Mumbai: Family of another Kalyan youth who joined ISIS hopeful of his return

Saheem Tanki’s family met officers from the country’s main counter-terrorism arm, National Investigation Agency (NIA), on Sunday and shared some details about their son

The family members of one of the four Kalyan youths who had allegedly joined terror outfit ISIS in Iraq are hopeful that their son would soon return home. Saheem Tanki’s family met officers from the country’s main counter-terrorism arm, National Investigation Agency (NIA), on Sunday and shared some details about their son.

The four Kalyan youths who had allegedly joined ISIS (from left) Fahad Shaikh, Areeb Majeed, Aman Tandel and Saheem Tanki

The kin are hopeful that after the return of ISIS rookie Areeb Majeed from Iraq via Turkey, the NIA, which played a major role in bringing him back, will do the same for Tanki. “Inshallah Saheem should be back in a couple of days,” said one of the family members of Tanki, the youth who had gone missing from Kalyan with Areeb Majeed, Aman Tandel and Fahad Shaikh.

Sarvoday Residency in Kalyan, where Areeb Majeed’s family lives

The family member, who did not wish to be named, said, “The other boys are working in Iraq and are well. They call up home and talk for 10-15 minutes and inquire after the health of their families. They read all the Indian papers online and are up-to-date.”

He added, “We have shared some details with NIA and are hopeful that Saheem would be in India before long.” Tanki, an HSC pass-out and a former call centre employee, is a resident of Dudh Naka in old Kalyan. He had gone with the other three on the pretext of a pilgrimage to Karnala and Baghdad in Iraq, and later fled to Mosul.

Others hopeful too
“We are hopeful that our boy will also return to the country,” said Iftikar Sheikh, maternal uncle of Fahad Sheikh, a mechanical engineering student in a Panvel college and the son of a doctor, Tanveer Sheikh. “As soon as we get positive information about Fahad we will share it with the investigation agency.

Though the arrest of Areeb might send him a negative message, we are still hopeful he will return to the country,” said Iftikar. “Every father wants his son to stay with him and we want the same,” said Dr Tanveer Sheikh. When this reporter visited the house of Areeb Majeed in Sarvoday Residency near Patri Bridge in Kalyan, he found a lock on the door.

There were several press reporters outside the house. Majeed’s father, mother and younger brother and sister only returned at night. His father, Dr Ejaz Majeed, has not opened his clinic, which is near his house, for the last few days.

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