Arrested Islamic State suspect had sold wife’s jewellery to raise funds: NIA

Hyderabad: The National Investigation Agency has found an evidence proving a connection between the five Hyderabad youths it arrested on June 29 and the Islamic State (IS).

According to the NIA, the evidence is in the form of ‘Baya’ (an oath of allegiance) to the “Caliph of Islamic State” that was signed by the five members, scanned and e-mailed to their handler, Shafi Armar, reports The Indian Express.

Armar had reportedly told the group that he would forward it to Islamic State chief Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi.

The daily quoted sources as saying that Mohammed Ibrahim Yazdani, the leader of the group, is the most radicalised.

He, along with his wife, one-year-old son and brother Mohammed Ilyas Yazdani, had tried to reach Syria via Greece twice. Mohammed Ilyas Yazdani has also been arrested.

The sources said that one of the five suspects had sold his wife’s jewellery to finance the activities of the group.

Ibrahim's associate Fahad used Amazon.com to order an air pistol and pellets, which did not arrive before the group’s arrest.

“The group had also downloaded an app that helped them pinpoint police stations they wished to target on a Hyderabad map,” an NIA officer said.

Meanwhile, a Jordanian national, Suhaib Al-Abudi, has been identified by the NIA as the first person who motivated Ibrahim Yazdani to join the IS while he was in Saudi Arabia.

Al-Abudi and Yazdani had “met at work in Saudi Arabia, where Yazdani spent three years. Although Yazdani was already radicalised and believed in jihad (holy war), Suhaib had a crucial role in inclining him towards the IS. It was then that he met his present handler, Aamir (suspected to be Shafi Armar), over the Internet and this group came about,” the daily quoted an NIA officer as saying.

The officer added, “He (Ibrahim Yazdani) had applied for a visa to Greece twice after he returned from Saudi Arabia in July 2015. He felt going directly to Turkey could arouse suspicion. However, he failed to get a visa (to Syria). An electronics engineer, he then applied for a postgraduate course in Turkey and got a positive response, but got arrested before he could get a visa.”

The NIA had detained 11 youth during searches at 10 places in the old city of Hyderabad.

Five of them were arrested. They are Mohammed Ibrahim Yazdani, 30, Habeeb Mohammed, 32, Mohammed Ilyas Yazdani, 24, Abdullah Bin Ahmed Al Amoodi 30 and Muzaffar Hussain Rizwan, 29.

The NIA said the youth were conspiring to commit terrorist acts in various parts of the country. According to the agency, they were planning to target public places including religious sites and sensitive government buildings.

The NIA said it seized chemicals used in making explosives, two semi-automatic pistols, an airgun with telescopic sight and shooting practise target boards.

According to the NIA, the preliminary examination revealed that the five were preparing IED for the purpose of carrying out terrorist acts and were being guided by an online handler suspected to be based in Iraq/Syria.

A city court had on Friday sent five members of a suspected Islamic State module to the 12-day custody of the NIA.