Close X
Tuesday, January 28, 2025
ADVT 
India

22 Missing Keralites Reached Afghanistan In July To Join ISIS

IANS, 13 Sep, 2016 11:18 AM
    Twenty two Keralites accused of leaving India to join the Islamic State are learnt to have reached "the caliphate" in Afghanistan in the first week of July, said investigators who grilled the arrested IS sympathiser Yasmin Mohd Zahid.
     
    The 29-year-old Yasmin was arrested at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport while trying to exit India for Afghanistan on August 1. 
     
    She informed investigators that thirteen of the missing Keralites were men, six women and three children, and "they had left their houses in Kasaragod and Palakkad districts of Kerala between mid-May and the first week of July." 
     
    Citing Yasmin's statement, a National Investigation Agency (NIA) official, close to the investigation, told IANS that all of the missing Keralites had "exited India from Bengaluru, Hyderabad or Mumbai airports for Kuwait, Dubai, Muscat or Abu Dhabi from where they are learnt to have travelled to Afghanistan through Iran."
     
    During custodial interrogation, Yasmin further said that she had got married to Abdul Rashid, 30, on May 3 this year in a nikah ceremony solemnised over phone. Rashid is one of the accused who left India along with other Keralites. 
     
    Investigators said that two other co-accused Ashfak and Yahya acted as witnesses of the nikah ceremony while another co-accused Shihas acted as "wali" (guardian) of the bride. 
     
    Yasmin also informed investigators that her husband Rashid used to send videos and messages to her on Telegram -- a messaging app -- in support of "the caliphate and Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi". 
     
    She told NIA interrogators that Rashid and his first wife Ayesha were in touch with a UK couple who were converts to Islam and were spreading messages in support of IS and the Caliphate over Telegram channel.
     
    "Rashid had told Yasmin in the first week of July that he and other missing persons from Kerala had reached the Caliphate in Afghanistan," the NIA official said citing Yasmin's statement. 
     
    The officer said that Rashid had also given the ATM card of his first wife Ayesha to Yasmin and transferred Rs 1.5 lakh into the account in mid-July which Yasmin used for her travel preparations to Afghanistan. 
     
    "Yasmin had purchased flight tickets, paid for the Afghanistan visa and also purchased $620 using the money."
     
    The NIA also said on Monday that the sister of another missing accused person Dr Ijas informed them that her brother and his wife Refaela were blessed with a baby girl on September 6. 
     
    The NIA had registered an FIR in the case in the last week of August. 
     
    The FIR has listed 19 missing persons as the accused. As many as 14 persons from Kasaragod district and five from Palakkad are on the list. The agency is probing whether the missing persons are linked with terror outfit IS. 
     
    The children, who are believed to have gone missing with their parents, have been excluded from the list of the accused. Sources with the NIA said some unidentified persons are also accused in the case. The FIR was registered at the NIA court in Kochi. 

    MORE India ARTICLES

    Shah Rukh Khan Calls Tim Cook 'Rockstar'

    Shah Rukh Khan Calls Tim Cook 'Rockstar'
    Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan says Apple CEO Tim Cook, whom he hosted to a dinner at his residnece here on Wednesday, is a "rockstar".

    Shah Rukh Khan Calls Tim Cook 'Rockstar'

    Apple CEO Tim Cook Kicks Off India Tour With Siddhivinayak Visit, Dines With SRK

    Apple CEO Tim Cook Kicks Off India Tour With Siddhivinayak Visit, Dines With SRK
    Cook kicked off his maiden India trip with an early morning visit to the famed Shree Siddhivinayak temple in Prabhadevi, central Mumbai, where he performed a special 'aarti'.

    Apple CEO Tim Cook Kicks Off India Tour With Siddhivinayak Visit, Dines With SRK

    'Kejriwal More Theatrical Than Modi'

    'Kejriwal More Theatrical Than Modi'
    Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal indulges in more theatrics than Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh said on Wednesday.

    'Kejriwal More Theatrical Than Modi'

    Baba Ranjit Singh Dhadrianwale Speaks Out After Assassination Attempt In Ludhiana

    Baba Ranjit Singh Dhadrianwale Speaks Out After Assassination Attempt In Ludhiana
    One of Dhadrianwale's followers, identified as Bhupinder Singh, died in the attack. 

    Baba Ranjit Singh Dhadrianwale Speaks Out After Assassination Attempt In Ludhiana

    Map Wars: Pak Objects To Geospatial Bill, India Couldn't Care Less

    Map Wars: Pak Objects To Geospatial Bill, India Couldn't Care Less
    Under the draft Geospatial Information Regulation Bill, anyone distributing a map that the Indian government deems to be "wrong" could be liable for a billion-rupee fine and jail time.

    Map Wars: Pak Objects To Geospatial Bill, India Couldn't Care Less

    AAP Wins In Five Wards, Congress Bags Four In Delhi Civic Bypolls

    AAP Wins In Five Wards, Congress Bags Four In Delhi Civic Bypolls
    The Bharatiya Janata Party, which has been governing the Delhi Municipal Corporations for over eight years now, since before its trifurcation, suffered a major setback losing 10 of the 13 wards to which byelection was held.

    AAP Wins In Five Wards, Congress Bags Four In Delhi Civic Bypolls