THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Rebuffing reports that Nimisha alias Fathima, an Attukal native, embraced Islam at the Salafi centre here, top police officials said on Wednesday that she was illegally converted at the Islamic Research Foundation(IRF)at Mumbai. Nimisha, is among the 21 missing persons who left the country for allegedly joining the Islamic State(IS). Police sources told ‘Express’ that Nimisha and her husband Bexton Vincent alias Eesa of Palakkad were converted to Islam along with Mariyam and Bekson Vincent alias Yahya at IRF by a team led by Rizvan Khan, one of the accused.
Earlier, it was reported that Nimisha embraced Islam at the Salafi centre at Ootukuzhi just behind the Secretariat in September 2013.
“Reports that Nimisha’s conversion took place at the Salafi centre are baseless. The investigating officers of the Kochi city police have intimated us about this and a team from Thiruvananthapuram will interrogate Rizvan and Arshi Qureshi in this regard. Yahya and Eeza are brothers and they decided to convert their spouses at the same time in Mumbai,” said a top special branch officer.
A special police team led by Narcotic Assistant Commissioner of Police R Dethan will reach Kochi on Thursday to interrogate Rizvan and Qureshi about their alleged involvement in bringing Nimisha to Mumbai. Aluva DySP, Y R Rustom, confirmed that there was sufficient evidence to prove that Nimisha was converted at the IRF. ‘Express’ had reported the version of the Salafi centre authorities saying that Nimisha was not converted there as it was under the receiver administration of the state government since April 2, 2013. Bindu, Nimisha’s mother, dismissed police version and claimed that her daughter was converted to Islam by her ex-boyfriend Syed Khan, an Attingal native.