NIA arrests Chennai man attempting to join ISIS in Libya

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday arrested a 23-year-old man from Chennai who was on his way to join the Islamic State (IS), reports Hindustan Times.

According to the report, the youth, Mohammed Naser Packeer Mohammed, had allegedly reached Sudan and intended to travel to Libya to fight with ISIS militants there. It is the first instance of an Indian being deployed in Libya by the ISIS.

According to Union home ministry's data, so far 23 Indians have joined ISIS and all of them were reported to be in the terror outfit-held area along the border of Iraq and Syria. Out of them, six have been reported killed.

"Mohammed Naser Packeer Mohammed is a computer expert. He got in touch with an IS recruiter known as 'Mad Mullah' sometime in May this year while he was in Dubai. Mad Mullah told him to reach Sudan from where he was to be sent to Libya to join the IS but his activities came in the notice of Sudanese authorities who detained him and sent back to India," a senior government official said to HT."

NIA chief Sharad Kumar confirmed that an FIR has been registered by the anti-terror agency against Naser but refused to divulge further.

Naser's father worked in a car showroom in Dubai. Naser travelled to Dubai in 2014, came back to Chennai in May this year and went back again. During the same period he started looking for the ISIS related activities online. 

The ISIS recruiters promised to train him in Sudan before deployment in Libya. His handler arranged for a Sudanese visa for him and dispatched it to Dubai.

So far, Indian security agencies have managed to stop more than 60 Indians from joining the ranks of ISIS, the report said.