KOZHIKODE: Muneer M K, a 29-year-old from Chalil in Thalassery, spent the past 27 months in jail in Saudi Arabia after he was picked up by that country’s police for propagating Islamic State (IS) ideologies. It is not the case of Muneer alone.
Influenced by recruiting agent U K Hamsa, alias Taliban Hamsa, hundreds of Malayali youth fell for the IS ideology. And a large number of them are suspected to be in Saudi jails after the Gulf nation launched a major crackdown on IS sympathisers and supporters operating in the country.
In fact, it was based on Muneer’s disclosure the intelligence agencies Kerala Police and National Investigation Agency (NIA) were able to bust the IS module led by Hamsa in Kerala a few days ago.
The agencies caught hold of Muneer when he landed at the Cochin International Airport at Nedumbassery on October 15, 2017 after Saudi Arabia deported him.
“Muneer was interrogated by all agencies (Kerala Police, RAW, IB and NIA) and it helped get vital details of the IS modules in Kerala. He admitted to his foolishness in falling trap to Hamsa’s designs and now wants to lead a humble life,” said a senior intelligence officer.
As per the investigation report, Muneer, who did his graduation in economics, was working at a book stall in Thalassery in 2013 when Hamsa met him and started brainwashing him.
He sent Muneer to Saudi after assigning him various tasks. After reaching Saudi, he was given a job at an outlet of Albaik. Muneer then started spreading the IS messages to other Malayalees. His activities came under scanner only after he picked up a fight with a Saudi national. Police, which monitored him for a few days, raided his place and got clues about his IS support from his laptop and mobile.