The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday took Yasmin Ahmed, a Bihar native and an accused in a case in connection with the alleged recruitment of several youths from Kasaragod to Islamic State (IS), to custody for three days.
Granting a custody application, the NIA special court here asked the Central agency to interrogate the 29-year-old woman only in the presence of a woman police officer and during the day hours. Based on a production warrant, the woman, accompanied by her four-year-old son, was brought to Kochi from Kasaragod amidst heavy security.
Yasmin had landed in the police net while attempting to leave to Kabul for allegedly joining the IS through the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi in August.
Meanwhile, the court has approved a petition to arraign Yasmin as second accused in the case. Abdul Rashid of Kasaragod, who allegedly made 18 others to join the outfit, is the first accused.
Sources said the agency would approach Google, WhatsApp, Facebook and Telegram seeking details of the communications between some of the missing persons and their relatives. They would also seek assistance of authorities in Afghanistan and Iran in connection with probe.
The FIR in the missing case from Kasaragod names 19 persons as accused while five persons from Palakkad have been arraigned in the case.
Of the 21 missing youths, 17, including two children and two women, hail from Kasaragod. From Palakkad, two men (siblings) had gone missing with their wives, who hail from Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram respectively.
