Kerala High Court reduces life sentence of man accused of being Islamic State militant, cites ‘certain mitigating circumstances’

With the high court commuting the life term to 10 years, Moidheen , who has been in judicial custody since October, 2016, will complete his sentence in another one year.

In its order on August 14, the court said: “We are of the considered opinion that the ends of justice would meet if we reduce the sentence of the appellant from imprisonment for life to rigorous imprisonment for ten years”.

The mitigating circumstances which the court considered were that the “the appellant was aged 35 years at the time of the offences; no specific overt acts were alleged against him after his return from Iraq, except an unsuccessful attempt to procure explosives; repentance and the possibility of reformation of the accused; and absence of criminal antecedents”.

The NIA had claimed Moidheen was a member of Islamic State’s Omar al-Hindi module, which is believed to have plans to set up a Kerala unit and carry out terrorist attacks in South India.

According to the agency, Moidheen, who belongs to a trader family from Tamil Nadu that migrated to Thodupuzha in Idukki decades earlier, dabbled in the IT sector and had “cherished desire to join ISIS in Iraq”.

Investigators found that Moidheen left for Istanbul, Turkey, on 8 April, 2015, on a tourist visa, but his family had little knowledge of his plans to cross into Iraq.

There, he underwent training but was injured leaving him unfit for war. He was then put on guard duty but was wounded when a shell exploded near him.

Following this, he allegedly tried to get back home but was incarcerated by the militants and eventually dumped on the street. In September 2015, he allegedly managed to arrange money to return to India and worked as a gold salesman in Kadayanallur, Tamil Nadu, for a year.

In October 2016, the NIA arrested him based on a tip that he was allegedly radicalising and mobilising a group of youths and had attempted to source sulfur, potassium nitrate and potassium chloride to make explosives.

Investigators also allegedly found that before he left for Iraq, Moidheen, who is believed to have gone by the name Abu Jasmine on social media, had established contacts in the Islamic State and was allegedly asking how he joined the militants.

According to the investigators, forensic examination of jackets and sweaters seized from his house in Thodupuzha showed chemicals such as potassium nitrate, potassium chlorate — which they said indicated his presence at the warfront.