UAE deports Valley engineer over suspected links with ISIS

SRINAGAR: A Kashmiri man, suspected to be a sympathiser of the banned ISIS terror group, was recently deported to India from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), officials said here on Sunday. Irfan Ahmad Zargar, 36, a resident of Chattatabal area on the outskirts of Srinagar, was allegedly deported from the Gulf country on August 14.

He was subjected to questions by various security agencies, including the National Investigation Agency (NIA), they added.

The NIA interrogated him for two days before handing him over to the Jammu and Kashmir Police, who were carrying out detailed investigations.

However, there was no case pending against him in the state.

Zargar, an engineer, had allegedly shown active support to ISIS activities in Syria on social media, the officials said. He was picked up by the authorities in Dubai on April 28 this year when he was entering into the Gulf country from Oman, the officials said.

The detectives in Dubai questioned him about his activities on social networking sites, especially his appreciation of ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria activities) in Syria and Iraq.

Working with a telecom company in Dubai, Zargar maintained that he had travelled to Oman for setting up a business of handcrafts.