Alleged Islamic State (IS) recruit Areeb Majeed had reportedly met his three friends from Kalyan and fellow recruits in Iraq in person a little over a month after news of his death was conveyed to his family in Maharashtra earlier this year. The trio, despite knowing he was alive, did not inform anyone back in India about the development, investigations have revealed. Majeed (24), who along with Saheem Tanki, Fahad Sheikh and Aman Tandel, had gone missing from Kalyan in May this year. The quartet was later revealed to have joined the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), now known as the Islamic State (IS). Believed to have died in the fighting in Iraq, Areeb was later found to be alive and was brought back to the country by Indian intelligence agencies last week, after which he was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). In August this year, Saheem had called his family and told them that Areeb had died. Investigations have revealed that the three boys later learned that Areeb was alive but did not inform his or their own families about his well being. “Saheem, Aman and Fahad met Areeb in person in Iraq a month-and-a-half before his return to India, or in the middle of October, where Areeb told them that he had sustained bullet injuries but had escaped alive. While the three boys then returned to the IS camp, Areeb left for Turkey, from where he called his family in India, leading to his return,” said a source. Areeb has allegedly told his interrogators that his bullet injuries were the catalyst in making him want to return to India. “Areeb has said in his interrogation that while he was being treated for his injuries in a hospital in Ar-Raqqah, he found himself thinking that the conflict was not going to end any time soon, and that he might not be so lucky the next time. This was when he decided that he wanted to come home. However, while he is glad to be alive, he has not displayed any remorse for whatever he has done,” an officer said. Meanwhile, NIA Inspector General (IG) Rama Shastri visited the Mumbai branch of the agency and held a two-day long review meeting with officials in connection with the case. “There were a lot of aspects that we needed to discuss, and we had to come up with a plan of action for investigating this case,” said Shastri, refusing to divulge any further details saying that it would be premature. Areeb is currently in NIA’s custody till December 8, and is being held at an undisclosed location in Mumbai, where he is being grilled by investigators.
