Inspired by uncle who was SIMI chief, Hyderabad youths tried to join ISIS twice

The plan hatched by the three cousins was simple: get into any territory that has ISIS’ presence via Kashmir
Inspired by uncle who was SIMI chief, Hyderabad youths tried to join ISIS twice
Inspired by uncle who was SIMI chief, Hyderabad youths tried to join ISIS twice
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Mohammed Abdullah Basith, a 20-year-old engineering student from Hyderabad left his house on December 24, 2015 to join Jihadi forces. Two days later, Basith was detained along with his cousins Maaz Hasan Farooq and Syed Omer Farooq Hussaini, at the Nagpur airport.

This was in fact the second time that Basith and Farooq were getting detained; they had been detained by the Kolkata police earlier in September 2014 for trying to go to Afghanistan. The duo and two other companions were counseled and sent back home to Hyderabad as there were no cases against them.

The plan hatched by the three cousins was simple; get into any territory that has ISIS’ presence via Kashmir. Though their immediate destination could have been Afghanistan, police believe they had thought of going to other places like Iraq and Syria. 

The confession

The News Minute has a copy of the confessions made by the three to the police.

The police officer notes that the intention was to send them back after counseling, but since the detainees were ‘in a mood to talk’, the confessions had been recorded.

The maternal uncle of the three cousins, late Syed Salahuddin who was the president of banned terrorist organization 'Students Islamic Movement of India' (SIMI) was their inspiration, according to the confession.

Salahuddin was the National President of SIMI from 1998 to 2000 and died in a car accident in October 2014.

(A TV channel announcing Salahuddin's death in a car crash in Nalgonda district)

Salahuddin was arrested in 2012 in connection with a 2002 Sai Baba temple blast in Dilsukhnagar and was also booked for an alleged hate speech at Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh.

The police say that the trio planned to meet Asiya Andrabi, chief of Dukhtaran-e-Millat and controversial pro-Pakistani separatist leader and seek her help to cross the Indian border.

Basith, according to the police, has confessed that he encouraged his cousins to join ISIS. Their secret meetings to discuss Jihadi literature and travel plans were apparently held at “family functions and other get-togethers.”

"He downloaded Jihadi materials on his own TAB but deleted the stuff as he was scared of law enforcing agencies,” says the police statement.

The statement details how Basith stole Rs 90,000 from his house and later travelled with his cousins on three bikes. But the cold wave dissuaded them from going further on their bikes, which they parked at a garage in Adilabad. They went to Nagpur in a taxi and planned to fly to Srinagar on the morning of December 26. But the police were on alert as a letter written by Farooq to his parents had been brought to their attention.

According to a report in Deccan Chronicle, one of the three told the Special Investigation Team of the city police that he was motivated towards jihad by the speeches of Yemeni English scholar Anwar al-Awlaki who was apparently a prime motivator for Al Qaeda recruitments. (The statement in TNM’s possession does not have these portions). Al-Awlaki was killed in a CIA drone strike in 2011. 

The trio is now facing a case of waging war against the nation.

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