Eighteen people convicted on Monday for organising a camp of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India in Kerala in 2007, were sentenced to seven years of rigorous imprisonment on Tuesday, PTI reported. A special National Investigation Agency court had convicted them on Monday while acquitting 17 others. The trial was held via video conference, connecting jails in Delhi, Ahmedabad, Bhopal and Bengaluru.

An investigation into the case indicated that those who had participated in the camp, held from December 10 to 12, 2007, were trained in handling arms, making petrol bombs, motorbike racing and rope climbing. The camp is believed to have been a platform for the terror outfit Indian Mujahideen.

There were 38 accused in the case, but two are absconding and one was shot dead when he allegedly tried to escape from Bhopal Central Jail in 2016.. The convicted have been charged with waging a war against the country, criminal conspiracy, violating the arms act and other provisions of the Indian Penal Code.