Kochi: The special police team probing the missing cases of several youths from the state, who are suspected to have links with the terror outfit IS, submitted before a local court on Monday that some of them had reached Tehran, Iran’s capital.
In an affidavit submitted before the principal district and sessions court, Ernakulam, the police said Merin Jacob aka Mariam, who had gone missing with her husband Bestin Vincent aka Yahia, had departed to Tehran from Bengaluru airport on May 16. Bestin had gone missing with his brother Bexan aka Easa and wife Nimisha aka Fathima.
Based on the finding, the cops now suspect that many of the missing persons are currently in Tehran. The police also submitted that the name of Arshid Qureshi, arrested from Mumbai in connection with the case, had been mentioned in one of the messages purported to have been sent by Rashid Abdulla of Thrikaripur to a relative. Abdulla had gone missing with his wife Ayisha aka Soniya.
The messages, at various points, had references about Islamic State (IS) and Qureshi. During the investigation process, the sleuths also recorded the statement of Abdulla’s brother under section 164 of Cr.PC about the mentioning of IS and Qureshi. Meanwhile, the court extended the police custody of Qureshi and his aide Khan for ten more days till August 18. Earlier, the police were granted custody of the duo for 14 days.
