MUMBAI: The state anti-terrorism squad, probing the role of
Tabrez Tambe, a youth who left India allegedly to join the proscribed
Islamic State, established the identity of his recruiter as Ali Al Shahri, a
Saudi Arabian. It claimed Shahri had transferred Rs26,883 to Tabrez.
Tabrez, who stayed in Mumbra before leaving for Egypt, had on January 5 and 8 deposited Rs 5.17 lakh in his brother Saud’s account.
Saud is the complainant in the case. “The money was deposited to book air tickets for Tabrez and Shahri for Mumbai-Cairo, Cairo-Dar-e-Salaam, and back, Cairo-Khartoum and back,” said a police source. Tabrez and Shahri were to travel separately. The ATS is probing if they undertook the journey or not.
Saud had on December 7 filed a criminal complaint with the ATS saying his brother had left the country and suspected he had joined the IS. Saud had also told police that on December 5, his mother received a call from Tabrez from a Libyan number, telling her that he was arrested by the Libyan government and requested them to file a missing person complaint and approach the embassy for his release. Sources said he had also told his family to uninstall an app, through which he was communicating with them.
ATS said investigations were being conducted in connection with visa applications made for Egypt and ticketing. The police are also making inquiries in
Ratnagiri district, which is Tabrez’s hometown.
Saud told ATS that Tabrez gave his social media and email passwords to his family and told them to delete his accounts, which they did. A senior ATS official said, “We have registered a case under various sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act against Tambe and Shahri. We are further probing the case.” Tambe and Shahri had become friends while working together in Riyadh in 2013.