Kashmiri youth’s plan to join ISIS foiled; deported from Turkey

SRINAGAR: A 21-year-old Kashmiri man, who was allegedly trying to join the terror group ISIS, has been deported from Turkey to India after being picked up by Turkish authorities, official sources here said on Monday.

Srinagar resident Afshan Parvaiz was deported from the Turkish capital of Ankara on May 25 and whisked away to an undisclosed destination by security agencies in Delhi, the sources said, and added he was being assessed by various security agencies.

Parvaiz had left home after an argument with his father, who wanted him to join a college while he was interested in religious studies, sources said.

Sources said Parvaiz booked himself a seat on a flight to Teheran on March 23.

He was scheduled to return to Delhi on April 9 after exploring avenues for religious studies in Europe, they said.

The Kashmiri man, who is the second person to be deported from Turkey in the last two months, apparently sent a message to his family to tell them that he was facing some “problems”. When the police and other agencies in Kashmir were informed about this, a probe was reportedly launched to locate him.

According to the sources, the security agencies then got in touch with their Iranian counterparts, who found out that Parvaiz was travelling to Ankara.

Subsequently, the authorities in Ankara were contacted and he was picked up while travelling in a bus in the Turkish capital, they said. He was sent to India on May 25 by a Turkish Airlines flight, the sources said.

In March, Mohammed Taha, a resident of Srinagar, was deported from Turkey and sent back. He has been put in preventive custody. “I am not aware of such case as yet,” (IG) Kashmir Muneer Khan said.

KASHMIRI MAN, WHO IS THE SECOND PERSON TO BE DEPORTED FROM TURKEY IN THE LAST TWO MONTHS, HAD APPARENTLY SENT A MESSAGE TO HIS FAMILY TO TELL THEM THAT HE WAS FACING PROBLEMS