Tracking the highs and lows of Jaipur man’s ties with ISIS

www.mangaloretoday.com

Pune, Jul 26, 2016: The terrorist, who had made substantial inroads into ISIS’s high profile online presence, also had his share of run-ins before his ouster, consequent to his arrest

The 2,500-page charge sheet filed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Mohammad Sirajuddin, the arrested marketing manager of Indian Oil Corporation, in Jaipur, found him to be part of critical online groups of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) such as Admin Team-BUG, Caliphate Cyber Army, Karen’s Diary, and Slave of Allah, among others. Predictably, most of these groups quickly snapped their links to him on his arrest in December last year.

A senior NIA official told Mirror, "The incriminating photos, contents of the chat and messages shared on his WhatsApp account establish that Sirajuddin actively supported, invited support from others for ISIS." The agency’s toothcombing his mobile phone and computer data has yielded this conclusion alongside evidences of him actively propagating ISIS agenda, disseminating incriminating contents that endorse, justify and glorify the terror acts of Daesh. More importantly, he had tapped into core telegram channels and accounts.

These engagements were shared between two mobile phone lines. With one phone, he established links with telegram channels, including Memoirs of a Mujahid and Official BUG (Baqiya United Group) News. The other was kept to contact individuals from the online telegram groups. Remarkable among these was the Caliphate Cyber Army — which is part of ISIS’s hacking arm.

Investigations show that Sirajuddin joined the Elite Section of Caliphate Cyber Army on November 22, 2015, to follow and support high-ranking commanders of ISIS. The contents of most of the posts on this channel were sourced by hacking important sites. One post actually lists US officials being targeted by ISIS.

While it has already been reported that Sirajuddin was in regular touch with Karen-Aisha-al-Muslimah (also called Karen-Aisha-Hamidon), who ran several WhatsApp and telegram groups from Philippines, the probe also found that he had actually fallen out with her and she had banned his inclusion in the groups run by her. In a conversation with one Farsh, he messaged, "Okay, I will leave her...let this be a final assault. Me too... wanna go back and resume Dawlah work. Disturbed a lot from last few days." NIA sources reveal that the content on the channel ’Karen’s Diary’ are primarily screenshots of chats forwarded from Siraj Mohammed (Sirajuddin’s online name) and other members against Karen.

During their chat, Umm Nadz, who claimed to be from Mauritius and Sirajuddin have discussed the dispute between him and Karen and attempts made by him to invade the telegram groups run by her. Umm Nadz shared screenshots forwarded from Karen. Sirajuddin suspected Karen to be involved in the arrest of some members. He even stated that IS affiliate group in Philippines must disown Karen and alleged Karen to be from rival groups.

Soon after his arrest, most of the members and admins of the telegram groups have either removed Sirajuddin (Abuleilla Saif, Haider and AF) from their group or exited the group themselves (Umm Nadiyah and Marcus McNair).

Investigation has revealed that Sirajuddin, while in conversation with Abu Mufanil, an ISIS operative in Islamic State, has discussed his plans of hijra (migration to Islamic State), route to be adopted, mode of travel, cost of air travel from India to Tripoli[$7,500] and his plan to obtain business visa.

On October 30, 2015, Sirajuddin in a chat with Umm Nadiyah [online identity] had stated that he wanted to meet Zabiullah Khan alias Asif-Al- Hind, associate of Praveen alias Nadiyah and Sadiyah, in Chennai or Bangalore and sought his number.

Sirajuddin had stated during his chat with Umm Nadiyah in context of Zabiullah Khan alias Asif that "I suggest if he is serioud [serious] he should migrate to Kashmir as environment there is friendly to the movement." He criticised Khan’s intent to camp in South India instead. "..u were planning to come to India to join him, good that u did not planned or else you would have duped, a real mujahid would never show off. He fight only to please Allah alone, and yes we need to have sufficient money before be [we] embark on Hij....[hijra] yes exactly Nd we’ll in need of a huge amount," he added.

When he heard of a fellow ISIS operative who goes by the name of ’Radical Girl’ was summoned to the police station, he gave her tips on online security, referring to software that can camouflage her IP address, on November 20, 2015.