Bhatkal man detained in Dubai lured youth to IS with Rs 50,000

The Hyderabad youth was among four Indians who tried to go to Syria/Iraq to join the IS last year before being caught in West Bengal by the Hyderabad police. The four were allegedly waiting for help to cross over to Bangladesh when they were caught.

According to sources, investigations revealed that Damudi was allegedly “attracting youth towards IS by posing as a neo-Muslim on social media”.

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Indian agencies also believe Damudi is associated with members of the Indian Mujahideen, who are suspected to have joined the IS.

A commerce graduate from Karnataka University in Dharwad, Damudi had been working in Dubai since 2012 and was a delivery coordinator at the World Trade Centre when he was detained.

He is known to have had close links on social media with brothers Sultan and Shafi Armar from Bhatkal, allegedly associated with the Indian Mujahideen and, more recently, the IS.

Sultan alias Maulana Abdul Khader was reported by IS websites to have died in Syria in March this year. Last year, Sultan allegedly interacted via Skype with the Hyderabad youths who were lured by Damudi to join IS. Prior to his detention in Dubai a few months ago, Damudi was in touch with Shafi via Facebook, sources said.

Damudi was allegedly involved with Shafi in the running of pro-Islamic websites of an entity called Al Isabah media and Ansar ul Tawheed — a breakaway group of the Indian Mujahideen. “He used to post comments/videos at Al Isabah media and Ansar ul Tawheed websites to attract youths towards jihad,” sources said.

Meanwhile, Damudi’s father Hussain Damudi, who is based in Dubai, has told a media outlet run by Damudi’s maternal uncle in Bhatkal that his son is not a recruiter for the IS, as is being alleged by Indian agencies. His father said Damudi merely tweeted pro-IS messages and liked a Facebook page linked to the IS. He added that the Dubai police told him that if an offence is made out against his son, he would be deported to India.