KANNUR: As the NIA team is extensively spading for more details of the activities of Manseed alias Omar Al Hindi of Aniyaram, Kannur, the agency officers have found that Manseed took the name as Omar Al Hindi after allegedly associating with IS activities in Qatar where he was working.
Like Abdullah Rasheed of Padna, Kasargod, who married a Christian girl after converting her to Islam, Manseed too got married to Maria, a Christian from Philippines, who converted to Islam and took the name Mariam while working in Qatar.
Abdullah Rasheed is said to be the leader of the 21-member group which left for Syria from Kerala in July 2016 to join IS. Mariam, wife of Manseed, told 'Express' that she couldn't understand for what reasons Manseed was arrested by NIA. Mariam married Manseed in 2013 after she met him at one of the Islamic study centres in Qatar. She denied that her husband had links with the IS. Surprisingly, none of the family members knew about his new name Omar Al Hindi. "We have been facing problems since our arrival in Kerala on September 30. I lost my tablet phone which had important notes about Islam and other study materials. Only halfway from Nedumbassery airport did we realise that our tablet was missing. After reaching home, we went back to the airport next day and registered a complaint with Nedumbassery police station on October 1." She said that an eight-member team of NIA conducted a thorough search of their house and took a few things away. "They seized our passports, three mobile phones and a few other documents," she added.
Mariam was attracted to Islam after arriving in Qatar, where she came to join a company as call centre agent. Though professionally a nurse, she decided to work in that private company. It was Manseed who proposed to marry her when he met her at Qatar. "Never during my stay did I have the slightest hint of him having any connection with IS," she said.