Karen Aisha Hamidon of the Philippines, the female Islamic State online recruiter who is learnt to have radicalized several Indian youths and probably arranged their travel to the IS territory, is under the radar of Indian agencies.
The Indian National Investigation Agency (NIA) has approached the Philippines’ government seeking details and evidence on Karen, who was in touch with recently indicted Indian IS members, including Mohammad Sirajuddin and Mohammad Naser.
In its judicial request, NIA has provided her address in Diego Shilang village in Taguig City, Metro Manila, along with her phone numbers. It has provided her identity as Karen Aisha Al-Muslimah with her ID as @KarenAishaHamidon.
Karen reportedly influenced many Indians through Facebook, telegram channels and WhatsApp groups meant for IS supporters in countries like the US, the UK, India, the UAE, Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh etc.
One of the largest groups she ran was “IslamQ&A”, where IS members shared caliphate’s ideology and jehadi material with several of them, including Indians, expressing desire to travel to the IS territory.
Her name is mentioned in NIA’s two chargesheets filed against IS last week. TOI has exclusively accessed the details of these chargesheets.
Karen, at one point, even banned IS propagandist and former Indian Oil assistant manager Mohammad Sirajuddin from the WhatsApp groups and telegram channels run and administered by her as she had differences of opinion with him.
Sirajuddin, radicalized by another IS member identified as “Mad-Mullah”, felt that Karen was a traitor and responsible for his mentor’s arrest in Sudan last year. Mad-Mullah arranged the logistics for travel of Indians who wished to go to Syria.