Basith met Maimuna online on IS chat groups

Hyderabad: The terror suspect Mohammed

Abdul Basith

and his second wife Maimuna, who was questioned by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Saturday in connection with Islamic State’s Abu Dhabi module, allegedly met online in chat groups several months ago. Basith married Maimuna, who is from Wardha in Maharashtra, without the knowledge of his parents.

“Basith married Maimuna because she was very active in the chat groups where IS was discussed and several radicalised persons were part of those chart groups,” investigators associated with Abu Dhabi module told TOI.

Though Maimuna and Basith had a secret marriage, it is learnt that she moved from Wardha to Malakpet area in Hyderabad and was in the city until Basith was arrested by the NIA. The NIA officials believe that Basith was arrested within one year of their marriage and after his arrest in August 2018, Maimuna had gone underground and was finally tracked down to Wardha. On Saturday, NIA officials questioned Maimuna on being part of various chatting groups on social media where chats were about IS and Hijrah (migration).

Basith was arrested the first time by Telangana police, along with two cousins, from Nagpur airport in December 2015. The three at the time were set to board a flight to Srinagar and move to Syria via Afghanistan. It is alleged that Basith, after bail, started using social media to create a network of followers of Islamic hardliners. The NIA officials found out about Basith’s second marriage after his arrest in 2018. Earlier, some persons known to Maimuna in Maharashtra, who were part of social media chat groups related to IS, were counselled by the police and let off.

Maimuna was questioned the NIA sleuths for the second day on Sunday, but the three men from Hyderabad, who were questioned on Saturday, were not called on Sunday. However, they might be called again in the next few days after the forensic examination of data found in various gadgets recovered from the four suspects.