Three youngsters from Thane who are suspected to be fighting with the ISIS in Iraq.

Three youngsters from Thane who are suspected to be fighting with the ISIS in Iraq. Three youngsters from Thane who are suspected to be fighting with the ISIS in Iraq.

Indian authorities have gathered information on four men from Maharashtra fighting in Iraq for the ISIS, though there are others, too, who have joined the dreaded terrorist group. The security agencies, however, know little about the others.

While the Maharashtra Police and Intelligence Bureau officials questioned families of the four men and submitted a detailed report to the home ministry, security agencies are in touch with their Iraqi counterparts to get details of other Indians who are believed to be fighting with ISIS.

Sources said it is suspected that men from states like Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka have joined the Sunni insurgent group that has been targeting Shias and has overrun key cities like Mosul and Tikrit over the past few weeks. Intelligence agencies are also tracking families of other young men who have been reported "missing" and could be in Iraq fighting along with ISIS.

Sources said the Mumbai Police commissioner, in a written communication to his force, has given directions "to trace missing children within the jurisdictions of their respective police stations, especially those who fall within the age group which makes them potential members of terror outfits".

The four men who have been identified so far are Arif Fayaz Majeed and Thane residents Fahad Tanvir Sheikh, Aman Naim Tandel and Shaheen Farooqi Tanki. They are all in their 20s.

Sources said there is no past record of their involvement in any terror activities. Central intelligence agencies have sought details from states from which young men are believed to have gone to Iraq so that information can be gathered on them.

"We are trying to identify families who have young men in Iraq. If we get details and suspect that they could be fighting for ISIS, we will inform the Iraqi authorities," said an official.

Intelligence agencies are jittery about the possibility that Indians who have joined the ISIS could get in touch with young men in the country to form a terrorist group here. ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi, the self-proclaimed Caliph of the Islamic State, has identified India as an "enemy state". He has also claimed that Indian Muslims do not have rights.