Kottayam: Basil Shihab of Alappuzha has told the NIA that he was encouraged to join the global terror outfit IS by Abdul Rashid of Kasargod.

Rashid asked him to reach Afghanisthan and promised all help for this, Shihab told NIA at Kochi.

Two others Mohammad Abdullah, 27, and Abdul Rahman, 25, detained along with him were being questioned at Coimbatore.

The NIA had found that they were in constant contact with those who had attended the clandestine meeting organised by IS unit Al Hindi at Kanagamala in Kannur last October.

Ten mobile phones, four lap tops, two hard discs, SIM cards, one pen drive, three memory cards and three DVDs have been seized from them. These articles will be examined scientifically before registering their arrest.