NEW DELHI: “If my son is a terrorist or anti-national, let him perish in jail, we won’t help him.” These were the words of he father of alleged IS operative Riyas Aboobacker spoken When The Indian Express met with Riyas’ parents on Tuesday,
“I knew he was on the wrong track. But I never expected that he would be arrested for links to the IS” said Riyas’ father, a worker at a mango plantation in the area while speaking to the leading daily.
The family who were in shock, also spoke about the gradual changes that came the 29-year-old Riyas. The eldest son of Aboobacker, Riyas cleared Class 12 in the Humanities stream.
For the first time, the family noticed the changes was about three years ago. Despite objections from his family, Riyas started growing his beard and hair and begin wearing “Arabian dress”. He stopped watching films and television. He became silent, distanced himself from others. He spent more time with his smartphone for videos and articles on Islam. His brother, who declined to be identified had warned him against his “objectionable” Facebook posts but to no avail.
A resident of Palakkad in Kerala, Aboobacker alias Abu Dujana was arrested on charges for conspiring to commit a terrorist act after he admitted to wanting to carry out a suicide attack in Kerala, according to the NIA.
Aboobacker was taken into custody by the NIA two days back from Kerala’s Palakkad and formally arrested on Monday, was sent to judicial custody till May 29 by the special court here on Tuesday.
Riyas was arrested after he disclosed to NIA investigators that he has been following speeches and videos of Zahran Hashim, a radical Tamil-speaking cleric who is believed to have masterminded the Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka which left 253 people dead and over 500 injured.
Aboobacker was being questioned by the NIA since Sunday when the agency unearthed the Kasargode module of the terrorist outfit in Kerala during multiple raids at the house of three suspects.
With agency inputs