NEW DELHI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) probing into the role of IS jihadi-turned-deserter Arif Majeed is seeking help from mobile applications Tango and Skype, to get his communication records with family members and girlfriend.
Sources said that during the interrogation, Majeed had told the investigators that he used free mobile applications Whatsapp, Tango and Skype to communicate with his family while being engaged in IS terror activities in Iraq and Syria.
The agency had earlier approached US-based Tango seeking data, but it had asked the anti-terror body to come through proper channel after which the NIA had approached a Mumbai court to send an instruction. The agency is likely to send a Letter Rogatory (LR) to seek data records from Luxembourg headquartered Skype too.
According to sources, these companies preserve the user’s data for some time and they are required to cooperate with the government agencies if the case has legal justification.
The agency is also seeking more information from Iraq and Turkey on Majeed’s travel. Besides, the NIA has sought details of money transfer to Majeed and three of his friends from a person based in Kuwait, from the concerned authorities under the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT).
Majeed was back on November 28 after a six-month stay in Iraq and Syria. The NIA had said that Majeed and his friends flew to Iraq on May 23 as part of a group of pilgrims, who later returned. They had told the Mumbai Police that Majeed and his other friends Fahad, Aman and Shaheen left for Fallujah in Iraq.