Three months after Indian agencies busted a widespread Islamic State network with many members in India, its key recruiter’s identity still remains a mystery.
Security agencies believe that Shafi Armar alias Yousuf al Hindi operates from Syria but are not fully convinced if all communications in his name are from this former Indian Mujahideen member.
Eight of the 25 suspects in the custody of the National Investigation Agency and allegedly recruited by Armar have told interrogators that they had never seen him as he did not communicate with them through video calls. Armar used only web-based applications, ‘We Chat’, ‘Kick’ and the audio messaging service on Skype.
Request sent to U.S. The answer to Armar’s location and whether he indeed posted messages from Syria, now lies in requests sent to the U.S., Canada, China and Hong Kong .
“At this point of time, the NIA cannot conclusively say that Armar is based in Syria. He was in touch with eight men arrested on terror charges but none of them has seen him. Until we know where the messages originated from, it will be difficult to conclude that he is in Syria,” said a senior NIA official.
Security agencies believe that Armar, a key member of Ansar ul Tawhid, an offshoot of Indian Mujahideen, which later on pledged allegiance to the Islamic State, reportedly operates from Syria.
A resident of Bhatkal in Karnataka, Armar left for Pakistan via Dubai along with his brother Mohammad Sultan Armar in 2008 when the security agencies began a crackdown against IM members.
Killed in drone attack Sultan Armar is said to have been killed in a drone attack in March 2015 while fighting alongside the IS in Syria. Media reports have also suggested that Shafi Armar has also been killed in a U.S. drone attack a few days ago. The Armar brothers’ link to the IS first figured during the interrogation of key IM member Yasin Bhatkal, arrested in 2013.
A chargesheet filed by the NIA in 2014 quoted Bhatkal: "During chat (email), accused A-26 (Shafi Armar) stated that he desired to be dispatched to Syria to work with other jihadis...he desired that India should also become like Iraq and Syria."
An official said that the accused used lesser known web based applications and it was difficult at initial stage to locate their servers.
“We initially sent a letter rogatory to Singapore to get information about ‘We Chat’ messenger used by Armar. We were informed by the authorities there that the server is located at Shenzhen province in China. We have now sent requests to both Hong Kong and China. The server of Kick is located in Canada and we have sought its help to zero down on Armar,” said the official.
Mumbra resident Mudabbir Mushtaq Sheikh who is said to have been first recruited by Armar interacted with him through audio Skype . “He was in touch with Armar for over two years now and he had been motivated to carry out terror strikes. We have recovered lot of explosives from him,” said a senior NIA official.
AuT, which was earlier said to be the media wing of Indian Mujahideen mainly consisted of men from Azamgarh in UP and Bhatkal in Karnataka. All of them fled to Dubai, from where they made their way to Pakistan after pressure mounted on them post serial blasts in 2008. Earlier the group had imprints of Al Qaeda, while they were being trained at Af-Pak border but it gradually shifted allegiance to the Islamic State.
