Inter-state terror module: Arrested woman doctor part of organisation formed by JeM

New Delhi, Nov 11 (PTI) A woman doctor, who was among eight people arrested after the busting of an inter-state terror module, was part of the newly formed Jamaat-ul-Mominaat, an organisation launched by banned Jaish-e-Mohammed last month, officials claimed on the basis of preliminary investigations.

Dr Shaheen Sayeed, who was taken to Srinagar on Monday and placed under arrest, is alleged to be part of Jaish-e-Mohammed's (JeM) women recruitment wing in India.

The officials alleged that Dr Sayeed, believed to be in her mid 30's and part of the Al-Falah university in Faridabad, was in touch with her handler in Pakistan with possible instructions to recruit more and more women for terror activities.

In Lucknow, her father pleaded his ignorance about her involvement in terror activities and said that he had come to know about her arrest through media only.

Jamaat-ul-Mominaat was formed after the banned JeM decided to form its women unit. The announcement for its formation was made through a letter in the name of JeM chief and UN-designated terrorist Masood Azhar in October this year with Sadiya Azhar being nominated as its chief.

Sadiya is wife of Yusuf Azhar who was among many people killed during Operation Sindoor on May 7, when India struck JeM's headquarters at Markaz Subhanallah in Bahawalpur.

The alleged role of Dr Sayeed indicated that JeM is following ISI policy of recruiting female attackers on the lines adopted by groups like Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) which used women in combat or suicide operations.

This development has also highlighted the concern of Jammu and Kashmir Police, central security agencies and the Army operating in J&K that ISI was trying to influence females more into the terror module, the officials said.

The J&K Police has already intensified its surveillance on several educational institutions, particularly private schools, due to growing concerns over the alleged radicalisation of young minds, especially among female students.

The officials said that disturbing information was coming from some private schools in Kashmir who allegedly indulged in the spread of radical ideologies among youngsters, mainly females.

The surge in radicalisation among the females has even startled some ex-separatist groups as they are concerned that another religious extremism wave, forced from the other side of the Line of Control (LoC), will destabilise the valley's centuries-old 'Sufi' tradition.

The officials indicated a sudden surge in pan-Islamist thought among youths, including girls, in the valley as intelligence reports suggest that fanatical clerics are indoctrinating them with a rigid interpretation of Islam that rejects traditional Kashmiri practices, such as visiting and paying obeisance at the shrines of Sufi saints.

The educational system of the Kashmir Valley has been irrevocably harmed, repeatedly proving incapable of presenting students with a future vision and thus resorting to a strict interpretation of Islam as a refuge, the officials said. PTI SKL KVK KVK