Thiruvananthapuram: A Central Intelligence's report indicates that the international terrorist outfit, Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), has recruited as many as 149 persons from Kerala in the past three years. The report submitted with the Central Home Ministry has also been handed over to the State Police.
Of the lot, 100 persons are reported to have familial relationships with each other. The recruits belong to the districts of Kasaragod, Kannur, Wayanad, Malappuram, Ernakulam, Kollam, Palakkad, Idukki, and Thiruvananthapuram, of Kerala. They are found to have joined ISIS in the years 2017, 2018, and 2019. Those in Kerala, who maintain touch with these ISIS recruits, are under the Intelligence scanner.
In the wake of the recent United Nations report indicating active ISIS presence in Kerala, the State Police and the Intelligence wings have strengthened their surveillance. The State Police Chief and Director General of Police Lokanath Behera has handed over the directive to Deputy Inspector General Anoop Kuruvilla John, who heads the Anti-Terrorism Squad, entrusting him with the heightened surveillance activities against terrorism.
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Intelligence had earlier received a Telegram message in which a young man from Kerala, who reached the ISIS camp in Syria, elaborated on the miseries faced there. In an investigation carried out with the help of International agencies, it was found that he has been killed.
Meanwhile, another 32 persons who left home for joining ISIS and reached the Gulf countries, were caught and sent back home, after serving 6-month imprisonment in the Gulf countries. As per the travel documents of these persons, they were to visit a world-famous place of religious worship in Istanbul.
Those who are being recruited by the ISIS from Kerala reach the Gulf countries initially, and then enter Iraq and Syria through the Gulf country, which serves as a transit for them. However, with the Gulf countries intensifying their action against the terrorist outfit, recruitments to the ISIS from Kerala have not happened since 2019. The Central Intelligence agencies and their Secret Investigation wings have not received any information so far on more ISIS recruitments from Kerala since 2019.
In 2016, the Intelligence had found that secret recruitment to the international terrorist outfit has been rampant in Kerala following a thorough investigation of the 16 man missing cases reported from different parts of Kerala. All the missing persons were then traced to have joined ISIS. Highly educated professionals, including those who held MBBS and BDS certificates, were also recruited by the ISIS. Some of them are found to have been killed.
A few women recruits, who were caught in Afghanistan, are reportedly imprisoned. This includes a woman hailing from Thiruvananthapuram. Another female BDS student, who was studying with the Dental College in Kasaragod Peyinachi, has also been recruited by the ISIS. After being caught in Afghanisthan, the intelligence agents confirmed the girl’s identity by showing her picture to her relatives.
The government had appointed Anoop as the Anti-Terrorism Squad head immediately on his return to the State cadre after his National Investigation Agency deputation. DIG Anoop and team are to keep a close watch on the ISIS links in Kerala and to strengthen vigil.
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