The Nagpur unit of the Maharashtra anti-terrorism squad, in a joint operation with Telangana ATS unit, nabbed three youths from Hyderabad on the international airport in Nagpur before they could board
The Nagpur unit of the Maharashtra anti-terrorism squad, in a joint operation with Telangana ATS unit, nabbed three youths from Hyderabad on the international airport in Nagpur before they could board a flight to Srinagar from where they were allegedly going to leave to join the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). The youths, identified as Abdul Wasim, Umar Hasan Farooqui and Majh Hasan Farooque, were taken into custody and were later handed over to Hyderabad police who took them back.
Maharashtra ATS, inspector general, Niket Kaushik confirmed the development. He also confirmed that this was probably the first case of inter-state operation where indoctrinated youths wanting to join ISIS were arrested. Before this, other operations were undertaken where youngsters who wanted to join other terror outfits were arrested in advance.
The three youngsters are said to be students from Hyderabad. They were detained at the Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport in Nagpur on Saturday morning. It is learnt from ATS sources that their idea was allegedly to go to Kabul in Afghanistan and then to travel to ISIS from thereon. An ATS source confirmed that these youths were not in touch or related to the 23-year-old Malwani youth Ayaz Sultan who recently fled to Kabul and may have joined the ISIS.
The three youths had booked tickets in an Indigo flight. They had arrived in Nagpur city a day ago by road. The alertness of the family members of this three youths came handy for the Telangana police. The family members approached the respective police stations and lodged missing complaints. Further, they also informed the local police that their children were getting attracted towards the ISIS ideology. They condemned ISIS saying it is against their religion. The information was relayed to Nagpur unit, following which a team led by superintendent of police, ATS, Sunil Kolhe, reached the airport and a trap was laid.
