Stepfather Of Kerala Teen Who Escaped ISIS Indoctrination Has A History

The stepfather of a 16-year-old teenager in Kerala, who escaped from a religious study centre that tried to make him join ISIS, has turned out to be the brother of a suspect in another terror case from 2016, sources said.

The teen's stepfather, Ansar Aslam, is the brother of Siddhiqui Aslam, who is one of the accused in a case filed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in 2016 for plotting terror attacks in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

The teen's mother, following her second marriage with Ansar Aslam, had converted to Islam. In 2016, Ansar Aslam briefly came under the investigative lens of the agencies while they were looking into the case of his brother, Siddhiqui Aslam, sources said.

The Kerala Police have asked the NIA to take over the case.  Ansar Aslam was in Ukraine in 2016. From there, he went to the UK, sources said.

After the teen escaped from ISIS indoctrination attempts at the religious study centre in Kerala, he stayed with the relatives of his biological father.

In 2016, the NIA busted the Ansar-ul-Khilafah Kerala group in Kannur's Kanakamala for plotting attacks in the state and neighbouring Tamil Nadu. Multiple arrests were made, and a total of eight people were named in the NIA chargesheet.

Siddhiqui Aslam, the brother of the teen's stepfather, was sentenced to three years in jail under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). He was caught in Saudi Arabia with the help of Interpol before he was deported to India, where he was arrested on arrival at Delhi airport.

The Kerala Police decided to ask the NIA to take over the ISIS indoctrination case since the matter had potential cross-border elements -- including ideological indoctrination via propaganda videos.