Hindu-Muslim marriage: NIA questions govt office, wife

A Kalaburagi-based commercial tax officer and his wife have come under the scanner of the National Investigation Agency over an alleged 'love jihad' case involving a Gujarati Hindu woman and a Muslim man from Kerala.

The NIA sleuths knocked on the doors of Irshad Ullah Khan, Deputy Commissioner, Commercial Taxes, Kalaburagi, at his Bengaluru flat located in Diamond District, Jeevan Bima Nagar, on June 6 for a formal inquiry suspecting the involvement of his wife in the case.

According to sources, the NIA sleuths recorded the statement of Khan's wife as she was in touch with the Gujarati woman when the latter was studying in Bengaluru during 2014-15. The officials have also seized the laptop of Khan’s wife and her mobile phone to verify whether the duo are still in touch with each other.

Sources revealed that the alleged love-jihad episode began in 2014-15 when the Gujarati girl studying in Bengaluru fell in love with a Muslim boy from Kerala, also a student of the same college. "The friendship blossomed into love after which they got married," a senior police officer refusing to be quoted in the case revealed to DH.

Later on the girl was converted to Islam and the couple left for Jeddah in Saudi Arabia as the boy's parents were residing there. "However, the girl could not cope with the cultural differences and found it tough to adjust with the family. That is when the relationship turned sour. Over a period of time, the girl left her husband and his family and returned to Gujarat to live with her parents," the official added.

Subsequently, a private complaint was filed at the Kerala High Court alleging she was forced to convert to Islam after which she was taken to Jeddah and from there they hatched a plan to send her to Syria to fight for Islamic State (IS). With the IS angle linked to the case, it was transferred to NIA for further investigation. The officials recorded the statement of the girl at NIA office in Chennai and during interrogation, the girl revealed about her stay in Bengaluru and her relation with Khan's family.

Clarifying over the issue, Irshad Khan told DH, "I am a government servant. I and my wife will cooperate with the investigation. My wife got acquainted with that girl long time ago. They (sleuths) are inquiring everyone who were in touch with that girl. They have taken away her laptop and phone and have recorded her statement.”