Guwahati: Director of Intelligence Bureau Asif Ibrahim said return of the battle-hardened youth from Iraq and Syria poses a new challenge to the country.
In his address on Saturday to DGPs, IGPs of all States, Union Territories and Central Police Organisations heads in Guwahati, Ibrahim said Iraq and Syria have emerged as new theatres of ‘Jihadi’ violence.
A youth from Mumbai’s suburb Kalyan, Arif Majeed, believed to have been killed while fighting for militant group IS in Syria, returned to the metropolis on Friday. He was arrested after joint interrogation by NIA and Maharashtra ATS.        Â
The 23-year-old said that he was trained in Iraq for 15 days by the IS before being sent to fight in Syria and Turkey. He was shot twice, he told interrogators, and managed to escape to a safe part of Turkey about a month ago. Part of the reason he left the IS was because he wanted medical treatment for his injuries.
The NIA had filed criminal charges for waging war against a foreign government against him. Investigators want information on how he entered Iraq, how he managed to escape, and whether he has any details on the 40 construction workers from India who were kidnapped from Baghdad in June, allegedly by IS militants.
Referring to the terrorist violence in Iraq and Syria, Ibrahim said the two countries have emerged as new theatres of ‘Jihadi’ violence.