Shafi Armar was presumed dead in US air strike
Central intelligence agencies stated that Armar was still alive and was trying to recruit more people from India.
Hyderabad: The alleged ISIS recruit Shafi Armar, who was in touch with the arrested Hyderabadi youth, was earlier presumed dead in a US airstrike in April this year. However, in May, central intelligence agencies stated that Armar was still alive and was trying to recruit more people from India.
Armar has allegedly brainwashed over two-dozen youngsters from India and lured them to ISIS. Known as Yusuf al-Hindi, Armar is a native of Bhatkal in Karnataka
IB sources had said that Armar was currently operating in the IS regions of Syria.
According to counter-terror officials, Armar had started as a member of the banned Indian Mujahideen. In early 2009, he had fled to Pakistan with some of IM's top members like Riyaz and Iqbal Bhatkal, Shahnawaz Alam, Mohammad Sajid and his brother Sultan Armar.
Later, annoyed with the control of ISI, he had teamed up with Alam and Sajid to form the Ansar-ul-Tawhid, a splinter group to fight alongside the Taliban in Afghanistan. Then as the IS brand became bigger, Armar and his group moved to Syria in June 2014.