27 August,2014 10:02 PM IST | | Vinay Dalvi and Sayali Dayalkar
One of four youngsters from Kalyan who had gone to Iraq and joined ISIS, has died fighting, according to his family members
One of four youngsters from Kalyan who had gone to Iraq and reportedly joined ISIS, has died fighting, according to his family members.
The family claimed that they had received a call informing them of his death. The four youngsters had reportedly left their homes to join the Islamic State in Iraq (formerly Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, or ISIS) in its 'jihad'.
On May 2, 2014, four youngsters from Kalyan's Dudh Naka area had gone for a pilgrimage to Baghdad and Karbhala in Iraq via Emirates flight. The quartet -- Fahad Shaikh, a mechanical engineer whose father is a doctor, Arif Majeed, an engineer whose father and sister are both doctors, Saheem Tanki, a HSC drop-out and an ex-call center employee and Aman Tandel, also an engineering student -- then reportedly went missing on May 27th while on a trip to Mosul. In reality, they had reportedly joined ISIS to fight against the Iraqi government.
"Yesterday in the evening, Saheem had called his elder brother Farzan Tanki and informed him about the death of Arif. Saheem. He also told Farzan to inform Arif's family members of his death and told him that they were safe without giving any further details," said an uncle of Fahad Shaikh.
After the news broke, the family started gathering outside the Majeed's house for condolences and prayers ('ghaibana namaz-e-janaza).
The Thane Police and the ATS have taken Farzan in for further questioning and to get any leads about the matter.
When contacted, Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad chief Himanshu Roy told mid-day, "We are aware about the information and are investigating into it."
