The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) said that the 24-year-old Mohammed Farhan Mohammed Rafiq Shaikh was never under its scanner for alleged links with the ISIS and that he got radicalised while he was in Dubai for work purposes.

ATS officials suspect that Farhan’s indoctrinators took advantage of his troubled childhood and also the fact that he was deeply religious and felt strongly about serving his community.

The ATS along with NIA are now probing to see if Farhan has any links with the 14 persons who were arrested across the country for their links to ISIS and for recruiting men to serve the purpose and agenda of ISIS.

Speaking to The Asian Age, Farhan’s grandmother Mahrunisa Shaikh at her Mumbra residence said, “Farhan told me that he wanted to help our caste. He always wanted to do something for our community. But he can’t do any harm to any person.”

“I had received a phone call from some police officials in Delhi who informed me that they had arrested Farhan. When I asked about his health, they said he was fine. I took care of him from childhood. He always listened to me. He was always kind and understanding. Whenever I scolded him, he never answered back, and he used to calm me down. He used to prepare good food for me. A few years earlier he had told me that he wanted to take up a computer course and I gave him the permission for the same.”

A person from his neighbourhood, on the condition of anonymity, said, “Since childhood his grandmother never used to send him out nor did he play with our kids. When he joined classes with our children, they found him to be an introvert. He was least interested in interacting with any of the children in his class. Later, he was sent to Dubai with his cousin for some work and four years later we came to know about this. His grandmother might be knowing about his activities as the boy never went against her wishes.”

An ATS source said that Farhan left for Dubai four years ago. His father abandoned him around the time of his birth and his mother passed away when he was just five years of age. He has a sister and a brother who are younger to him.

He was working for a private firm in Dubai. He was studying Commerce in Somaiya College but dropped out in the second year.