A 28-year-old woman from Bihar, who was on her way to Afghanistan to “lead a true Islamic life”, was detained on Sunday morning at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, along with her five-year-old son, before they were to board a flight to Kabul, police sources told The Indian Express.

The woman, identified as Yasmeen Muhammed, had reached the capital with the child from Patna and was planning to join one of the 21 youths from Kerala who had gone missing last month, with some of them believed to have tried to join the Islamic State, said sources.

Yasmeen, a divorcee, was detained by immigration officials “during security check” amid tense scenes after she “started screaming at officials for harassing her”, they said.

”She was handed over to Delhi Police’s special cell and later taken into custody by a team from Kerala Police, which had issued a Look-out Circular (LOC) for her,” said sources.

On Monday, Yasmeen was produced in a court in Kasaragod and charged under various sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and remanded in judicial custody.

Sources in Kerala Police alleged that Yasmeen, a divorcee, was linked to Abdul Rashid from Kasaragod, who is believed to be a key figure behind the departure last month of youths from the state.

Sources claimed that she had worked during 2013-2014 at the Kottakkal and Kollam campuses of Peace International School, which came on the radar of intelligence agencies due to its suspected links with some of the youths who had gone missing.

”Rashid used to send messages from Afghanistan to Yasmeen, who claimed to have been his first wife. Security agencies tracked this communication. Rashid invited her to join him to lead a true Islamic life. She had planned to reach Kabul as instructed by him,’’ said sources.

”She was to leave the country along with the Kerala youths, but could not do so due to some delay in getting her documents cleared,” said police sources, adding that Yasmeen was born and brought up in the Gulf where her parents are settled.

”She told police that she wanted to leave India as the life she wanted to lead was not possible in the country. She said she wanted to lead a life according to the Quran, and that she hated music and all forms of entertainment,” said sources.

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