A Kuwaiti national, identified as Abdullah Hadi Abdul Rehman Al-Enezi, who had helped in arranging finances for the travel of first batch of Islamic State recruits from India – Areeb Majeed, Fahad Sheikh, Saheem Tanki and Amand Tandel, has been arrested by Kuwaiti authorities on the basis of information provided by Indian agencies.
Areeb Majeed , who travelled to Syria in May 2014 alongwith three other Kalyan-based youths, was arrested upon his return in November same year,became the first IS operative to be arrested by Indian agencies.
Areeb had disclosed that after joining ISIS in May 2014, all four travelled to Baghdad on the pretext of a religious tour. Their travel was arranged by an Afghan national – Rehman Daulati, who is learnt to have arranged finances for other IS recruits as well. They were stuck in Iraq as they had no money left with them.
“Areeb Majeed then contacted Rehman Daulati, who gave him a phone number belonging to a Kuwaiti national, identified as Abdullah Hadi. Areeb told Abdullah that he needed money for further travelling to Syria. Abdullah told him to collect US dollars 1000 from a Western Union Money Transfer branch in Baghdad. The four Kalyan youth took the money and then travelled to Syria,” said an official.
Officials say that Kuwait has not only arrested Abdullah Hadi but has also verified his links with Islamic terror financing ring.
The first Islamic State recruit from India – Areeb Majeed had got injured in a fight in Syria and later in a US-led bombing mission. He then decided to return to India and follow the ideology of ISIS here and carry out Jehad. He was in touch with citizens of several countries. He had also met Abu Hammam Iraqi, chief of Islamic State’s Tasnia or ministry of defence and development in Raqqah, Syria.