India Today has gained access the interrogation report of Shahjahan Kandy, a PFI member, who left India to join ISIS but was arrested by Turkey police while crossing their border to enter Syria
The Centre has been mulling a ban on the Popular Front of India (PFI) for many months now, and a recent development is likely to strengthen the government's case. Shahjahan Kandy, a PFI member who was deported to India by the Turkey police while he was trying to cross the Syria border, has made sensational revelations during his interrogation by the Indian agencies.
India Today has exclusively accessed the copy of Shahjahan's interrogation report. Shahjahan, who is a resident of Kannur in Kerala, according to reports, became the area president of PFI in 2007-2008. He was then heading a team of 9 PFI members. Shahjahan later joined the mouthpiece of PFI, Thejas Daily, and actively started meeting other PFI members.
In 2010, he joined Facebook and became members of two groups - Free Thinkers and Right Thinkers. Through Facebook, he came in contact with many potential recruits who according to him were useful in spreading PFI's activities.
Soon Shahjahan left India and when he returned to India in 2013, he started attending PFI's seminars. During one such seminar, he came in contact with a person named Sameer who motivated him for Hijra.
In 2016, Shahjahan left India for Syria along with his family. During his interrogation, he has revealed that many people like him were motivated by Sameer to move to Syria and help ISIS. The route was given by Sameer in which Shahjahan first went to Malasiya, then through Tehran and Istanbul he tried entering Syria. All those who were ready to fight for ISIS were given 3 months' training in Istanbul.
In 2016, Shahjahan along with two other friends, Munaf and Shahjil, tried to cross the border. His friends successfully made into Syria by crossing the Turkey border but Shahjahan failed. Later on, in 2017 he again tried to crossed the border but was caught at the Turkey border with fake passport.
Shahjahan, an ISIS sympathiser himself, has disclosed that all 17 youths who disappeared from Kerala have joined ISIS. PFI has been accused of forceful religious conversions . In the last few months, at least nine PFI members have reportedly joined ISIS.
NIA is currently investigating Shahjahan's case. Sources say the group could soon be banned by the government for its alleged links to terrorism and conversion activities.
Kandy was active on Facebook until June 2016 and was frequently putting up pictures and posts about purported violence against ISIS fighters. Security agencies say social media has become one of the biggest sources of recruiting new Jihadis by instigating them with provocative posts.