Pro-Islamic State Twitter account holder Mehdi Masroor Biswas has been remanded to five-day police custody on Sunday.
“Bengaluru CCB Police has got five days police remand of Mehdi Masroor Biswas. He was presented before the Magistrate last night,” DCP Crime Abhishek Goyal said.
Meanwhile, three new such Twitter accounts have reportedly been found in Maharashtra as well.
It may be noted that Mehdi Masroor Biswas had been operation the Twitter account @ShammiWitness from the past several year. The authorities were alerted about the account after the report of Britain’s Channel 4 News.
The channel had reported, “His tweets, written under the name Shami Witness, were seen two million times each month, making him perhaps the most influential Islamic State Twitter account, with over 17,700 followers.”.
Mehdi, who was arrested by the police yesterday, became “a source of incitement and information” for the new ISIS recruits, Karnataka DGP L Pachau had said.
The 24-year-old MNC employee worked as a manufacturing executive during the day for an annual package of Rs 5.3 lakh and for the terror outfit ISIS during the night, Pachau added.
He has been arrested under Sec 125 of IPC (whoever wages war against the Government of any Asiatic power in alliance or at peace with the Government of India or attempts to wage such war, or abets the waging of such war), Sections 18 and 39 of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and Section 66 of the Information Technology act.
Mehdi’s father reportedly denied that his son was associated with the Islamic terror outfit and claimed that he was innocent.
Meanwhile, Goyal has received a threat message in reply to his tweet about the arrest of Biswas.
“@goyal_abhei we will not leave our brothers in your hand Revenge is coming wait for our reaction,” reads a reply from twitter handle @abouanfal6.
Responding to the threat, Goyal said he is not taking it much seriously.
“Personally I’m not taking the threat much seriously…. taking it in stride and not much alarmed,” he said.
