NEW DELHI: Ever since the National Investigation Agency arrested six Kerala men on allegations of planning terrorist attacks, earlier this year, the intelligence services of India, Afghanistan, and the United Arab Emirates have been hunting Sajeer Mangalachari Abdullah. The man is now believed to hold a major position in a network of recruiters sending over Indian jihan volunteers to terrorist outfit Islamic State in Nangarhar, Afghan.
Abdullah, son of a truck driver in Kozhikode, Kerala, was last seen boarding a flight to Dubai in April this year. A simple man with nothing on him to stand apart in a crowd, he was known as hard-working and pious to his family and friends. The IS has been telling Indian volunteers to make their way to Afghanistan, also pushing them to stage attacks at home, providing detailed do-it-yourself instructions on manufacturing explosive devices, intelligence officials say. "Nangarhar is about as close as you can get to a black hole. It's the perfect place to go if you want to disappear. Even Afghanistan's intelligence services have next to no on-ground reach there," an Indian official said.
The captured men alleged to have been recruited by Abdullah. NIA said they were instructed by Abdullah to plan strikes against Israeli tourists in Kodaikanal, and attacks on BJP leaders and judges who had delivered what he believed to be "anti-Muslim" verdicts. Indian intelligence services also believe that he facilitated the travel of 21 Kerala residents, including eight minors, to Nangarhar, led by neo-fundamentalist cleric Abdul Rashid. Agents say these cases only highlight fears that greater numbers of Indian nationals may have joined global jihadist groups through the diaspora than the 67 known to be serving with the IS. "Frankly, we have no idea how many people from the diaspora are involved in the Islamic State. It is a real concern," said an official linked to the investigation.
Intelligence sources believe Indian jihadists who are currently fighting with the Islamic State have old links in Afghanistan. The Ansar-ut-Tawhid fi Bilad al-Hind, core of the estimated 67 jihadists from India now with the IS in Syria, served in the Afghan-Pak borderlands with the group.
