Thiruvananthapuram: A red alert has been sounded across three countries for the arrest of this man, a native of Kerala, who is accused of recruiting Indians for the dreaded Islamic State group.
According to the Indian Express, Sajeer Mangalachari Abdullah, who hails from Kozhikode city, has fled to Dubai in April this year.
Sajeer's father is a truck driver.
“He passed immigration and security checks without trouble, and settled into an economy-class seat for the four-hour flight to Dubai,” the report said.
His name had come up during the interrogation of six alleged IS supporters, also from Kerala, by the National Investigation Agency this month.
Besides India, Afghanistan and the United Arab Emirates are also hunting for Abdullah who is now “believed to occupy a key position” in Islamic State.
He is accused of sending new recruits from Indian to Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province to fight for the Islamic State.
Citing intelligence officials, the report said that Islamic State has been telling Indian volunteers keen for military training to make their way to Afghanistan.
It has also been pushing them to stage attacks at home, the report said.
“Nangarhar is about as close as you can get to a black hole. It’s the perfect place to go if you want to disappear. Even Afghanistan’s intelligence services have next to no on-ground reach there,” the report quoted an Indian intelligence official as saying.
The men alleged to have been recruited by
All of Abdullah's recruits were educated professionals. And one of his key associates named Manseed Bin Mohamed, now based in Doha, had moved to West Asia from Panoor in Kerala five years ago, the report said.
Abdullah's recruits were asked to target Israeli tourists, BJP leaders and judges who believed to have delivered “anti-Muslim” verdicts.
Abdullah has reportedly facilitated the travel of 21 Kerala residents, including eight minors, to Nangarhar, led by neo-fundamentalist cleric Abdul Rashid, the report added.
