Will rejoin IS if I get chance: Majeed

Mumbai: Areeb Majeed, an Indian national who had joined the Islamic State (IS), has disclosed that recruitment for the terror group was looked after by a doctor from the Gulf.

During his interrogation by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) officials, Areeb revealed that Indians who were interested in joining IS were recruited by the doctor, sources told Zee Media.

Several travel agents were also involved in sending Indians to Iraq for recruitment as IS members, he told NIA. Areeb, who is in NIA custody after returning to India, said he would like to rejoin the group if he gets a chance. He added that it was parental pressure that brought him back to India.

This despite the fact that IS leadership made him clean toilets, indulge in construction work and provide water to those on the battlefield, instead of being pushed into the war zone.

As part of the training, Areeb said he was taught how to use AK-47.

The ex-IS member said he underwent treatment in Turkey after he sustained a bullet injury.

The NIA is, meanwhile, planning to make Areeb undergo psychological test in order to ascertain his mental status.

Areeb was arrested on Friday on his return to Mumbai after spending nearly six months in Iraq. He was booked under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) on charges of conspiring to commit a terrorist act and being a member of a banned foreign terror outfit, and under the stringent Section 125 of the IPC for "waging war against the nation". In May this year, four youths from Kalyan town -- Areeb Majeed, Shaheen Tanki, Fahad Shaikh and Aman Tandel -- had left India to visit holy places in West Asia, but disappeared thereafter. They were suspected to have joined the IS.