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A medical student from Hyderabad who allegedly joined the militant Islamic State (IS) in Syria was in prolonged contact with a man on social media who radicalised her, Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences Vice Chancellor Naushad Sheikh told DawnNews.
A committee was formed by the university to investigate Naureen Leghari who was arrested after her husband, Ali Tariq, was killed in an encounter in Lahore on Friday night.
Sources earlier told Dawn that Leghari had allegedly visited Syria to join IS after leaving her home in February. She had also received training in Syria for using weapons, they said.
She returned home to Lahore three weeks ago and was being tracked by security personnel. Law enforcement agencies are investigating her as well.
"She [Leghari] was in contact with a boy on social media for quite some time," the vice chancellor said.
"[Her contact with the boy] transformed her mindset and influenced her towards extremism," he added.
The vice chancellor said that Leghari was a "reserved girl" who used to "pray five times a day."
Sheikh added that two of Leghari's friends were Hindus.
Leghari was arrested on Friday after her husband, whom she had married after leaving her home and joining the militants, was killed in an encounter in Punjab Housing Society.
Security personnel found her college card and her father’s Computerised National Identity Card from their hideout and reportedly contacted her family in Hyderabad.
Meanwhile, Sindh police contacted their counterparts in Punjab on Sunday to confirm the detained woman’s identity.
She was being interrogated about the modus operandi of the militant network and other people associated with it
Sindh police chief A.D. Khowaja earlier said, “We had been suspecting that Naureen Leghari had been radicalised by some elements.”
Educated 'hardcore militants'
In a recent study carried out by Sindh Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) about educated ‘hardcore militants’ in the province’s jails, revealed that out of 500 surveyed militants, at least 64 have a masters degree or higher.
As many as 70 militants have a bachelors degree and 63 have completed their matriculate and intermediate, according to the CTD Sindh study reviewed by Dawn on Monday.
Read more
On DawnNews
Comments (62) Closed
Apr 17, 2017 02:21pm
Congrats on success of LAW ENFORCEMENT people who kept a close eye and tracked her right when she returned and was planing attack. But it is an eye opener for all of us and time to aware ourselves and our families so that they do not fall prey to propaganda machinery of IS. Another point which may not be very evident but is fact that many a time people vanish like this and blame is pinned to somewhere else as family who is state of shock to comprehend this very fact try to hide and hope against hope that it proved false despite of the fact that their loved one makes contact with them and tell them clearly what he or she is up to
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Apr 17, 2017 02:27pm
Unless we get rid of mullah mindset, we will keep on having more and more like these in the future.
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Apr 17, 2017 02:32pm
A very dangerous trend and must be investigated from all angles. All those responsible including her parents must be punished .
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Apr 17, 2017 02:36pm
Why do some people in Pakistan get influenced by radicalism? There has to be a deeper meaning for the Govt to resolve. Otherwise on paper everyone will claim thing are improving but deep inside its getting worse.
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Apr 17, 2017 02:44pm
a girl,from rural sindh and being a medical student...should ring the alram bells..how deep this mindset has creeped in..scary ..
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Apr 17, 2017 02:46pm
She can be an instrumental lead for probe.
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Apr 17, 2017 02:54pm
Wonder how a weak sex, who is also well educated, could still be brain washed as to hold weapon to kill people and be a terrorists. It must be brain washing of the highest order. Instead of joining terrorists organisation like ISIS, she could have opted to join national army to serve the country and to put the weapon to good use.
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Apr 17, 2017 02:56pm
Please save our land of sufism from religious extremism, hatred and militancy.
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Apr 17, 2017 02:57pm
Radicalization these days is alarming, before less educated and rural area people were marked for this and easily got radicalized but now the University students and people with so called professional degrees are becoming terrorists.
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Apr 17, 2017 03:00pm
Government should find those who prey on young students for their nefarious designs. Pakistan government should not do same thing with this girl what US government has done with Aafia Siddiqui.
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Apr 17, 2017 03:08pm
@KAJ Thank you for your advice. I am sure police were lost what to do now
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Apr 17, 2017 03:11pm
There should be check of govt on social media. Any such misconduct and misguidance must be dealt with harsh hands.
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Apr 17, 2017 03:18pm
@dr zahid She was holding her student card and her father's ID card indicates that she had intention to identify herself to police and that she was not a sophisticated and trained fighter as police has claimed. VC of university will surely support government agencies statements, however it is responsibility of Sindh police chief to find the truth.
