Rizwan Nawazuddin, who is believed to be ISIS’ second-in-command recruiter in India, told the ATS that his foreign handler won him over using a set of videos in 2013
Arrested suspected ISIS recruiter Rizwan Ahmed Ali Nawazuddin alias Khalid, from Malwani, was brainwashed and radicalised by his foreign handlers using a series of videos, including one called ‘Kandhar-se-Delhi’, said officials from the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad.
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Rizwan, who was allegedly the second-in-command recruiter for ISIS in India after Mudabbir Shaikh, was in contact with the four Malwani youths who left their homes between October-December last year allegedly to join the terror outfit. Two of them returned home, while one — Mohsin Shaikh — is still on the run in India, and Ayaz Sultan has escaped the country to join ISIS.
Rizwan, during interrogation, told ATS that in 2013, his foreign handler had radicalised him using four to five videos, of which one was titled ‘Kandhar-se-Delhi’. The title indicates training in Afghanistan and then targeting India.
The handler had sent Rizwan links of the videos, which were uploaded on YouTube. ‘Kandhar-se-Delhi’ had clips of provocative speeches by hardliners, said ATS sources.
Read Story: Investigating agencies keeping an eye on ISIS man's contacts in Mumbai
‘Kandhar-se-Delhi’ was created and uploaded on YouTube by Al Isabah Media, which had once claimed to be a supporter of Ansar ut Tawheed Fi Bilad Al Hind, an India-based jihadist organisation, on Twitter. Later, the video was removed from YouTube.
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Rizwan, who is believed to have visited many places across the country to recruit youths by conducting meetings, also revealed that his foreign handler was in contact with almost all the 14 suspects arrested recently — by the National Investigating Agency (NIA) and other counter terror agencies — to radicalise them and train them in bomb-making.
Four-point programme
An ATS officer said those recruited in the Ansar ut Tawheed Fi Bilad Al Hind were given a four-point programme — to spread the ideology of ISIS and gather support, to create more recruits, to send as many fighters abroad as possible and to be prepared for the eventuality of an attack.
“All the youngsters arrested by ATS and the NIA were trained online,” the officer said.
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