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Indian woman 'operative of ISIS' deported from Dubai

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IS sympathiser's arrest failed to deter Afsha

NEW DELHI: Afsha Jabeen , the first woman Islamic State (IS) recruiter to be held in India, had deeply imbibed the terror outfit’s religious extremism, fervently believing that a global caliphate would be established some day and that beheading of Iraqi Shia soldiers had sanction under Islamic law.Investigators said the interrogation of Jabeen (38), known in the virtual world as ‘Nicky Joseph’, revealed the mind of a committed “religious fanatic” who experienced great joy when IS emir Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared a self-proclaimed caliphate in Iraq and Syria but who nevertheless was reluctant to travel to Iraq and Syria herself.“I like a caliphate where Sharia law is enforced… the election of caliph will be done by Shura council rather than namesake democracy,” Jabeen, who was deported from the UAE recently, is understood to have told Intelligence Bureau (IB) officials.Interrogation reports accessed exclusively by TOI show Jabeen, who is from Hyderabad, and her partner in crime Salman Mohiuddin (33) explain in detail about how belief in a religious state led them to motivate young boys and girls from different parts of the country to join IS while using Christian names to gain “converts” from Christianity.Their accounts bolster the apprehension of security agencies that IS is a powerful rallying point for extremism with internet-based proselytisation providing easy access to the extreme ideology that seeks a return to a version of puritan Islam of the 7th century. Indian intel agencies are increasingly concerned that some recruits may be motivated to stage attacks in India.While Jabeen strongly believed in IS’s ideology of jihad with its often literalist interpretation of Islam, she herself had no interest in going to Iraq and Syria. However, Salman, who recruited youngsters online along with Jabeen through different Facebook pages including ‘Revelations and Hadith’, ‘Islam vs Christianity, a friendly discussion’, ‘Moderators vs Liberals’, ‘Daula News Room’, ‘Daula Islamiya’ among others, had even suggested that they both fight alongside IS by crossing the Turkey border.Jabeen refused saying “I am happily married and I have no plans to go to Syria”. She had, in fact, hidden her identity from Salman, claiming to be British and did not share her mobile or landline numbers. Salman, who was in love with her and wanted to marry her, was caught by security forces in January from Hyderabad while Jabeen was deported by the UAE last month.The Facebook pages had many followers — ‘Daula News Room’ had 188 followers, ‘Islam vs Christianity’ had 2,800 members and about 50,000 followers — and a large number of young boys and girls from different places like Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Kashmir were part of discussions in the groups. A 17-year-old Pakistani girl was also an active member of Jabeen’s FB group apart from two students from Delhi. All these groups/pages were later removed by Facebook.About the group ‘Islam vs Christianity’ on FB, Jabeen told interrogators, “The objective behind starting this group was to attract Christians towards Islam on the pretext of clarifying their doubts and converting vulnerable Christian targets and propagating Islam.”Salman told intelligence agencies that he was in touch with IS recruiters/sympathizers/IS aid workers Abu Mahajeer of Syria, Abu Al Barra Al Sami based in Syria, Abu Mohammad of Turkey and Hasan Abdul Gani of Iraq among others.Jabeen told interrogators that she was not deeply religious before marriage to Devender Kumar Batra in 2002, who converted to Islam to marry her. “After my marriage, problems surfaced (between us). I was influenced by watching videos posted on Youtube of several famous Islamic scholars including Zakir Naik,” she said.IB officials have labeled her a “religious fanatic” who claimed to have “comprehensive knowledge about Quran and about the way of life of Muslims in various parts of the world”.