NEW DELHI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has sought custody of a 29-year-old woman Yasmin Ahmed for her alleged role behind recruitment of youths from Kerala to terror group Islamic State (ISIS).
Sources said that the agency has approached NIA court in Kochi seeking police remand of Yasmin for further interrogation. “We have sought police remand as it is alleged that Yasmin is behind recruiting many youths for terror organization,” said sources adding that the court would take up the matter on September 6.
Yasmin was arrested by Kerala police from Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi on July 31 when she was about to leave the country for Kabul. She was taken into custody just before she was about to board a plane to Kabul where her husband Abdul Rashid, also allegedly linked to ISIS, resides.
A senior agency officer said that her interrogation will lead to many other accused allegedly involved in propagating and recruiting youths across the country, especially in Kerala. The agency has recently taken over the case of mass disappearance of youths from various parts of Kerala und under mysterious circumstances and had registered a first information report against unknown people and the terrorist organization -- ISIS. Further, the officer said that Yasmin is the second wife of main accused Abdul Rashid, a native of Kasaragod, and is alleged to have played a key role in the recruitment of about 21 youth from Kerala in ISIS.
The agency and other anti-terror units of various states have so far arrested 54 people after registering cases to investigate their alleged links with Islamic State.
The officer further stated that they are in touch with the special investigation team, who had interrogated Yasmin where she made some revelations. “During interrogation, she is alleged that the terrorist outfit is in touch with clerics and youths in Kerala and other parts of the country. She also revealed that ISIS is secretly running terror classes in Kerala and at least 40 people have been indoctrinated,” said the NIA officer adding that the terror outfit is using various platforms to propagate its ideology and to attract youths.
Yasmin, who hails from Bihar but and was a school teacher in Kerala, also told special investigating team many ISIS recruiters have held classes on Kerala.
Rashid is believed to be behind the disappearance of youth from Kerala. Yasmin was top go along with the group but due to some problem with her four-year-old child's travel documents she could not leave the country. She came to Kerala three years ago after she found a job at a school in Malappuram, where she met Rashid.