Suspected Islamic State operative held at IGIA
Shahjahan Velluva Kandy, Kerala resident had been deported twice before from Turkey for travelling with a fake passport; the 32-year-old was preparing to go to Syria using forged documents again
In a development that might point towards an organised ISIS recruitment cartel being operated from India, the Delhi Police's Special Cell has arrested a Kerala resident, who was attempting to go to Syria for terror-related activities on the basis of forged documents, and another man for helping him.
Identified as Shahjahan Velluva Kandy, 32, a resident of Kannur in Kerala, the suspected ISIS operative has been deported from Turkey to India twice before. He was nabbed by the Special Cell sleuths after the US intelligence agency CIA tipped them off about his arrival at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) last week.
"Kandy had been travelling on a forged passport in the name of Mohamed Ismail Mohideen. He was arrested by the Turkish authorities and deported to India in February, after which he got another passport and tried to go to Syria. After receiving information about his arrival, we intercepted him in Delhi. He had come with another person identified as Abdul Razak Kunhil Pocker, who is also being questioned," a senior police officer said.
According to the police, Kandy has revealed his links with some of the terrorists of ISIS, arrested in Kerala in October, 2016. He also disclosed the identity of the man who helped him get the fake passport to travel to Syria. A police team then raided the identified premises in Kerala and arrested his aide, whose name hasn't been disclosed yet.
Police suspect the two to be linked to a larger syndicate involved in radicalising Indians. "He has been arrested and is being questioned for further links. Data on his mobile phone is being scruitinised and a probe through technical surveillance is being carried," an officer said.
Terror trail
July, 2016: 21 self-radicalised people from Kerala go missing and are suspected to have joined ISIS. They are found to be in Afghanistan.Oct, 2016: Subahani Moideen flees Kerala in April and goes to Mosul to fight for ISIS. Jan, 2017: NIA arrests Abdul Rashid Abdulla Yasmin for motivating 14 youths to join ISIS.Feb, 2017: Moinudiheen Parakadavath, a member of ISIS-inspired group Omar Al-Hind, deported from Abu Dhabi and arrested by NIA for radicalising youths in Kerala through social media.