Three city youths bound for Syria arrested

Anti-Terrorism Squad of Maharashtra and Hyderabad Police, in a joint operation, detained three Hyderabad youths, who were suspiciously leaving the country to join terrorist Islamic State, at Nagpur Airport on Saturday.

The Maharashtra police handed them over to Telangana Anti-Terrorist Squad. The three youths from Hyderabad, all aged between 20 and 25 years, were planning to board a flight to Srinagar from Nagpur after arriving from Hyderabad on Friday. The police officials revealed that so far some 20 youths from Telangana tried to travel to Syria to join IS.

The three youths tried to travel to Srinagar in an Indigo flight. The police received information that they were trying to go to Afganisthan. First they travelled in a cab from Hyderabad to Nagpur on Friday. The three arrested youth were identified as Abdul Wasim, Umer Hasan Farooqui and Majha Hasan Farooqui. It is learnt that the parents of the three youth lodged a complaint with the police that they were not in a position to find out their whereabouts.

Indian security establishment suggests that some 20-odd Indians were currently fighting for the banned outfit in Iraq and Syria. They include two youths from Kalyan on the outskirts of Mumbai, an Australia-based Kashmiri, one youth from Telangana, one from Karnataka, one Oman-based Indian and another Singapore-based Indian. Last year, a youth from Kalyan had returned home after spending about six-months with IS. He was arrested upon arrival in Mumbai.

Among the six Indians, who fought alongside IS and got killed were three Indian Mujahideen terrorists, including Sultan Ajmer Shah and Bada Sajid, who had joined its ranks after being in Pakistan, two from Maharashtra and one from Telangana. On September 15, the UAE deported four Indians suspected to have links with IS. The UAE had also sent back in September a 37-year-old woman, Afsha Jabeen alias Nicky Joseph, who was allegedly involved in recruiting youths for IS. In January, Salman Mohiuddin of Hyderabad was arrested at Hyderabad airport when he was preparing to board a flight to Dubai on way to Syria via Turkey. Last week, a 16-year-old college girl, who was allegedly in touch with arrested Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) executive Mohammed Sirajuddin, was put under surveillance for her suspected links with the IS in Pune. (NSS)