New Delhi: At least 11 Indian nationals are under detention in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) since August on charges of planning to travel to Syria to join terror group Islamic State.
Times of India reported that all 11 are facing charges of planning to join ISIS and also providing logistics to others who are willing to joining it.
The UAE security services, the report said, came across two groups hailing from India, based in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
Of those detained, eight were in Abu Dhabi and five in Dubai. A Pakistani and a Bangladeshi national were also held.
All were discussing issues pertaining to ISIS on social media and also were trying to establish online contact with ISIS terrorists.
UAE authorities suspect that all 13 were also planning to travel to Syria and were organizing funds for the same.
As of now, the UAE government has not shared the identities of 11 Indian nationals with the Government of India, the report said, adding that they could be deported depending upon what investigators find during their investigation.
The latest development came just after the UAE deported two Indians whose social media accounts showed a sign of being radicalized and sympathetic to ISIS.
Last month, the Ministry of Home Affairs had convened a high-level meeting to formalise a strategy for aiding the government's efforts to neutralise extremist ideologies such as that espoused by ISIS, which has influenced Indian youth.
