KOCHI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday questioned Shafin Jahan, whose marriage with Akhila Ashokan alias Hadiya of Vaikom was annulled by the Kerala High Court recently.
The interrogation which lasted for nearly three hours at the state headquarters of NIA here, was in connection with the 26-year-old’s alleged links with Manseed alias Omar-al-Hindi, an activist of Popular Front of India, who later headed an IS module Ansar-ul-Khilafa (soldiers of the Caliphate). The IS module was busted by the NIA in October 2016 after the members were arrested at Kanakamala in Kannur.
The group was communicating between the members through the network of closed groups in social media. It is alleged that Shafin was in constant contact with Manseed through one of these closed groups. It appears that NIA has excavated the forensic evidence of the communication between the two.
Earlier, during a hearing on habeas corpus petition filed by Akhila’s father K M Ashokan, Shafin Jahan submitted before the High Court that he had married Akhila aka Hadiya on December 19, 2016. Later, the court annulled the marriage on May 24, 2017.
The Supreme Court ordered an NIA probe into the case in August 2017, after Shafin challenged the High Court order in the apex court.Manseed of Aniyaram, Kannur, took the name Omar-al-Hindi after allegedly associating with IS activities in Qatar where he was working.The Supreme Court on November 27, 2017, had allowed Hadiya alias Akhila, to be freed from her father’s custody and resume her studies at a Salem-based homoeopathy college.