According to the state police quoted by local daily Hindustan Times, one of the suspects Hamza Thalasserry was responsible for recruiting several youths and sending them to countries where the terror group has launched an insurgency.

Thalasserry was the main recruiter for ISIL in India, and was operating from the Gulf countries for the past 20 years, said PP Sadanandan, a senior police officer, according to the daily.

He held two passports, and formerly worked as a cook for a Taliban leader, but later switched allegiance to ISIL, he added.

Police said during interrogation he confessed to sending at least 40 youth to Syria, Yemen and Afghanistan, of which 14 died during combat.

On Wednesday, police arrested three alleged ISIL, suspects who had been deported from Turkey four months ago.

India’s primary National Investigation Agency (NIA) has been probing cases of disappearances among Indian youths who are suspected to have joined ISIL.