Kashmiri separatist Andrabi gets life term, 2 aides 30 yrs | India News

New Delhi: A Delhi court on Tuesday sentenced Kashmiri separatist and Dukhtaran-e-Millat chief Asia Andrabi to life imprisonment for conspiring to commit crimes against the state.Additional Sessions Judge Chander Jeet Singh sentenced Andrabi’s two associates Sophie Fehmida and Nahida Nasreen to 30 years imprisonment in the case. The court sentenced Andrabi to life imprisonment under Section 18 (punishment for conspiracy) of the UAPA and Sections 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 121A of the earlier IPC. Section 18 of the UAPA states, The court said that the sentence will run concurrently. The three were sentenced on January 14, after which the NIA sought life imprisonment for Andrabi, saying he had waged war against India and needed to send a strong message that conspiring against the state would invite the harshest punishment. In its 286-page order, the court said Andrabi and his accomplices conspired to secede Kashmir from India. Rejecting the defence’s submission, the court said “treating the convicts with leniency would amount to infusing a new life and vigor into the souls of the convicts whose aim is to alienate an integral part of India.”