Hyderabad: A woman suspected to have links with Islamic State was arrested by Cyberabad police on Friday morning from Rajiv Gandhi Airport in Shamshabad.
The woman identified as Afsha Jabeen alias Nicole Joseph alias Nicky Joseph has been taken into custody, top counter intelligence officials confirmed to Deccan Chronicle.
Police said she is an online recruiter for Islamic State. “She is an associate of Salman Mohiuddin, an Hyderabad based engineer who studied in US and got arrested in January 2015 for suspected links with Islamic State,” said a senior police official. Mohiuddin was trying to fly to Syria via Dubai to join ISIS.
Salman had allegedly confessed during questioning to have opened several facebook accounts along with one 'Nicky Joseph' of British national living in Dubai.
Jabeen was deported from Dubai on Thursday night along with her husband Devender Batra alias Mustafa and three daughters. She was named as an accused in Salman Mohiuddin case. Intelligence agencies are interrogating Jabeen.
Jabeen is girlfriend of Salman Mohiuddin, who was arrested earlier this year from Hyderabad. Mohiuddin, who did his MS from US, was planning to go to Syria via Turkey to join the ISIS.
Mohiuddin, who is married and has two children in Hyderabad, had planned to marry Jabeen in Dubai before going to Syria. Ayesha, who is a convert to Islam, was waiting for him in Dubai.
Investigation agencies said Mohiuddin intended to undergo training in Syria and indulge in anti-national activities in India after returning.
"Today, on credible information, Afsha Jabeen is taken into custody at RGI Airport, when she arrived from Dubai. As she is a co-accused in Salman's case, she is arrested and produced in the court. Further inquiry is going on," Hyderabad police said in a press release.
Jabeen and Salman allegedly used social media to attract youth from Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Bihar and other states towards the the banned terror outfit.
Jabeen had gone to Abu Dhabi as a child and completed her schooling there. She came to India and graduated from Shadan college in Hyderabad and later married Devender Kumar alias Mustafa, according to the officials.
Salman had earlier said that he had met a lady during his stay in the US and identified her as Nicky Joseph alias Nicky alias Nicole alias Ayesha, a British national and a neo-Muslim based in Dubai with a fundamentalist leaning towards Islam, the officials said.
In 2014, after the establishment of the caliphate in Iraq and Syria, Salman and Nicky started taking interest in development activities of the Islamic State. They created various Facebook groups under pseudo names and started attracting people who were interested in IS, it is alleged.
This is the second extradition since Prime Minister Modi's visit to the UAE last month, where both the countries pledged to assist each other in battling terrorism.
Also read:
Hyderabad techie bound for IS arrested at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport
Salman Mohiuddin planned to get married to girlfriend before joining IS
Hyderabad techie pushed IS ideologies on web, influenced more than 100 youngsters
My son may have sympathy for some groups but did nothing wrong, says father of alleged IS recruit
