KOCHI:  A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court granted bail to Mohammed Riyas who had been arrested on charge of forcibly converting a woman and marrying her with an intention of selling her off to the Islamic State in Syria.

The Bench headed by Justice A M Shaffique ordered that he be released on bail on his furnishing a bond of Rs 1 lakh with two solvent sureties for the like amount.

When the bail plea came up for hearing, NIA counsel submitted that laptops recovered from him contained certain literature on the Jihadi movement and videos and speeches of Islamic preacher Zakir Naik apart from some videos of wars in Syria. Granting him bail, the court observed that the petitioner had been detained on the ground that he might have been involved in terrorism.