Fahad Shaikh, 24, who fled from his home in Kalyan with three of his friends to join ISIS, reportedly died fighting in Raqqa.
The news was shared by his father Tanveer Shaikh, who got a phone call from a foreign number telling him that his ‘son is no more’, reported Hindustan Times.
The caller, who didn’t reveal his identity and who was using a masked Voice over Internet Protocol number, first informed Tanveer of his son’s passing in English before switching to Hindi and stating that Fahad died fighting in Syria and that his last rites would be performed soon.
According to the report, Fahad’s family instantly informed the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), since both organisations had been keeping a track of the four youths since their disappearance in 2014.
Tanveer Shaikh has decided to not perform his son’s final rites (Namaaz-e-Zanaaja) until he gets proper confirmation from the concerned Indian authorities.
We also shared our telephone number with the NIA, so they can inform us after obtaining confirmation from Indian officials posted in Syria or Iraq.Tanveer Shaikh told Hindustan Times.
Tanveer’s statement was recorded at the Bazaarpeth police station, where a missing complaint had been filed back in 2014 after Fahad’s disappearance.
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The reason behind the family’s insistence on waiting for confirmation before performing his final rites is because a similar situation had taken place in the case of Areeb Majid, one of the other three boys who had fled home to join the ISIS.
Majid’s family had received a similar call from an unknown foreign number that told them that Majid had died and was to be buried a ‘martyr’. However, this information proved to be false, as two months later, Majid reportedly escaped from the Islamic State-controlled areas and surrendered before the Turkish authorities.
(Inputs from Hindustan Times)
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