KOCHI: NIA is all set to approach the Afghan government seeking details of a Wayanad native who was held in Kabul and was deported for attempting to join the Islamic State (IS) in 2017. The agency will be approaching the authorities abroad through the legal channel.
The case is related to the arrest of Nashidul Hazafar of Kalpetta, who wanted to join 21 persons from Kerala who could successfully reach IS-held territory at Nangarhar province of Afghanistan. “NIA has approached its special court in Kochi to issue Letter Rogatory, a request sent by a court to a foreign court seeking judicial aid. Afghan police had carried out a probe against Nashidul while he was arrested there in October 2017. The agency wants to receive details of the probe carried by the Afghan agency and information about the other persons who were arrested along with him. Statements of other arrested persons and witnesses also were recorded by the Afghan agency which will help the NIA probe,” said a source.
The NIA investigation has revealed that Nashidul entered Afghanistan using a fake name and address. Nashidul and anther Kalpetta native Habeeb Rehman reached Tehran in October 2017 via Muscat. However, Habeeb returned to Kerala following family issues. Nashidul was highly inspired by IS ideology and continued his journey. He first approached the Afghan embassy in Tehran for a tourist visa. When embassy officials asked him to produce a No-Objection certificate from the Indian embassy, the plan to enter Afghanistan through the proper channel was dropped.
“He moved to a deportation camp at Isfahan Province in Iran where Afghan nationals were lodged. There he introduced himself as Gulam Ali, a resident of Nuristan Province in Afghanistan. Thus, he was deported to Nimruz in Afghanistan. Later, he managed to reach Kabul on October 28. However, he was arrested by the Afghan police along with a person named Ali and a taxi driver,” said a source.
At Kabul, he was lodged at Forty Directorate Prison and Bagram Prison for around 10 months. Following the Indian government’s request, he was deported and NIA recorded the arrest on his arrival in September 2018.
The agency filed a charge sheet against Nashidul a few months ago. However, a supplementary charge sheet is to be filed based on information the agency receives from Afghanistan.