George Poikayil By

Express News Service

KASARGOD: Two families in Kasargod suspected of joining the Islamic State (IS) in Yemen have hit back at the police, saying they joined an Islamic religious institute at Hadhramaut, and will return after studies. “The police convoluted the statement of my father-in-law to make it a missing complaint and trigger fears that we have joined the IS,” said Sawad, one of the 11 persons from Kasargod, who are in Yemen.

He said his father-in-law, Abdul Hameed of Mundamkulam in Chemnad panchayat, apprised the police that they are in Yemen. “But that statement was turned into a missing complaint,” he told Express through WhatsApp voice chat from Hadhramaut.On Tuesday, Kasargod town police registered a First Information Report (FIR) “based on Hameed’s complaint” that his daughter Naseera (25), her husband Sawad (35) of Mogral, their children Musab (6), Marjana (3), and Muhammil (11 months); and Sawad’s second wife Rahanath (25) of Palakkad, have gone missing from Dubai. Rahanath is both deaf and mute.

When contacted on Tuesday, Kasargod circle inspector C A Abdul Rahim said Hameed feared they had joined the IS. “And we too suspect that,” he said.On Wednesday, he said countries such as Syria and Yemen are on the watch list, and those travelling to those countries will be under observation. When asked if Hameed had filed a missing complaint, or merely appraised the police of their whereabouts, the officer said he had got a signed copy of the complaint where he makes the missing claims.

Hameed also said Sawad’s friend Anwar, his wife Zeenath and their three children had gone missing, an officer said. “But we did not register the second FIR,” he said. However, Hameed refuted the charge. “My daughter Naseera calls her mother every two day. They had told us that they were going to Yemen for studies. Where is the question of a missing complaint?” he said. “I did confront the CI about the wrong news and he said he will look into it,” he said. Sawad’s father M P Ashraf too said his son had kept him in the loop about his plans.

‘I want to study Quran’

Sawad, who ran a mobile phone business in Dubai, was living with his family in the Emirate for the past two years. “My second wife joined me in Dubai recently on visiting visa,” he said. He also has a perfumed oil (attar) business in Dubai.“But for long, I wanted to study the Quran. Initially, we thought of moving to Saudi Arabia, but preferred Yemen because of the low cost of living,” said Sawad, who had studied upto Class X.

Sawad said they reached Yemen via Oman on June 8. He, his wives and eldest daughter have joined Darul Hadees, a madrasa attached to the Masjidul Anwer mosque at Al Hami in Hadhramaut. “There are many Malayalees here. Several of them are here for more than five years. There are citizens from the US, UK and France, too,” he said.

Sawad said Anwar and family came to the institute on June 19. “I met him once, he is settling down,” he said. Sawad said their stay at Al Hami was fully footed by the institute. “My friend is looking after the phone business in Dubai,” he said.Hameed said the Kasargod police might have jumped the gun in their case because 15 persons from Padna and Trikaripur had left home and joined the IS in 2016.