NEW DELHI: IN a blow to the transnational radicalisation-cum-recruitment agenda of the Islamic State (IS), the Manila police have arrested online propagandist Karen Aisha Hamidon whose name figured during the National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe into the terror outfit’s Jaipur module. Hamidon is suspected to have recruited more than 20 Indians for the terror outfit, following which the NIA issued a Lookout Circular against her.Sources said Hamidon was arrested earlier this week after the Philippines police mounted surveillance on her online activities. She was under observation of counter-terror agencies there for the last six months.
The NIA is likely to approach the Philippines authorities to question her in connection with the Jaipur module of IS in which the agency has filed a chargesheet.The NIA case into the Jaipur module RC-05/2016/NIA/DLI was registered by the agency against Sirajuddin, a resident of Jaipur and native of Bengaluru. The interrogation of Sirajuddin by the agency revealed that he was radicalised by the Filipino woman through a WhatsApp group. Following the revelations by Sirajuddin, the NIA had reportedly sent a Letters Rogatory (judicial request) to the Philippines seeking details about her activities and links to the terror outfit.
Counter-terrorism expert Dr Rituraj Mate said, “The detention of Karen Aisha Hamidon is a big blow to the transnational radicalisation network of Islamic State.”The NIA officials remained tightlipped over the developments, including whether a team was being sent to Manila.The Philippines-based jehadi motivator had emerged as a regional threat to peace. The former air hostess of a West Asia airline was suspected to be engaged in a major way in recruiting youth from the region, including India, for the IS.
Hamidon, the sources said, is a hardcore radical who comes from a background of mixed parentage — her late father being a Muslim and her mother a Christian. Hamidon had been actively taking part in the IS’s online activities such as identification of individuals with potential to become IS members, radicalising individuals online and handing over such individuals to handlers based in IS-controlled areas in Syria.
Hamidon, born on September 26, 1981, embraced Christianity and was working as an air hostess in Emirates Airlines before taking up the radicalisation agenda of the terror outfit. During her stay in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Hamidon was influenced by Islam and subsequently converted to adopt the Muslim faith more than a decade back.After converting to Islam, she associated herself with Mahad Al Islamic mosque in Zamboanga city of Mindanao province in the Philippines.
Hamidon has been actively participating in the IS propaganda and online activities, but since she has not been instrumental in any act of terror, she managed to evade the Philippines law. However, the Philippines authorities realised the threat following revelation of her transnational activities relating to radicalisation and put her under surveillance.
Besides radicalising and recruiting several youth for the IS in India, Hamidon has also been instrumental in motivating many individuals in other parts of Asia and the subcontinent for the Islamist outfit. Hamidon’s recruitment drive covered Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Maldives and the UAE besides the Philippines.
According to inputs, Hamidon is closely associated with the IS leadership and has access to the Moro Islamic insurgents of the Philippines. She is suspected to be engaged in influencing young Muslim girls from Mindanao province to join the IS, the sources said. A source said cyber profiling of Hamidon’s social networking accounts suggested she was in touch with over 20 youth from India, including from Jammu & Kashmir, Mumbai and the Konkan region, Sri Lanka and Maldives. The Kashmir connection of Hamidon is reflective of the IS’s growing reach in the Valley with Kashmiri youth waving IS flags in the state on a regular basis.
She is suspected to have radicalised four youth from Jammu & Kashmir (three from Srinagar and one from Sopore) besides one Islamist from Daman and Diu who is engaged in money exchange, two from Hyderabad and one each from Kanpur and Kolkata.