NIA chargesheet on ISIS recruit shows how dangerous the internet has become

New Delhi, May 21: The chargesheet filed against Areeb Majeed who had allegedly joined the ISIS and then back to India tells a deep dark tale of how people are indoctrinated over the internet.

A reading of the chargesheet suggests that Majeed who had shown a bit of interest in the philosophy of the ISIS had no problem in getting access to information, money and finally a route through which he made it to the ISIS homeland in Iraq.

The NIA chargesheet which was filed before a court in Mumbai runs into over 8,000 pages and attempts to educate those persons who feel that there is paradise waiting for them in joining the ranks of the ISIS. Majeed who has been booked under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act tells the story of how there are people who are ready to help youth like him join the ranks of the ISIS.

Web indoctrination:

The indoctrination process of misguided youth is what has been a worry for the Intelligence Bureau in India. Majeed who hails from Kalyan in Maharashtra had a leaning towards the ISIS and all he did was indicate the same. There were several who came forward to help even financially.

What has been noticed by the various police officials probing cases relating to the ISIS is that in each and every case, the indoctrination is taking place through the internet. In the case of Majeed it was person called Fahad Shaikh who ran a twitter handle called @magnetgas.

Majeed followed all the tweets that were being put out by Shaikh. Several times Shaikh put out videos, propaganda material and also provided information regarding the contacts and also the routes one could take to reach the ISIS camp.

Shaikh according to the NIA was providing information only for recruits from India. There are several such handles on twitter which cater to recruits from various countries. In the case of Shaikh his operations were India specific.

Monetary help:

Majeed according to the NIA was in touch with Shaikh since 2014. It was only once Shaikh was completely convinced that Majeed was interested in the cause, did the rest of the information flow in. Majeed was told by Shaikh to get in touch with a person called Rehman who was an Afghan national.

Rehman made several visits to India.

He was the one who had the money with him and ensured that the recruits did not run short of money. The chargesheet states that Rehman paid Majeed around Rs 1.25 lakh for his travel to Iraq. The total cost of the travel up to Iraq was coming up to Rs 2.37 lakh and while Rehman gave his share, the rest had to be managed by Majeed.

Majeed in fact had been saving up money ever since he generated interest in joining the ISIS. He always knew that he needed to save money if he had to travel to Iraq or Syria. After all the travel arrangements were made, Majeed was told by Shaikh that he will have to land in Bhagdad where there would be a person called Abu Fatima waiting for him.

On his arrival at Bhagdad along with his three other friends, he was picked up by Abu who took them to Mosul and from there ferried them into the Hind camp of the ISIS. The Hind camp of the ISIS hosts only Indian recruits.

Majeed's journey back to India:
It is a well known fact that Majeed was upset with the ISIS for various reasons (/india/isis-treats-indians-as-sex-slaves-says-reluctant-jihadi-majeed-1753385.html). He had made desperate attempts to return to India. Majeed had in fact cried several times with his family over phone about how unhappy he was in Iraq.

His mother during one conversation cried over the phone. She says that she was so happy to know that he is alive as the news had started to trickle in that he had died during a fight in Iraq. Majeed then indicates that he wanted to return home.

Majeed made one attempt to sneak into India through Turkey. He was badly injured at that time and was refused medical help by the ISIS. Finally he was given some medical aid in a hospital and this is where he planned that he would return to India.

On November 14 2014 he approached the Indian embassy in Turkey and told them he had to return to India. He had also told them that he had lost his passport. The chargesheet claims that he had been arrested in Turkey. After that the Indian officials came into the picture and brought Majeed back to India.

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