UAE deports Indian woman IS recruiter

An Indian woman online recruiter for the Islamic State was deported from the UAE on Friday and she was arrested on arrival in Hyderabad, along with her husband and children.

The  deportation and subsequent arrest of 37-year-old Afsha Jabeen alias Nicky Joseph came eight months after her name cropped up during interrogation of an engineer, Salman Mohiuddin (32), who was arrested while trying to fly to Dubai to join the IS in Syria.

Sources said Jabeen, probably the first Indian woman in IS, had “motivated” Mohiuddin and some others to join the outfit by posing as a Britisher. Jabeen, her husband and three children, were deported after she was located in Abu Dhabi.

A week ago, two Keralites were deported from the UAE for “propagating” IS materials through social media. The sudden actions from UAE came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the country in mid-August where he had sought their cooperation in tackling terror.

Jabeen is from Towlichowki, Hyderabad, and had migrated to Abu Dhabi during her childhood. After completing her intermediate in Abu Dhabi, she came to Hyderabad and graduated from Shadan College. She married one Devender Kumar alias Mustafa.
“As she is a co-accused in Salman’s case, she has been arrested and produced in court. Further inquiry is going on,” police said.

Sources said Mohiuddin had told the police that he opened several Facebook accounts along with Jabeen, who introduced herself as Nicky Joseph and “influenced and invited” him to join her in Dubai to go to Syria.

Indian security agencies informed their British counterparts about Nicky Joseph and after investigations, they realised that she was not a Britisher but an Indian.

Along with her, Mohiuddin, who studied engineering in the US, is said to have indoctrinated and motivated several youth via social media.

In August, Home Ministry officials said that seven of the 13 Indians recruited by IS are still with the terror outfit while remaining six have fallen to bullets while fighting.
Of the seven, only one is in combat role while six others are doing odd jobs like assisting fighters, serving as cooks and drivers.