Nine Indians held on Syria border, deported

Nine persons who had gone to Istanbul on tourist visas from Bangalore were detained by Turkish authorities while they were trying to cross over to Syria and deported to India on Thursday. Police here are probing whether the group had any links with terror group ISIS. One of the nine is a software engineer, and two others engineers.

The Bangalore police identified those deported as Mohammed Abdul Ahad, 46, and his family (wife and five children), all from Chennai; Javeed Baba, 24, native of Khammam district, Telangana; and Ibrahim Nowfal, 24, a native of Hassan in Karnataka.

No case has been registered against them, police said, adding that they were investigating whether they had established contact with members of the Islamic State outfit in Syria. The group had arrived at Istanbul on December 24.

Bangalore Police Commissioner M N Reddi said the nine had been questioned. “On their arrival back at the Bengaluru International Airport, they were questioned by us along with central agencies regarding the circumstances of their visit to Turkey. An inquiry is being conducted into their antecedents and their motive behind travelling to Syria via Turkey,” Reddi said.

Ahad has a Masters in Computer Science from Kennedy-Western University, California, US, and has worked in the US for more than 10 years, police said. Javeed and Nowfal are also engineers by qualification.

 

 

THE INDIAN EXPRESS