Why India is weary of letting the Islamic State returnees back on its soil

Several states are on a state of high-alert as the movie, 'The Kerala Story's is slated for a release on May 5, Friday.

The story is largely based on the case that is being probed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in which 24 persons from Kerala had joined the Islamic State and joined the outfit in Afghanistan.

Ahmad Zia Saraj, the head of the National Directorate of Security told reporters that there are 408 members of the Islamic State who are lodged in the prisons of Afghanistan. This included four Indians, 16 Chinese, 299 Pakistanis, two Bangladeshis and two from the Maldives.

While Afghanistan would soon begin talks with these respective countries to deport the Islamic State operatives, India is no mood to bring back the four operatives. The four women had travelled to Afghanistan's Nangarhar between 2016-18. Their husbands were killed in different attacks, following which the four women surrendered before the authorities.

A source tells OneIndia that the Indian authorities are not in favour of these women returning to India. These women had been interviewed by the Indian security agencies in Afghanistan in 2019, a month after they surrendered. The women have been identified as Sonia Sebastin alias Ayisha Raffeala, Merrin Jacob alias Mariyam and Nimisha alias Fathima Isa.

According to the NIA's chargesheet filed in 2017, Sonia had left from Kasargod in 2016, with her husband Abdul Rashid. The agency also said that Merrin had left with her husband, Westin Vincent to Islamic State controlled territory in 2016.

Some of the parents of these girls have been making pleas to the Indian authorities to bring back their daughters. India's policy on internal security however does not allow this. India has taken a cue from the attacks in France which were undertaken by the returnees of the Islamic State.

An official specialising on the affairs of the Islamic State says that if one looks at the pattern of the terror group, it tends to use returnees to stage attacks. It would take some more time for India to analyse the situation in Afghanistan. The Islamic State follows the pattern of training people on its soil and then sending back the recruits to their motherland. These persons could either end up becoming heroes or could even stage lone wolf strikes, the official explained. This is one of the primary reasons why India is cautious when it comes to taking back the returnees on its soil, the officer also said.