New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has questioned an arrested Filipino women Karen Aisha Hamidon, a key operative and online propagandist of proscribed terror group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), in connection with cases registered in 2015 and 2016 with the probing agency, an official release of the probing agency said here on Thursday.
Sharing details of the overseas investigation, the spokesperson of NIA said that during investigation, it was revealed that three accused-- Mohd Naser (Tamilnadu), Mohd Sirajuddin and Adnan Hasan (Karnataka), were in online contact with Manila based Karen Aisha Hamidon on messaging applications such as Facebook, WhatsApp and Telegram.
The identity of Karen Aisha Hamidon was revealed when NIA retrieved data from the digital devices seized from the three accused arrested by the agency.
She was using two mobile numbers +639300183542 and +639165017304 and was as one of the most active ISIS operative based in Philippines between 2014 and December 2015.
Karen Aisha Hamidon was running different social media platforms for motivating, radicalizing and instigating her online associates from different countries including India to fight on behalf of ISIS in conflict zones. She was also in telephonic contacts with many other Indian nationals.
In order to collect the evidence against the accused persons and ascertaining her role in the crime, requests under Letters Rogatory (LR), issued by the Special Courts of NIA, in Delhi and Jaipur were forwarded through proper channel to the Competent Judicial Authority in Philippines, seeking legal assistance in the investigation of NIA case in March, 2017.
Karen was arrested by the National Bureau of Investigation, Philippines on October 11, 2017 and she has been charged for incitement to rebellion. (UNI)