A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court declared the verdict in the first case registered in Kerala relating to the Islamic State (IS) by pronouncing Yasmin Mohammed Zahid guilty and sentenced her to seven years imprisonment, reports The Week. She was accused of recruiting 15 people from the Kasargod district of Kerala to head to Afghanistan where they joined the terror outfit.

The Kerala Police had originally filed missing persons reports in the matter and the NIA was called in when the involvement of the IS was suspected. Yasmin was herself trying to join the IS with her son and was to board a flight to Kabul when she was arrest from Delhi Airport in mid 2016.

The NIA had filed a chargesheet against Yasmin and her husband Abdul Rasheed – currently believed to be in Afghanistan – and she was the only one to be arrested. In order to track the remaining, the NIA had gotten in touch with Interpol.

The court cross-examined three defence and 52 prosecution witnesses along with other material and digital evidence. Some of those missing are reported to have been killed while others are fighting against Afghan security forces alongside the IS.

Six cases are being investigated by the NIA, with most of the suspects having a link to Kerala.