The family of three British sisters of Pakistani-origin, believed to be in Syria with their nine children to join IS militants, has accused UK police of being "complicit" in "grooming and radicalising" their wives.
In a letter to MP Keith Vaz, chairman of the Home Affairs Committee, solicitors representing husbands of two of the three sisters, alleged that officers from the North East Counter Terrorism Unit (NECTU) were "actively promoting and encouraging" the sisters to contact their brother thought to be fighting in Syria.
They said that there was "reckless disregard" for the consequences of any such contact on the families," the BBC reported.
"Plainly, by the NECTU allowing this contact they have been complicit in the grooming and radicalising of the women," said the solicitors representing the two husbands -- Akhtar Iqbal and Mohammed Shoaib.
They also said that were "extremely disappointed" with the way the case had been handled.
West Yorkshire Police, however, completely rejected the allegations.
"We completely reject accusations that the police were complicit in the alleged grooming of the missing family or that we were oppressive to them," Assistant Chief Constable Russ Foster said.
Three sisters from the city of Bradford -- Khadija, Sugra and Zohra Dawood -- went missing with their nine children while travelling to Saudi Arabia to take part in a religious pilgrimage.
The three sisters took a flight to Istanbul, a commonly used gateway into Syria instead of returning to the UK.
They were reported to have travelled to Syria to join their younger brother Ahmed, who is believed to be fighting with extremists in the country.
NECTU said it was "continuing to make extensive enquiries" in order to try to bring the women and children home.
