Arif Majeed disappeared in May from his home in Kalyan, a suburb on the eastern outskirts of Mumbai
Six months after he left his home in Kalyan near Mumbai, allegedly to fight with the Islamic State, Arif Majeed has returned home and was interrogated today by intelligence officials.
The 23-year-old reportedly said that he was trained in Iraq for 15 days by the IS before being sent to fight in a war zone, where he was shot twice. It's not clear yet if he was deployed to fight in Syria or Iraq.
Mr Majeed had left his home along with three other young Muslim men from Kalyan on the Eastern outskirts of Mumbai to travel to Iraq. In late August, one of the men told his family over the phone that Mr Majeed had been killed. His family had then performed special prayers.
After landing at the Mumbai airport early this morning on a flight from Turkey, Mr Majeed was taken away for questioning by the Maharashtra Anti-Terror Squad.
No case has been registered against him. Investigators want information on how he entered Iraq, how he managed to escape, and whether he has any details on the 40 construction workers from India who were kidnapped from Baghdad in June, allegedly by IS militants.
In May, Mr Majid, along with three other young Muslim men, left their homes, informing their families that they were on a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia and other parts of the Middle East. Later, they revealed that they had joined the IS.
Intelligence agencies believe they were recruited over the internet.
Some of the country's top intelligence and security officials have, in recent months, warned of the possibility of the Islamic State recruiting young volunteers on line. "ISIS has the capacity of attracting young men and that is a concern for us," said Lieutenant General Subrata Saha last month; he is the Commanding Officer of the Chinar Corps or 15 Corps tasked with guarding the border with Pakistan in Kashmir, where IS flags have been seen sporadically at rallies.