Al-Qaeda Operative Abdur Rehman Arrested From Odisha Sentenced To 7.5 Year RI

New Delhi: Al-Qaida in Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) operative Mohd Abdur Rehman, who was arrested from Odisha’s Cuttack for his alleged links with terror outfit Al-Qaeda, was sentenced to 7 years and five months of rigorous imprisonment by Patiala House Court in Delhi on Tuesday.

Besides pronouncing the quantum of punishment, the court has also slapped Rs 25,000 fine on the convict.

Three other Al-Qaeda operatives – Mohd Asif, Zafar Masood and Abdul Sami, whom the court had convicted for plotting terrorism against India on Friday, were awarded similar sentences.

Rehman was arrested during a joint operation by the special cell of Delhi and Odisha police on December 16, 2015, for allegedly running an illegal Madrasa at Tangi near Cuttack and radicalising the youths who enrolled there for terror activities.

Police sources said that he had visited Pakistan illegally and met top militants, including Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and Sajid Mir, both wanted in the 26/11 Mumbai Terror Attacks, there.

Reports published in 2018 said that he had admitted his links with the terrorists involved in the 1999 Kandahar plane hijack and 2002 American Centre blast incident in Kolkata. He had provided safe shelter to a Pakistani terrorist involved in the Kandahar plane hijack in Cuttack.

As a cleric, Rehman also delivered provocative speeches at a number of ‘Jalsa’ functions both in Odisha and Jharkhand.

The operative’s brother was also one of the accused persons in the 2002 American Centre blast but was acquitted in the case.