Lucknow, Nov. 29 -- A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court on Friday convicted two individuals of the charges of assisting terrorists associated with the Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) in connection with an abortive plot to carry out pressure cooker blasts in Lucknow on August 15, 2021. However, the accused, Mohd Mustaqeem and Shakeel, who were out on bail, will not have to go back to jail as they have already spent 20 months and 29 days in prison from July 15, 2021 to April 12, 2023, according to the court. The court directed them to pay Rs 5000 each as fine. If they fail to pay the fine, they will have to spend 15 more days in prison, the court said. The two were convicted under Indian Penal Code Section 120B and Section 25 (1B), (A) of the Arms Act 1959. Both the accused were present in court when additional district judge Hussain Ahmad Ansari, presiding over the special NIA court, passed the order on Friday. "Both the accused are poor, it was their first crime and they had confessed their crime. They had already spent 20 months in jail. The court took into consideration all these factors," said government advocate MK Singh, who represented the state government in court. The three main accused in the case-Maseeruddin alias Mushir, Minhad Ahmed Shah and Tawheed - are still in jail. In 2021, Al-Qaeda operatives were arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) with materials intended to make pressure cooker bombs for attacks. The NIA had booked the three main accused on July 11, 2021 after raiding their residence and finding material intended to prepare a cooker bomb for blasts in Lucknow....