Tabrez Tambe, a 28-year-old Mumbra resident who allegedly fled to Libya to join the terror Islamic State (IS). Mumbra man in Libyan army’s custody, efforts on to bring him back to the country.
He has been booked under a specific law which concerns the prevention of Unlawful Activities (UAPA). “We have managed to trace him with the help of the Libyan authorities and he is currently in custody of their army. Now, we are working towards bringing him back,” said an official
As per reports, Tambe was identified by Dr. Ramamurthy Kosanam, a doctor from Andhra Pradesh who was recently rescued and brought back to India from Libya in February 2017. It has been over two years that Dr. Kosanam had been held captive by IS militants. He identified Tabrez as a medical attendant in the hospital where the doctor was forced to work with the militant group.
“Upon his return, an ATS team visited him and showed him Tabrez’s photographs. Through the photographs, Dr. Kosanam identified him and informed us that he was working as an attendant,” said the official.
After the identification of the alleged, he was tracked by the police. However, Tambe will be the second man from Maharashtra who being taken under arrest by the foreign government. Areeb Majeed, one of the four youths from Kalyan who had fled the country in May 2014 to fight alongside IS, returned in November that year. Upon his arrival, Majeed was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) under the UAPA. The trial against Majeed is yet to commence.
Tabrez’s family too had approached the Indian ambassador to Libya seeking his release.
“On January 26, I sent an email to the Indian ambassador in Libya stating that my brother had moved to Egypt in January last year for a job. Ali, a Saudi Arabian national, had helped him land the job. Subsequently, Ali took him to Libya for training. However, last December, we got a call from Tabrez saying he was stuck in a war-torn region and that we should seek help from the authorities to get him back to India,” Saud Tambe, Tabrez’s younger brother, had earlier told