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Apr 17, 2017 03:19pm
I very strongly suggest to form a panel of intellectuals like Javed Ghamdi and reputed academicians to chalk out a strategy and a team of experts to execute it on a war footing basis. Allocate whatever funds are required. I fear that nothing is really being done to uproot that menace.
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Apr 17, 2017 03:23pm
I feel pity for misled youth. People who mislead them should be punished according to the Law-of-the-Land.
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Apr 17, 2017 03:47pm
Strange story. In two months she went in Syria, got trained, got married and came back? Why did she had her father's NIC? Make sense to me.
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Apr 17, 2017 04:04pm
very strange, she went Syria, got training, got married and returned, are our borders are open gateways, is there no check and balance on borders.
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Apr 17, 2017 04:08pm
@Azmeen : People who mislead them should be punished according to the Law-of-the-Land.
Close the madrassas and change your text books to start with. The state has to bear the blame too for misinforming the population especially children and students.
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Apr 17, 2017 04:23pm
4 years of hard study to become doctor and only one month training to become terrorist. she preferred one month training.
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Apr 17, 2017 04:25pm
She was desperate for a husband. It was a waste of her medical education. She was in a lonely place, vulnerable with nowhere less to express her inner feelings. In the photo she looks sad and frail. She must have been lonely in a crowd.
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Apr 17, 2017 04:35pm
Often terrorism and extremism is attributed to illiteracy and poverty but the story of Naureen leghari made it clear that the opinion is somewhat wrong.
There should be thorough investigation that at last what was the factor that a medical student became easy prey for radicalization forces.
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Apr 17, 2017 04:43pm
Interesting psycho and socio interpretation of our sorry state of affairs..folks ..What we have witnessed in our own time are the death of universities as centres of critique. Since our government, the role of academia has been to service the status quo, not challenge it in the name of justice, tradition, imagination, human welfare, the free play of the mind or alternative visions of the future. We will not change this simply by increasing state funding of the humanities as opposed to slashing it to nothing. We will and we can change it by insisting that a critical reflection on human values and principles should be central to everything that goes on in universities..Unless we devise a system based on human values nothing is going to change the world. Behaviour is basically the reflection of others..To be of good quality, you have to excuse yourself from the presence of shallow and callow minded individuals. good luck
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Apr 17, 2017 04:45pm
Our security services are learning fast to go deep into all incidents they must be congratulated. Nice job done.
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Apr 17, 2017 04:46pm
ISIS has attracted thousands online " and nothing has been done by US and European social media.
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Apr 17, 2017 04:56pm
Pathetic. It seems education doesn't get her conscious to understand good and bad.
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Apr 17, 2017 05:37pm
Counter brain wash programs are needed. The present government has failed
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Apr 17, 2017 05:42pm
Stupidity at its peak
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Apr 17, 2017 05:45pm
This is called dual face
In one hand she was training to save lives on the other hand she was training to take lives
Sheer stupidity
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Apr 17, 2017 06:26pm
@Saba
you go girl. You rally hit the nail in the head. We need more women like you who undertsand insted of following blindly
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Apr 17, 2017 06:27pm
Seems out of place for university VC to publicly comment on this. Just let law enforcement agencies to work and conclude it.
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Apr 17, 2017 06:30pm
"She [Leghari] was in contact with a boy on social media for quite some time," the vice chancellor said.
Tells you how well -educated the 'Vice Chancellor' of the University is, if he doesn't know the difference between a 'boy ' and a 'man.'
Pakistanis butcher the English language, but cannot perfect Urdu either.
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Apr 17, 2017 06:39pm
Sindhi people were never involved in such things and it's just start we should keep an eye on these social media use where people of that mindset ready to seed such poor minds. Islam is a religion of peace we must all remember this.
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Apr 17, 2017 06:49pm
Very unfortunate. Again, a betrayal of the due parentage by an enlightened family.
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Apr 17, 2017 07:11pm
It has become easy to link anybody with any group and all persons have threat from all persons.
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Apr 17, 2017 07:27pm
@Nahrad Muni
Right you are. The problem is at grass root level. The madrassas are the real culprits.
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Apr 17, 2017 07:57pm
This is problem of Pakistan. First it was denied by the agencies and Punjab govt that there is no IS and all the agencies are involved in Sindh to clean this GANDH dirt. Everyone knows Punjab is safe heaven of all terrorist (like Ehsanullah Ehsan, Ishaq Malik and so on) but all efforts were doing in Sindh Baluchistan. Dear Rangers please do operation in Punjab aggressively as you are doing in Sindh. Everyone knows that you do not have such power which you have in Sindh and obviously we can see the result of Sindh compare to Punjab. If you are not allowed to do concrete operation in Punjab you must come forward and disclose the things. Otherwise it will be big questions ???????
