Mumbai: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) Special Court, on Thursday sentenced three Bangladeshis to five years in prison for harbouring Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) terrorists from Bangladesh in Pune.

The special court convicted Mohammed Habibur Rehman Habib alias Raj Jesub Mandal, Hannan Anwar Hussain Khan alias Hannan Baburali Gazi, and Mohd Azarali Subhanallah alias Raja Jesub Mandal under relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code and Foreigners Act. The court has also imposed a fine of Rs 2,000 on each accused.

Earlier, the court had convicted two others – Ripen Hussain alias Rubel and Mohmmad Hasan Ali Mohammad Amer Ali – in October 2023. They were sentenced to five years in prison.

Initially, the Pune police registered a case in March 2018 on the basis of inputs regarding several Bangladeshi nationals staying in Pune without valid documents, and abetting and aiding members of ABT, a front organization of the proscribed terror organisation, the Al Qaida.

The police had intercepted Habib at Dhobighat, Bhairoba Nala, Pune in Maharashtra, and subsequently arrested a total of five Bangladeshi nationals in the case.

The NIA took over the case in May 2018. It found that the arrested Bangladeshi nationals had illegally infiltrated into India. They had fraudulently obtained PAN cards, Aadhaar Cards, Voter IDs, and Ration Cards etc, under fictitious names by providing fake documents. They had used these documents for procuring Indian SIM cards, opening bank accounts, and seeking employment in India.

NIA investigations further revealed that the accused had harboured and funded several ABT cadres, including a key member, Samad Mia alias Tanvir alias Saiful alias Tushar Biswas alias Tusar.