IB team arrives in Odisha to probe arrested Kashmir youth's suspected terror links

Bhubaneswar: A team of Intelligence Bureau (IB) arrived in Odisha capital Bhubaneswar on Tuesday to probe into the suspected terror links of Sayed Ishaan Bukhari, a Kashmir youth who was recently arrested by the Special Task Force (STF) in Jajpur district.

Sources said that the IB team will interrogate Bukhari.

The Kashmir youth, who impersonated as doctor and settled at Neulpur in Jajpur district after marrying a local girl, was on Tuesday brought on a five-day remand by the STF of Odisha police for further investigation in this regard.

Sources said the STF has found some evidence regarding Bukhari’s motive behind marrying multiple girls in different parts of the country.

Bukhari, according to police, has married at least six to seven girls who hailed from Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Odisha. Apart from impersonating as a doctor, he also identified himself as an officer in the Prime Minister’s Office and a top official of the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

Sources close to the investigators said Bukhari had married a girl in Lucknow as part of ‘Love Jihad.’ The STF has reportedly sought more information from Lucknow Police in this connection, sources added.

The STF had arrested Bukhari from Jajpur district last week.

Impersonating a doctor with international degrees in medical sciences, Bukhari was active on various websites/ Apps and established romantic relationships with many girls.

The ST had earlier claimed that it has got clues about Bukhari having links with some “suspicious anti-national elements” based in India and abroad. The investigators have seized his mobile phone.

“The mobile phone of Bukhari has been seized. He has deleted his chats with suspicious anti-national elements. The device has been sent for examination and retrieval of the chat history,” the investigators said.

Apart from his phone, the STF has seized as many as one hundred incriminating materials from the youth. Multiple bank accounts have also been seized from Bukhari.

Bukhari arrived in Odisha’s Jajpur district in 2018 and settled at Neulpur village. Though some journalists of Jajpur had earlier reported about his suspicious behavior and movement of Bukhari to the local Dharmasala police, there was no serious effort on the part of the cops to look into this aspect.

The local Sarapanch had reportedly refused to sign Bukhari’s papers to apply for a passport after he found the documents forged and fabricated.