CHENNAI: Two young men from Tamil Nadu are under surveillance of Indian intelligence agencies after they were deported from Turkey while attempting to get in touch with ISIS in Syria a fortnight ago.

Intelligence sources told TOI that one of them, a 23-year-old BCom graduate, hails from Royapettah in Chennai, while the other is a 22-year-old school dropout from Karur. Officials, who repeatedly interviewed the men after their return, did not give away much on how the men got attracted to the terrorist group.

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"They spent long hours on the internet to find out how to get to Syria to join ISIS," an official said.

Someone guided them online, and they took a flight from Bangalore to Dubai in August, and from there to Turkey where they were picked up for suspicious movements a fortnight ago.

The men had told their families that they were going to Bangalore in search of a job. Ten days ago, they were sent back on a flight to Bangalore since that was the Indian city from where they boarded their first international flight.

As soon as they landed in Bangalore, central and state intelligence officials interviewed them at an undisclosed place.

The Chennai man told police that he was inspired to join ISIS as he believed "they were going to rule the world".

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Sources said the men remained adamant till the police brought their families. "On seeing their families, the men broke down," said an TN intelligence officer. "We let them go with their families, but they will remain under our close surveillance."

The man from Karur was staying with his uncle in Chennai where he worked at a store. He befriended the BCom graduate, who was helping out his father at his textiles shop in Royapettah, during Friday prayers at a mosque in Purasawalkam.

"The two used to discuss about joblessness in India. The Chennai guy told him about job prospects in Syria, where ISIS was ruling the roost. He wanted to join IS and take the other man along," said a source.

On the advise of an unknown person he had been in touch online, the Chennai man applied for a tourist visa to Dubai, Turkey and Malaysia, since going directly to Turkey or Syria would generate suspicion.

"The idea was to sneak into Syria from Turkey," said the source. They left for Bangalore in August and flew to Dubai. After staying there some time as tourists, they went to Turkey. After a few days they moved towards the Syria border."

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Staying at a small lodge, they made inquiries about crossing over to Syria. One of the lodge staffs tipped off the Turkey officials about the youths.

The Turkish officials picked them up. They told the investigation officers that they were about to fly to Malaysia, but the officers there found inconsistencies in their statements.

"The Turkish officers had enough reasons to believe that the youths were trying to get in touch with ISIS in Syria. Hence they deported them to India," said an officer. "They have also sent us a detailed preliminary inquiry report."

Police said they were not slapping any case on the two men. "They have been counselled and watched," the officer said.

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