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Apr 17, 2017 08:03pm
Alarming and sad
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Apr 17, 2017 08:08pm
I have my serious doubts that this female terrorist suspect ever travelled to Syria in ‘Islamic Sate’ controlled territory for just TWO WEEKS training. Entering in and out in that area has not been easy in the period when she disappeared. My suspicion is that she was trained somewhere within Pakistan, but is not disclosing the location as per instruction of the local terrorist network, but affiliated with Daesh (IS).
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Apr 17, 2017 08:19pm
@Sid because the system is not working for the poor,
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Apr 17, 2017 08:20pm
@saba miss .. if i am not wrong the students lynching and strike out at mardan university were not mullahs .. the mob were highly educated people .. dunt juat complaint mullahs for everything
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Apr 17, 2017 08:52pm
@Mustafa You are right
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Apr 17, 2017 09:07pm
@Sid my friend just like some of Indians become extremists and join siv sena or RSS whatever and kill muslims for eating beef or any other stupid reason..
Or just like racists in America become racist and kill minorities.. or just a simple school boy becomes insane and kills dozen in a school or a theater in the US.. they are all the same.
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Apr 17, 2017 09:16pm
I wonder what kind of university and students are in Pakistan. .instead of studying science. ..technology. ..rhey redicallised and kill the fellow student
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Apr 17, 2017 09:58pm
@Ajay ,keep wondering my friend, obviously you can see and hear but unfortunately lack vision and capacity to listen. I am wondering what kind of wonderment are you wondering about. ; ).
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Apr 17, 2017 10:18pm
@ABG
really good analysis.
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Apr 18, 2017 12:04am
@Nahrad Muni she did not get any education from madrassa. She belongs to well educated family and got education from reputed institutes. Why you people blame madrassas where poor children are getting education. Yes govt should register all madrassas and keep record of all students.
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Apr 18, 2017 01:20am
She married a man from Lahore, was arrested in Lahore. Did she really travel to Syria to be trained? Where was her husband trained? Syria connection seems to be a bit tenuous.
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Apr 18, 2017 01:25am
@Mustafa Very good points,
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Apr 18, 2017 02:49am
@Ajay well said! If these people keep religion seperate from education they may see sense! Till then they will be in their own wonderland
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Apr 18, 2017 04:47am
@Malik USA ... ... Ranger operations in Sindh have been suspended.
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Apr 18, 2017 04:57am
@Zahid .... ... Young people want to feel they are part of something important. ...and young people make mistakes. I know I did.
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Apr 18, 2017 05:19am
her trail must be in military court. No mercy for killers of innocent citizens.
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Apr 18, 2017 05:42am
@ahaq Totally agree with you.
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Apr 18, 2017 08:17am
Brain washed .... you kill and you go to heavens not knowing that the opposite is true.
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Apr 18, 2017 09:30am
She joined Isis to get laid.
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Apr 18, 2017 09:37am
To all of my friends from Pakistan who have shown regret and advised readers to keep distance from radicalism are not sensing or not daring to point out real culprit for this issue.
Every country which has religion as basis of foundation is facing such issue now rest can be judged by learned reader which country these are and which religions they have incorporated in their foundation.... good luck , enjoy the mistakes done and can carried forward from history..
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Apr 18, 2017 10:40am
that was a great step takken by the law enforcemnet aggencies really an encouraging step i appreciate, the terorism should be rooted out and also to change the mind set of the people it is necessary .
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Apr 18, 2017 04:56pm
I am not sure to believe whole story.
She is carrying identity as of student but why fathers ID. Why father dint mention about missing ID?
Howcome VC knows things?
Travelling to syria n and back with training doesnt fit.
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Apr 18, 2017 06:09pm
All madressas syllabus must be revised and all mullas should be limited to their activities. Otherwise we will continue to produce sick people like Naureen Laghari. To be honest we have many in our closets ready to come out when they have a chance.
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Apr 19, 2017 12:37am
Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what can you do for the country. Shame on Naureen Leghari. Look what she has done for the country.
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Apr 19, 2017 06:01am
Government is quick to ban social media if there are any offensive thing about Islam or entertainment, but have blind eye when bad things are taught in name of Islam
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Apr 19, 2017 09:46am
From taking an oath to save lives to this...
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