Ghufran Mohiuddn, one of the two persons from Telangana who were deported nearly three months ago from Turkey while trying to join Islamic State (IS), was a quiet guy, said lecturers of his engineering college. The youngster hailing from Warangal district studied engineering course at the Muffakham Jah Engineering College, Banjara Hills.
He used to mix with others but was not boisterous, said a lecturer unwilling to be named. “Most of the time, he was on his mobile phone and we never paid serious attention to what he was doing with the mobile phone,” he said. Soon after Mohiuddin was deported from Turkey in October, a team of Telangana Counter Intelligence (CI) officials inquired about the youngster with the college authorities. They mostly asked questions about his nature, type of friends and whether he showed any signs of “radicalisation” during the college days.
Investigators believe Mohiuddin was in the phase of slowly getting attracted to radical ideas during his college days. During his stay in Saudi Arabia, where he went in search of job after completing engineering course, he must have got attracted to IS ideology through online interactions with like-minded people, say investigators. Some comments and observations posted by him on his facebook account were connected to religion, the investigators said. In a post dated December 31, 2011, he questioned why one should follow Christian calendar. He appealed to people not to observe New Year celebrations.
On October 27 the same year, he thanked everyone who greeted him on his birthday. But he posted a video clip in which a preacher observed that birthday celebrations were not justified.
Mohiuddin and Hamid-ur-Rahman, another youngster from First Lancer area of Hyderabad, both went to Turkey to join IS. Rahman was reportedly working in the US as an engineer. Investigators say both got radicalised online and decided to join IS.
Authorities in Turkey grew suspicious after seeing their travel documents. They grilled the duo and deported them to Hyderabad in October. Officers of Cyberabad police questioned them initially after they landed at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport.
Telangana police top brass decided, like in past cases, not to register any case against the duo. City police officials counselled both of them and let them off.
