KOLKATA: IN stark contrast to his rural roots, suspected ISIS recruiter Mohammad Moshiruddin alias Musha, the Tirupur resident who was detained by Intelligence Bureau (IB) officials in Birbhum on Tuesday, had more than 20 e-mail IDs, 12 Facebook and eight Twitter accounts. He was good at computers and spent 10 to 12 hours a day on the internet. He was also fluent in eight languages including his mother tongue Bengali, Hindi, Urdu, English, Arabic and three South Indian languages.
A CID officer said, “He seems to be committed and bold. During interrogation, he claimed to be a ‘small fish’ and said that we wouldn’t get much details from him. He claimed that five mujahideens had already reached their destinations and questioned our capability to track them down.”
Meanwhile, IB officials raided his Tirupur residence on Wednesday and took his family to an undisclosed location for questioning. Speaking to Express, his wife Shahira accused them of assaulting her and others who were working in her grocery shop, adding that she was warned by the police not to tell anyone about it.
Curiously, Musha had named his two daughters Tamilarasi and Ilavarasi - typical Tamil names.
Suspected IS recruiter Mohammad Moshiruddin alias Musha, who was arrested on Tuesday while returning to his village from Chennai and remanded in police custody for 14 days the next day, was a computer expert who spent 10 to 12 hours a day on the internet. He had over 20 e-mail IDs, 12 Facebook and eight Twitter accounts in different names and had memorised all the passwords.
Hailing from Labhpur, Musha is fluent in eight languages — Bengali, Hindi, Urdu, English, Arabic and three South Indian languages.
His associates Saddam Hossain alias Kalo (24) and Abbasuddin alias Amin (22), who had waited for his arrival at Ahmedpur Railway Station late on Monday, were arrested on Wednesday. Both hailed from Bhirbhum.
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and National Investigation Agency (NIA) are on the lookout for several youth, said to be part of Musha’s network. The investigation teams are leaving for Tirupur, where Musha had set up a grocery shop. Musha’s neighbours Chandan Sheikh and Swapan Sheikh were also detained by the CID team.
Sleuths from the CID, NIA and Intelligence Bureau interrogated Musha throughout Tuesday night, during which it was revealed that Musha was originally recruited by the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JuMB) and introduced to the officers of Pakistan’s ISI. They claimed that Musha’s activities first came to light after the Kerala Police informed central probe agencies about funds reaching some terror groups in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh from Dubai via hawala transactions.
After the NIA arrested five IS terrorists from Hyderabad, they learnt about Musha.
Sleuths claimed that Musha admitted during interrogation that he had drawn up a list of IAS and IPS officials in Tamil Nadu through the internet, after the IS had directed Muslims to kill IAS and IPS officers a few days ago. The list of IPS officers had the details of even their roommates at the National Police Academy in Hyderabad and their various places of postings.
Before that operation worked out, Musha was instructed to reach West Bengal as the IS wanted to carry out terror attacks in that State after the Dhaka attack. Sleuths found the JuMB, usually linked with al-Qaeda, was acting on behalf of the IS too. “He seems to be committed and bold. During interrogation, he claimed to be a small fish and said we won’t get much details from him. He asked how we could track mujahideens since the main leader was somewhere else,” a CID officer said.
Musha was funded by the ISI to set up a front business in South India. He first went to Chennai, met Tariq Malwar and worked as a real estate broker. After getting huge funds, he went to Tirupur.