India to Iraq: Chargesheet details OF Areeb Majeed's journey

New Delhi, May 14: The chargesheet against Areeb Majeed, who had joined the ISIS only to return to India is probably one of the most challenging tasks for the National Investigating Agency. The chargesheet against Majeed will be an explanatory one and would go into the journey of the youth from India to Iraq and his entire indoctrination process.

India has taken a completely different approach while dealing with the ISIS and several persons who have tried to join the outfit have been brought back and counseled instead of punished.

Majeed's chargesheet would be a case study and a reference to all future cases, an officer with the National Investigating Agency informed OneIndia.

Majeed's fickle mind

The mind of Areeb Majeed is what is interesting in this case. He had made up his mind and joined the ISIS and took great pains in reaching the land of the dreaded outfit. However the difficult life and the menial jobs that he was given disheartened him no end which prompted him to send an SOS plea and return home.

However during the course of the investigation he has been back and forth on the ISIS. At times he broke down repenting his actions. However there were times when he said that he wanted to return to fight alongside the ISIS.

He very often said that the ISIS has a great agenda and if possible he would take all his family members there. There were times that he also broke down and told the investigators that he wanted to be close to his family.

The Unlawful Activities Prevention Act

The ISIS today is a banned outfit by the Home Ministry under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). However this India specific ban was not in force when Majeed was arrested. However it was stated that the act could be used in retrospective effect and hence these charges are being slapped on him.

In addition to this the NIA has also slapped charges under Section 125 of the Indian Penal Code against him. If convicted under Section 125 he could face imprisonment up to seven years.

Section 125 reads- Waging war against any Asiatic Power in alliance with the Government of India. Whoever wages war against the Government of any Asiatic Power in alliance or at peace with the Government of India or attempts to wage such war, or abets the waging of such war, shall be punished with imprisonment up to seven years.

The journey of Areeb Majeed

This part of the chargesheet detailing his journey into the ISIS is crucial and most interesting. It indicates that he was inclined towards such activities since he was a teenager.

It says that he was attracted to the cause when he was in college. He had a lot of reading material on his phone. Moreover he was in touch with a person by the name Mishal who is said to have influenced him. The chargesheet also speaks about the travel agency (Rahat) through which the tickets were booked to reach Iraq and Syria.

It is said that he along with his three other friends had made travel arrangements with their own money. They landed up in Iraq as pilgrims and then were ferried into the ISIS camps.

The chargesheet also speaks about how Majeed was trained. It is also alleged that he apart from doing menial jobs had also learnt how to make land mines and other weapons.

OneIndia News