Cuttack, June 14: Abdul Rehman, a cleric with alleged terror links, is set to face trial after the Court of the Judicial Magistrate First Class, Salipur, completed the committal process and forwarded it to the District and Sessions Court here.

All criminal cases begin in the magistrate's court that deals with less serious indictable offences, while more serious offences are sent to the district and sessions court by a process called a committal.

Rehman has been charged with indulging in unlawful activities and undesirable terrorist activities, waging war against the state and spotting potential for jihadi activities under the guise of running a madarsa.

The case was put up for committal before the magistrate on May 15, but the process was deferred as the special task force (STF) of the crime branch could not provide a copy of the charge-sheet to Rehman's lawyer. The magistrate, Kailash Chandra Sahu, sent the case to the District and Sessions Court on Monday after a copy was provided to Rehman's counsel.

"The committal has paved the way for trial in the District and Sessions Court, Cuttack," Rehman's counsel Arunodaya Mohanty said today.

The trial court is now expected to frame the charges and set the date for the prosecution to open its case.

The 38-year-old was arrested from his village - Paschimagacha in Jagatpur police limits here - by a joint police team of Delhi and Odisha on December 16, 2015. His arrest followed Delhi's counter-terrorism unit's arrest of Mohammad Asif, a key operative of al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent.

The STF had taken up the probe after a case was registered against Rehman and submitted a 500-page charge-sheet before the magistrate last December.

The case was fixed for committal on June 12. Accordingly, an STF team had brought Rehman from Tihar jail.

"After completing the committal process the magistrate remanded Rehman to judicial custody in Choudwar jail," Mohanty said.