Indian youth who had joined ISIS killed: Reports

One of the four men — Arif Majeed, Sahim Tankhi, Fahad Sheikh and Aman Tandel — from Kalyan, Maharashtra who were reported missing and suspected to be fighting with the ISIS group in Iraq is said to have been killed, say reports.

Arif Majeed's was reportedly killed in an explosion while fighting against Iraqi forces in Mosul. His family is reported to have been informed of his death through an anonymous call.

The ISIS website to is said to have shared the information on Majeed's death.

The 4 Indian nationals were reported to have left for Baghdad on May 23. Last known contact of Majeed with his family was on May 25. All of them were educated and in their 20s, say reports.

Reports say that Majeed had explained in a letter to his family the reasons for joining the fundamentalist group, and mentioned his issues with "sinning, smoking, taking interest, watching TV, illegal sexual intercourse, intermingling of sexes, not praying or growing beards, lewdness, obscenity, disbelief, living luxurious lives" etc. He had warned his family that "these things will lead to you burning in hellfire".

He had also said that he would meet his (unidentified) friend for "our greatest journey" and it would be "a blessed journey for me because I don't want to live in this sinful country",according to reports.

Intelligence and police agencies are said to believe that the youth were enticed via the online medium using propaganda material.