'Arrest of mate deterred 3 Kalyan youths from returning home. Now they are dead'

A day after the third of four Kalyan youths who went to Iraq and Syria to join ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) in May 2014 was reported dead, one of his family members came out strongly against the government's attitude to impressionable young minds who fall under the influence of militant indoctrination. "The government could have set an example. After Areeb Majeed (see graphic) returned to India, he could have been given a chance to reform.Instead, he was slapped with stringent laws and jailed. (Fahad) Shaikh and the other two must then have thought that either way they have to die, in their own country or in a foreign land. So, they must have chosen to stay back," said the family member, wishing to be unnamed. "Now all three are dead (the other two being Aman Tandel and Shaheem Tanki)." In her last phone conversation with Fahad, reportedly killed while fighting in Raqqa, Syria, his mother repeatedly pleaded with him to return home. The call was made by Fahad a couple of months ago, said his uncle Iftekhar Khan."His mother got a call on the internet on Tuesday from an unidentified person, who told her Fahad went down fighting for ISIS in Raqqa. We always feared this would be his fate. He is believed to have been killed last week."



The family live in Govindwadi, Kalyan. Khan said the family had kept security agencies informed about all calls made by Fahad, an engineering graduate and the oldest of six siblings. His father, Dr Tanveer Shaikh, is a doctor. The family hasn't yet performed prayers that are done in their community when a family member dies."We shall decide when every family member arrives," Khan said. It seems the family hopes that the report of Fahad's death is untrue. In 2015, Areeb Majeed's family was informed by Shaheem's family that he had told them Areeb had died fighting. The Majeeds performed his last rites and prayers. But a few months later, Areeb spoke to his father after his escape to Turkey following injuries in an air strike. His father approached the NIA, and Areeb was arrested upon landing in Mumbai.



Fahad was the first of the four to go on Twitter (with the handle Magnet Gas) to contact ISIS handlers. In July 2015, he uploaded a photo where Aman is seen on a boat with ISIS fighters.

Talking about his friend ship with Fahad, Areeb told the NIA he first spoke to him in October 2013 after both offered prayers at the same place. They exchanged numbers and became friends, on Facebook as well.

After fleeing India, when they reached Baghdad, they contacted Areeb's Facebook friend Tahira Bhatt, who told them to go to Mosul, from where they were picked up by ISIS fighters. During training, Fahad was given the name Abu Bakar Al-Hindi.