ISIS recruit Arif was part of a group of 40 radicalized boys in college

MUMBAI: Kalyan engineer Arif Majeed, who quit terror group Islamic State and returned to India last month, has told investigators that he was part of a radicalized group of 40 students at a Panvel college and each one of them was referred to as Naqeeb — Urdu for 'leader'.

Arif — who is being questioned by the National Investigation Agency, Intelligence Bureau, and Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad counter-insurgency experts — has revealed that all 40 in the group spent a lot of time on the internet, mining information on terrorist groups and Islamic preachings. However, when an opportunity came their way to join the ISIS, everyone except Arif chickened out. Eventually Arif left for Iraq with three of his friends from Kalyan.

With this new information, which is part of Arif's written statement, the cops are likely to question more students from Anjuman Islam's Kalsekar Technical College in Panvel, where Arif did his engineering. The investigative agencies have already spoken with the college principal and shared this information with him.

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Shrinks to peek into Arif Majeed's mind

Interestingly, Arif's information on this radicalized group in Kalsekar College is consistent with the Maharashtra ATS's own findings. The ATS had stumbled upon the 'naqeebs' a few weeks before Arif returned from Iraq. Confirming this, ATS chief Himanshu Roy said: "ATS had already identified a particular group from the college which was involved in radicalization. Investigations in this matter are ongoing."

The ATS had not only brought the matter to the notice of the college, it had also gotten in touch with some of the students' parents. The 40 students have since been under the ATS radar and their activities are closely watched. Arif's plans to join ISIS did not come to ATS's notice because after the rest of the 'naqeebs' refused to join him, he distanced himself from the group and left the country with four of his Kalyan friends.

A spokesman for Anjuman Islam, which runs the Kalsekar College, said: "We are rendering full cooperation to the investigating agencies. None of the people at any of our institutions support ISIS or the group's ideologies. At this point of time, we wouldn't want to comment on the matter. We have complete faith in the country's judiciary."

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Arif has also told interrogators that he saw over 20 Indians in ISIS camps in Syria and Iraq. He said most of these Indian recruits were from south India. Thirteen of these recruits, he said, were brought to Iraq on the pretext of providing them jobs. Arif has revealed that he was indoctrinated by a certain Maulana Abdul Rehman alias 'Doctor'. He said he met the 'Doctor' on a social networking site.

NIA sources said the 'Doctor' was an active member of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) before he fled to a gulf country. According to Arif, the 'Doctor' has sent 10 men to Iraq from across the country and nearly 25 more are in touch with him. The Doctor, Arif's statement says, promises hefty amounts to the youths willing to fight for ISIS and promises that their families will be well taken care of. In Iraq, he is known as Al Fazl and is in touch with top ISIS commanders for recruitment.

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