An Islamic State (Isis) operative – Subahani Haja Moideen – who was arrested from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has confirmed the presence of an Indian woman in the extremist group-held city of Mosul in Iraq during interrogation.

“He told us that he met the Maharashtra-based couple in Iraq and they were the only Indians he came across in the war zone. He said he met them briefly in a public place,” a senior NIA official was quoted as saying by the Hindu.

Moideen, however, said that he was not sure whether the couple was working for the Isis.

According to the NIA official, till now there has been no known case of an Indian woman in Isis-held territory.

However, the official said that they would look into the records of missing people from Maharashtra to find out if the woman went from India or travelled via some another country to escape arrest.

The 31-year-old Moideen was taken into custody on 6 October when the federal agency was working on another case where six men from Kerala, inspired by the Isis, were allegedly planning attacks against political leaders and High Court judges.

During that time, Moideen was arranging explosives from the Indian town of Sivakasi. Earlier, he was in Iraq for five months from April 8, 2015, where he underwent detailed ‘religious training’, followed by combat training.

Moideen told the interrogators that he was paid $100 (£80) a month as an allowance by Isis. However, later in September 2015, he returned back to his home town in India to stay with his family.

According to reports, over 60 Indians have been taken into custody in the past two years for Isis links and 25 Indians have already travelled to Syria to fight alongside the group.