Brother Who Vanished

Who is Shafi Armar? A global terrorist, as America says? Islamic State’s recruiter in India? Meet his brother and others in Bhatkal

- Prathima Nandakumar

Jaali Road in Bhatkal town leads to one of the most picturesque beaches of Uttar Kannada district in Karnataka. The waves crash against rocks near the beach side ‘American Bungalow’, creating a symphony with the gushing wind. The evening sky and the Arabian Sea turn darker, as rain invades the coastline.

Bhatkal, too, has a dark side, the brothers Iqbal and Riyaz Shabandri, co-founders of the Indian Mujahideen, being its sons. The sleepy town grew darker on June 15, when the United States state department declared Shafi Armar a specially designated global terrorist. Shafi had vanished from Dubai ten years ago, about a year after he had been declared dead in a drone attack in Syria.

A native of Bhatkal, Shafi, 30, is the first Islamic State leader from India to be put on the American terror watch list. “He has cultivated a group of dozens of ISIS sympathisers involved in terrorist activities across India such as plotting attacks, procuring weapons and identifying locations for terrorist training camps,” the US state department said. “He is the leader and head recruiter in India for foreign terrorist organisation (FTO) and Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGP) group.”

At Hamza Nagar, a ghetto mostly occupied by Muslim families, Shafi’s ailing mother Hajira, 60, lives with her youngest son, Safwan, and his bride. Their house is no match for the sprawling bungalow of terror convict Yasin Bhatkal in Maqdoom Colony two kiometres away.

The house is locked from inside, as curious neighbours loiter around. Some neighbours plead with the reporters to get the family vacated from the locality. Safwan is not at home; he has gone to Visakhapatnam.