A study of WhatsApp messages from a missing Mumbai youth, Ayaz Sultan, to his friends has confirmed that he is with an Islamic State module in Afghanistan, sources said here on Saturday.
“Sultan has been in touch with a select few of his friends via WhatsApp after reaching Kabul. All of the conversations that he has been having are about radical thought and extremist views,” a source in the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad told The Hindu .
A day after going missing on October 30, 2015, Sultan (23) from the Malwani area in Malad boarded a flight for Kabul.
The Afghan capital was his last confirmed location, and on December 30, after investigating his movements and interactions before his disappearance, the squad registered a case against him under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. On his trail ever since, the squad has been monitoring his chats on the social networking app.
Sultan’s journey shows IS active in Afghanistan: ATS
Sultan keeps sending WhatsApp messages to his friends about atrocities committed against Muslims in various countries and how the world ignores them. When the friends questioned the necessity of extreme action, he quoted scriptures and asked them to learn the true meaning of jihad (holy war).
ATS sources told The Hindu that Sultan’s friends had asked him what he intended to do, and his answer had been a cryptic “wait and watch”. Sultan, officials said, uses a Wi-Fi connection for chatting on WhatsApp and never a SIM card. “We have been keeping an eye out to check where Sultan goes from Kabul, as we initially believed that he would try to go to Syria. However, according to latest inputs, the IS now has a considerable presence in Kabul, and Sultan seems to have joined this module ,” an officer said. The Hindu, January 1, reported how the squad was investigating Sultan’s Delhi connection, as he had travelled to Delhi twice before leaving the country.
