ISIS lady recruiter: What was the extent of indoctrination?

Investigations that are being conducted following the arrest of a lady alleged to be an ISIS recruiter will look to unravel a major recruitment drive for the terrorist outfit.

Yesterday Afsha Jabeen alias Nicky Joseph was arrested at the Hyderabad airport after being deported from the UAE. Her name had cropped up a few months back when the police had arrested Salman Mohiuddin, an engineer from Hyderabad.

The Cyberabad police and the Intelligence Bureau officials who are quizzing Afsha are ascertaining if she was running a recruitment drive from Dubai. It was alleged that she was luring youth from India, particularly Hyderabad to join the ISIS.

What the police know so far about Afsha Jabeen?

When Salman Mohiuddin was arrested a few months back, he had revealed that he was on his way to Dubai to meet Afsha Jabeen. He had indicated that he was to marry her. The police later learnt that Afsha had lured him into going to Dubai from where he would travel to Turkey before landing in Syria where he would be part of the ISIS.

Afsha is 38 years old and according to investigations, she would pose as a British national and lure youth. She is alleged to have started a Facebook page through which she would recruit youth. Her target audience was mainly Hyderabadis, the police have also learnt.

[Read: Lady with alleged ISIS link detained in Hyderabad]

The Intelligence agencies have kept a track on her ever since Salman was arrested. Her page had propaganda material, the IB officials also say.

She posted messages on her page in the name of Nicky Joseph. When Salman was questioned he had taken the name Nicky Joseph. However, after constant monitoring and tracking the IB found that this lady’s original name was Afsha Jabeen and she hailed from Tolichowki in Hyderabad.

The indoctrination process:

It is still unclear what drew her into the ISIS and only further investigations would be able to give the right picture. She was four when she left India along with her family for Abu Dhabi. She, however, returned to Hyderabad in 1996 to complete her schooling and college. In 1999, she left for Abu Dhabi and in 2002 got married. The police say that she has three children.

The police say it was around one and half years back that she started a page and posted propaganda material. Going by the investigations that were conducted in the Salman case, it becomes clear that she was the one who lured him into the ISIS.

[Read: ISIS attracted me: The story of Salman Mohiudeen]

Salman had even gone on to claim that he was to meet her and get married to her while referring to Nicky (the name Salman knew) as his girlfriend.

The Intelligence Bureau is trying to find out if she had more youths on her radar. It is alleged that she would lure the youth and then ask them to meet her in Dubai. From there her plan was to send them to Syria via Turkey. IB officials tell OneIndia that the investigations are still on. We know that she was recruiting youth and had almost ensured that Salman had reached Turkey. Salman was arrested while trying to leave Hyderabad.