IS ‘interested’ in India, wants to spread its ideology here: Freed doctor
NEW DELHI: Dr K Ramamurthy, who was freed after being captured in Libya by the ISIS two years ago, on Sunday said that the terrorist organisation was “interested” in India and wanted its ideology to be spread in the country.
Dr K Ramamurthy, who was captured by the Islamic State in Libya two years ago, said his captors were aware of India as well as its recent progress in the fields of education and economic growth. “These ISIS people are well-educated youngsters who know about India and its development… They are interested in India. They want to spread their ideology to other parts of the world, including India,” he said.
The doctor said that though he was abused verbally by his captors, they refrained from doing him physical harm. The doctor said he was asked to conduct surgeries in Islamic State hospitals.
A doctor from Andhra Pradesh, Ramamurthy had been employed in Libya for the last 18 years. After embassy officials caught wind of his detention, he was whisked out of Libya to Istanbul on February 14 and later flown to India.
BOTH WASIM AND NAEM HAD BEEN ON THE ATS RADAR FOR NEARLY TWO YEARS. WASIM’S WIFE, WHO HE MARRIED IN 2015, HAS ALSO COME UNDER THE SCANNER
AHMEDABAD: The Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) on Sunday morning arrested two brothers from Saurashtra region of Gujarat for having alleged links with the Islamic State, a terror group.
The security agency said it has, in the process, foiled an attack they were planning on Chotila temple in Surendranagar district.
“Wasim Ramodia was picked up from his home at Nehrunagar in Rajkot, and his brother Naem from Bhavnagar city. Both were in touch with the Islamic State network through Twitter and Facebook. They wanted to flee to Syria after carrying out the attack on Chotila temple,” said an ATS official.
Both Wasim and Naem had been on the ATS radar for nearly two years. Police said Wasim’s wife, who he married in 2015, has also come under the scanner.
The brothers were brought to the Rajkot commissioner of police’s office for preliminary interrogation, and then taken to Ahmedabad. ATS personnel recovered gunpowder, jihadi literature and masks from their possession. Their computers and cellphones have also been seized.
The police said both Wasim and Naem are well educated, holding master’s and bachelor’s degrees in computer application respectively.
Their father, Aarif, serves as an umpire in domestic cricket matches.