NIA approaches US firm to preserve data related to Areeb Majeed

NEW DELHI: The NIA which is probing the activities of Areeb Majeed, an alleged recruit of the dreaded terror group ISIS, has approached a US company providing free call services with a request from an Indian court to 'preserve data' related to the accused.

The US firm, which provides free calling and video chatting, was initially approached by a senior officer of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) with a request to "preserve the data" but the company in its response said the same could be done only under instructions from a court, official sources said.

NIA swiftly moved a court in Mumbai and sought "Data Preservation Request" and sent it to the company through proper channels, the sources said.

In the US and Europe, social networking sites like 'Whatsapp', 'Tango' and 'Kick', which provide Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), preserve data on their server for a limited time.

The NIA believes that Majeed had been interacting on such a particular social site with his family and girlfriend while he was allegedly fighting alongside with cadres of ISIS in Iraq and Syria.

Besides this, NIA has also sent Letters Rogatory(LR) for legal vetting for Luxembourg as Majeed had used ' Skype' video chatting to be in touch with his family and relatives, the sources said.

Two other LRs for Iraq and Turkey, his port of embarking and exit respectively, had also been sent for legal vetting after which it will be sent to Home Ministry for clearance.

A request under the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) was also being sent to Kuwait for handing over details of the person who had transferred money to Majeed and three of his friends in Mumbai's Kalyan area.

In May last year, four youths from the area including Majeed, had left the country to visit holy places in West Asia but apparently disappeared thereafter. They were suspected to have joined the ISIS.

According to police, the four engineering students had flown to Baghdad on May 23 as part of a group of 22 pilgrims to visit religious shrines in Iraq.

NIA has already approached the authorities in the US, Canada and Australia for providing cyber evidence under the MLAT about the Internet activities of Majeed, who had claimed that he was never engaged in terror activities during his stay with the ISIS.

Majeed was arrested by the NIA in the last week of November last year upon his return from Iraq and booked under Sections 16, 18 and 20 of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and Section 125 of the Indian Penal Code.

The three UAPA sections related to commission or conspiring to commit a terrorist act and for being a member of a terrorist organisation, while Section 125 of the IPC relates to waging war against a nation which is in alliance with the Government.

He landed in Mumbai on November 28 after spending nearly six months in Iraq, following which he was immediately detained and arrested later.