Meerut: An Indian youth stranded in Saudi Arabia has alleged that he was held hostage and being pressured to join a “Jihadi” outfit in Syria by a native of Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, Haji Shahzad, who met him in Mecca.
The victim, Ali Murtaza, a resident of the Kithor Police Station area here, has released a video in which he alleges that his passport was snatched by Shahzad, leaving him helpless. He has now sought intervention by the Indian government for justice and his safe return to the country.
Meanwhile, on the complaint of Murtaza’s family, the police have registered an FIR at the Kithor Police Station and have detained the tour and travel operator Mohammad Abdullah, who sent the youth to Saudi Arabia, for questioning.
Murtaza further alleges in the video that he went to Mecca on March 26 to perform Umrah. The ticket and hotel were arranged by the tour and travel operator of Kithor, and after he arrived in Mecca, he met Shahzad, who locked Murtaza in the hotel and snatched his passport. “He also started pressuring me to go to Syria to join Jihad and earn money. I appeal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the foreign minister for justice and my safe return to India,” he says.
The victim also informed the UP police through his family, after which they started searching for the accused. Circle Officer Kithore Pramod Kumar Singh said that a case has been registered, and further investigation is being done in the case.
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