NEW DELHI: A Mumbai-journalist who wanted to join the Islamic State (ISIS) terror group was detained in national capital on Thursday after he approached the Iraq Embassy to get the visa. The journalist known as Zuber Ahmed Khan was let off on Friday afternoon when central intelligence agencies and Delhi Police during through interrogation for around 24 hours found that he was “mentally unstable” since he lost his job in 2007.
“No case has been registered. He was detained and questioned for hours. We found that he was mentally stable so he was let off,” said a senior police officer adding that he was also found to be “argumentative and moody”.
The officer said that Khan was cooperating during questioning although some of his talks and arguments were contradictory. “He has little money, about Rs 2000 – Rs 3000, which was not even enough for him to his stay in Delhi or his future plan to go to Iraq,” said the officer adding that his family members have been informed. Police said his wife is a teacher in Mumbai.
The officer said that the Crime Branch of Mumbai Police was looking for him as he had used a social site threatening to join dreaded terror outfit ISIS after 1993 Mumbai serial blast convict Yakub Memon was hanged and had termed him as a "martyr".
Khan reached Delhi on August 5. On Thursday morning he went to Press Council of India in central Delhi and requested the officials to provide him a certificate of a registered journalist from India. But the officials there did not took him seriously and asked him to go. He then, approached Iraq Embassy located at Vasant Vihar from where the local police was informed. He had gone there to submit his resume for the job of spokesman of ISIS as he had no job and he was unemployed.
The embassy officials found his talks “incohrrent” and handed him over to police.
During interrogation, police found that he had done his masters in Mass Communication and Public Administration but he never worked in any of the recommended media house. He used to send articles to various publications which were seldom published.
Police said in 2007 he lost his job from a hospital in Mumbai where was working as a secretary of hospital owner. The reason, told police, that he kept involving in religious activities which was disliked the hospital owner.
Sources said after losing his job he became mentally unstable. Recently, he got inspired by the ISIS. After Yakub’s execution, he wrote a post on his Facebook account stating that he wanted to join ISIS.
In the posts, Khan claimed to be the editor-in-chief of a newspaper called Journalist for International Peace. In his last Facebook post, Khan said he would be taking the Rajdhani Express to Delhi where he would arrive on August 4.
He said he would visit the Iraq embassy and “submit my memorandum to Caliphate Bagdadi” with the “desire to join the Islamic State as a spokesperson for foreign affairs or a government journalist”.