A 32-year-old man was arrested by Delhi Police’s Special Cell for trying to cross the Turkey border into Syria allegedly to join the Islamic State. He was deported from Turkey and on July 1 reached the Indira Gandhi International Airport from where he was arrested.
According to the police, Shahjahan Velluva Kandy, resident of Kannur in Kerala, had gone to Malaysia in February 2016 and later to Turkey in June the same year along with his wife and children. “He tried to cross over to Syria but was sent back to India on the same suspicion in February 2017,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Pramod Singh Kushwaha.
An official in the security establishment said that he was examined when he returned to India so his moves were being monitored by the security agencies.
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The accused then allegedly got a fake passport made in Chennai in the name of Mohammed Ismail Mohideen and went to Turkey again within a month in March, this time alone. “He again tried to cross over but this time, his fake identity was detected and he was deported,” said Mr. Kushwaha.
The police claim to have also arrested the man who had helped him get a fake passport from Tamil Nadu. The man is a resident of Chennai, said the officer.
As the police had been monitoring Kandy, his description was shared with several security agencies which helped them identify that Mohammad Ismail was in fact Kandy.
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The police said that he had been radicalised by a man in Kerala who is suspected to have links with the Islamic State. They refused to reveal the details of the man in order not to jeopardise the investigation.
“The accused will be examined by the National Investigation Agency,” said an official.