The government has no clue about the identity of four Indian youths held in Syria for allegedly planning to join the Islamic State, but suspects that they might have been based in some Gulf countries from where they travelled to Damascus.
Government officials said Syrian Deputy Prime Minister Walid Al Moaulem, who was on a three-day visit to India last week, disclosed that the four youths were taken into custody for allegedly planning to join the IS.
‘Verifying antecedents’“We have no idea who the youths are, where they originally hail from. We suspect they might have gone from some Gulf countries. We are still verifying their antecedents,” an official said.
During the delegation-level meeting, when the Indian officials asked the Syrian Deputy Prime Minister to give details of the four youths, he was said to have stated that he was not police and did not know the details.
