Areeb Majeed, 23, left for Iraq with three friends in late May amid fears by authorities that IS militants were attempting to recruit from India's large pool of young Muslim men.
The engineering student flew home Friday to Mumbai where he was arrested and charged by India's elite National Investigation Agency (NIA) with terror-related offences.
Majeed told NIA officers he was sidelined by the jihadists for whom he fetched water and performed other lowly tasks such as cleaning toilets, instead of taking part in the deadly offensive like he wanted, the Press Trust of India news agency reported.
He phoned his family to say he wanted to come home after suffering an unexplained bullet wound for which he did not get proper medical attention, the agency said late Sunday.
"Only after I begged them, I was taken to a hospital," he was quoted as saying by NIA officers. "There was neither a holy war nor any of the preachings in the holy book were followed."
India's moderate population of 150 million Muslims have traditionally not been drawn into sectarian conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, but the case of the four raised concerns about online recruitment.
Al Qaeda announced in September a new chapter of its extremist movement charged with waging jihad in South Asia, prompting several Indian states to be placed on high alert.
Tanvir Sheikh, the father of one of Majeed's friends who was still missing in Iraq, said he felt betrayed by his son.
Sheikh said his son Fahad was offered a job in Kuwait but instead decided to travel to Iraq to join the extremists.
"He had got a job offer from Kuwait with a salary of Rs300,000 but he ignored that and instead took up arms. Now what happens to his future?" Sheikh told the Indian Express newspaper on Monday.
"I feel let down by my son. He had a bright career ahead of him but he took advantage of our love and betrayed us."
Radicalised foreigners have been drawn to the IS group, which has conducted a series of mass executions and other atrocities since launching its offensive in Iraq and Syria in June.
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It is interesting to note that many submissions, and not just those submitted to ET, are from men who feel that cleaning bathroom facilities is a menial task, which probably indicates they feel it is woman's work. I must admit I had a similar mentality at one time, but my beloved wife pre-deceased me and I am currently living in a Western country with extremely high labour costs. Thus my cleaning and culinary skills are reaching a level surpassed by only a few men. Therefore, if I was low functioning enough to join ISIL, which I am not, household chores would not be a deterrent. However, for all the misogynist men out there who are deterred from joining terror groups such as ISIL, for fear of being relegated to the toilet cleaning brigade, I can only suggest that misogyny does have at least one good point.
Pakistan should seriously let all the terrorists from TTP, LeT, JeM, etc. to go and serve with ISIS. Just imagine all those long-haired black-clothed loonies cleaning toilets in the desert. After a few months of it I'm sure their jihadism will be gone for good.
Quick shortcut to peace all round.
@Gp65: There are many loopholes in his story . How did he get $2k . how did he survive 2 3 days without treating his bullet wounds .. There are no serious marks on his body ...
@Stranger: "Hmmm speaking for myself – I see more to this than that meets the eye . Perhaps he is innocent but then …."
His family admits he took up arm. They had reported tothe overnment long back - not now when the boy has returned. Where do you see conspiracy in this straightforward story?
Petty jobs such as cleaning, washing dishes, and maintaining uniforms in perfect condition are standard procedure during rookie training in most military organizations and certainly in the Indian/Pakistan armies. It is considered to be part of discipline, and discipline never stops. The Pakistan/Indian troops always appear very smart when seen in public, and on duty. They get a little scruffy in combat, but have to clean up quickly when things settle down.. I was a rookie once and the discipline can be a pain, but that is the way military organizations work .
@Rashid:
its about 150-175 million..
Indian paper says... he killed 55 ppl during operation...
This article reflects the true feelings Arab muslims have towards South Asian muslims, a race they consider only fit to clean their toilets. The arabs are famous for bringing whites to do intellectual work, south asians for menial work and philippinas as maids. Confiscating their passports and cheating them out of their wages to boot. This is a point that Hasan Nisar and other Pakistani commentators have made repeatedly.
Serves him right. This should be an eye opener to the Muslims of sub continent to know what Arabs/Middle easterners think about them.
I probably shouldn't laugh, but this is hilarious.
Hmmm speaking for myself - I see more to this than that meets the eye . Perhaps he is innocent but then ....
He got what he deserved.
good he deserve it
"India’s moderate population of 150 million Muslims have traditionally not been drawn into sectarian conflicts ... ... ..."
Would you check if India's Muslim population is really 150 million? I thought it was close to 250 million.