NIA special court sentences key accused in Pakistani Taliban linked terror radicalisation case to seven years rigorous imprisonment

NEW DELHI May 20,2026 — A special National Investigation Agency court in Bengaluru has convicted and sentenced a key accused to seven years of rigorous imprisonment in a terror radicalisation and recruitment case linked to the proscribed Taliban and Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan terrorist organisations.

The court also imposed a fine of 63,000 rupees on the convict, Hamraz Worshid Shaikh, a resident of Maharashtra who pleaded guilty during the trial that commenced in April 2026. The case, initially registered by the agency in April 2023, saw chargesheets filed in October 2023 against Hamraz and another accused, Mohammad Arif, whose trial remains ongoing.

Investigations revealed that Hamraz became radicalised into Taliban and TTP ideologies through Pakistani and Afghan contacts during his stay in Saudi Arabia between 2019 and 2022.

The probe also identified an online handler known as Hanzala, who carried out radicalisation activities through an Instagram account named Kashmir Pages.

Upon returning to India, Hamraz conspired with his co-accused to identify and recruit vulnerable youth by propagating extremist ideologies, eventually forming a terrorist gang with the ultimate objective of joining the TTP in Afghanistan to wage war against India.