ali, who was also sentenced to six years of rigorous imprisonment in the same Shivamogga ISIS conspiracy case. The NIA had said Ali was involved in radicalisation and recruitment and had also functioned as a funding channel by receiving cryptocurrency-linked funds and distributing them among co-accused.
