Afghanistan

Hafeesudheen

NEW DELHI: Moinudheen Parakadavath, a resident of Kasargod and an important link in the Kerala Islamic State (IS) module of 22 missing persons, including women and children who travelled to, has told the NIA and central intelligence agencies that members of the so-called caliphate wanted to target several Hindu leaders, Ahmadiyya mosques and Jamaat-e-Islami Hind to “create ripples“.Ahmadiyya leaders and Jamaat-e-Islami have condemned IS activities in the past and said the outfit was causing more harm to Muslims and Islam than the enemies of Islam. Kerala-based Moinudheen, who was arrested by the NIA upon his deportation from Abu Dhabi on February 14, also revealed that “secret“ online groups of IS members would regularly discuss their targets in India.In one of the conversations in a closed IS group on `Telegram' channel, `Bab Al Noor' of which Moinudheen too was a member, he said someone posted details of a Jamaat-e-Islami programme to be held in Kochi last year where Rahul Eashwar, a Hindu orator, was invited as a speaker.“One person suggested that we should target such events. I suggested that Kochi Jewish temple is also close to the venue. Someone suggested that we should use a bike to carry out the attack. But I suggested that we should use a tipper lorry for the attack,“ Moinudheen said during his interrogation. TOI has accessed exclusive details of his interrogation.About the missing 22 persons from Kerala, who are now said to be in Nangarhar in Afghanistan, Moinudheen said while he tried to reach IS territory via Tehran in June 2016, he met five of them on the Iraq border.“I was travelling from Abu Dhabi to Tehran with Shajeer Mangalasseri Abdulla, another resident of Kasargod in Kerala. We reached Tehran in June. After travelling 15 hours from Tehran to the city of Mashhad in Iran, we were informed on chat that there were some Keralites in Mashhad who were also travelling to IS territory and if we would like to meet them,“ he said.“We met five persons from Kasargod in Mashhad ­ Dr Ijas, Marwan, Manzad,and one more person whose name I don't remember,“ he told his interogators.After a few days, Moinudheen came back to Abu Dhabi while Shajeer is yet to be traced. He is said to be in charge of the Kerala IS module. Moinudheen was arrested by Abu Dhabi authorities in December last year and sent to India in February.