Terrorist recruitment case accused shifted to new prison

 Eleven accused in the Kashmir terrorist recruitment case, who were lodged in the Viyyur Central Jail at Thrissur district in Kerala have been shifted to the Poojappura Central Jail at Thiruvananthapuram.

This follows an order of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) Court, Kochi on Monday. However, the court rejected the request of the accused to send them to jails outside the state. The judge said they could only be lodged in prisons in the state.

The court asked the jail authorities not to shift them to any other prison without the prior permission of the court. The court also postponed the hearing in the case to January 20.
The shifted prisoners had created commotion at the Viyyur Central Jail on January 7, when they were brought there from Ernakulam prison. They refused to get down from the vehicle and demanded that they be allowed to stay in cells of their choice.

Following this, the jail authorities had expressed the fear that their behaviour was a part of a larger game plan. They also expressed the apprehension that the accused were trying to create communal tension inside the prison.

When the accused were produced before the court for the initial hearing, they complained of inhuman treatment by the jail staff. They created dramatic scenes in the court and said discriminatory treatment was meted out to them in the prison.

They showed the court some marks on their body and complained that it was from the torture by the prison authorities. However, the court assured the accused that they would get all protection as per the laws of the country.

According to the case filed by the NIA, the accused recruited youth from the northern districts in Kerala to carry out subversive activities in Kashmir. It also noted that Tadiyantavide Nazir one of the main accused has links with Lashkar e-Taiba. There are 23 accused in the case.

Three of them are still absconding and others have been arrested.