Majeed was deliberately let off by the IS to act as an agent for radicalising Indian youth, say intelligence’s experts
The return of Kalyan youth Areeb Majeed from middle-east has raised several questions about whether he was deliberately let off by the ISIS to radicalise youth and recruit them. Majeed had already informed investigators that the IS has special plans for India and wants to expand its operations in the Indian subcontinent. The ISIS is keen to establish an Islamic state, or caliphate, stretching across the Middle East. A recently released world dominian map by the al Qaeda-aligned terror outfit shows parts of north-west India, including Gujarat, as part of the Islamic state of Khorasan which the terror group aims to achieve. Since there are no criminal charges against Majeed he can’t be detained for a long period of time.
Areeb, who is in NIA custody after returning to India, said he would like to rejoin the group if he gets a chance. He added that it was parental pressure that brought him back to India.
This despite the fact that ISIS leadership made him clean toilets, indulge in construction work and provide water to those on the battlefield, instead of being pushed into the war zone.
“The returnees are more dangerous, because once the law free them, they can operate through sleeper modules and become a credible voice of a terrorist group. A thorough investigation and analysis of the trend is needed,” said a security official.
According to sources, there is a possibility that ISIS might have orchestrated these youths to know about the functioning of the Indian intelligence system and also to make inroads into the country.
“It’s very difficult to buy this story. Highly radicalised through internet, Majeed was in Iraq with the IS for nearly six months and then escaped from their clutches to return home bearing bullet injuries. This sounds quite improbable. The IS may have played a bigger game by letting him off. This could be a ploy,” said a counter-terrorism analyst.
A central intelligence source agreed. “It’s not an easy task to escape from the IS. Nor would they let them off, because it would lead to a leakage of information about the organisation and an indoctrinated soldier would get wasted.”
“Majeed revealed the names of the local contacts, who radicalised him and his three other friends here and helped them fly to Iraq. We are verifying his claims and are trying to locate these local contacts,” a National Investigation Agency official said.
Areeb was booked under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) on charges of conspiring to commit a terrorist act and being a member of a banned foreign terror outfit, and under the stringent Section 125 of the IPC for “waging war against the nation”.
