KOCHI: Kalpetta native Nashidul Hamzafar, who was deported after trying to join the Islamic State (IS) in Afghanistan, was brought by officers of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) from New Delhi to Kochi on Thursday. Hamzafar is the 16th accused in the case related to the migration of 14 persons from Kasargod to IS-controlled areas in Afghanistan in 2016. After being deported, he was taken into custody by NIA from New Delhi airport on Wednesday. He will be interrogated in Kochi till Friday. “He was radicalised by people who moved from Kasargod to Afghanistan.
They maintained contact with him. For this purpose, encrypted social media platforms were used to go undetected. The accused and his friend obtained a travel visa to Oman. After leaving India on October 2, 2017, they moved to Tehran to reach Afghanistan. However, the friend, following pressure from the family, decided to return to India. Nashidul, who moved to Kabul, was intercepted by the Afghan police.
He was under detention in Kabul for several months,” said sources.An official statement released by the NIA claimed that Hamzafar participated in a conspiracy with other absconding persons such as Abdul Rashid Abdulla and Ashfak Majeed, who were known to him through his college mates Shihas, Firoz Khan and Bestin Vincent.This is for the first time that the NIA has arrested an Indian citizen who joined the IS in Afghanistan. He was also interrogated by foreign agencies in Afghanistan.
He will be produced before an NIA judge here on Friday. By questioning Hamzafar, NIA officers hope to gather more information regarding the people who facilitated the passage of IS sympathisers from India to Afghanistan.
“The travel routes were chosen and facilities arranged by handlers who were in contact with the arrested person. Evidence against those staying in Afghanistan is already with the NIA. Hamzafar’s custody will be sought once he is produced before the judge in Kochi,” sources said.In March, the NIA court had awarded seven years of rigorous imprisonment to Bihar native Yasmeen Mohammed Zahid who tried to join IS in Afghanistan but was caught at New Delhi airport in 2016.
The other accused are Mohammed Sajid Kuthirummal, Sonia Sebastian, Murshid Mohammed T K, Muhammad M Becker, Hafesudheen Theke Koleth, Firoshkhan M T P, Shamsiya Kuriya, Ashfak Majeed Kallukettiya Purayil, Mohammed Manzad, Ijas, Raffeala, Shihas and Ajmala. The Interpol has issued red corner notices against them.