Bengaluru youth who joined ISIS suspected to have been killed in Syria

New Delhi, Sep 14: A Bengaluru based youth who had joined the Islamic State has reportedly died in Syria.

This revelation was made by a doctor recently arrested by the National Investigation Agency. He said that Faiz Masood had died in Syria. Masood had left the country seven years back to join the ISIS.

During the questioning the ophthalmologist, Abdur Rehman said that he had met Masood at the Syrian border town, Atme. They had crossed over from a refugee camp in Turkey in 2013, he also said.

Abdur Rehman was arrested last week from Bengaluru and taken to New Delhi by the NIA on a transit remand. Rehman had travelled to Dubai along with two of his friends. He had obtained a six month UAE visa, following which he travelled to Dubai. From there, he secretly travelled to Syria. Sources tell OneIndia that it was after this, he may have decided to join the ISIS.

The NIA also questioned the two others who travelled with him. However it was found that the two had not indulged in any illegal activity and hence were let off.

Rehman visited the ISIS medical camp in Syria in early 2014 for treatment of ISIS terrorists and stayed with Islamic State operatives for 10 days and returned to India, the NIA said. He was arrested on Tuesday in connection with the Islamic State Khorasan Province case.

During interrogation, arrested accused Abdur Rahman confessed that he was conspiring with accused Jahanzaib Sami and other Syria-based ISIS operatives on secure messaging platforms to further ISIS activities. He was in the process of developing a medical application for helping the injured ISIS cadres in the conflict-zones and a weaponry-related application for the benefit of ISIS fighters.

The case, it may be recalled was initially registered by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police in March 2020. The Delhi Police registered this case after arresting a Kashmiri couple Jahanzaib Sami Wani and his wife Hina Bashir Beigh from Okhla Vihar, Jamia Nagar in Delhi.

The couple was found to be having affiliations with ISKP, a banned terrorist outfit affiliated with the ISIS. The couple were found to be involved in subversive activities and were also in touch with Abdul Basith, who is now lodged in the Tihar jail in connection with another case being probed by the NIA.

The probe also led to the arrest of Sadiya Anwar Sheikh and Nabeel Siddique Khatri, both residents of Pune. They were allegedly part of the conspiracy to carry out subversive activities under the garb of protesting against the amended citizenship law.