The Bengaluru Deputy Commissioner of Police of Crime, Abhishek Goyal received a threat from a twitter handler for arresting Mehdi Masroor, the ISIS sympathiser. Soon after the officer tweeted details about Mehdi arrest in Bengaluru, a threat tweet was generated from a twitter account, supposedly owned by ISIS members, which has over 400 followers and tweeted more than 500 times.
The police have acknowledged receiving a threat and are investigating the matter. Mehdi was remanded to five days Judicial custody by a Magistrate. He faces charges of waging war against the Government and Country and inciting youth to join ISIS through twitter. Officials of the National Investigation Agency, NIA yesterday interrogated the parents of Masroor. Family sources said that the NIA officials went to the resident of Masroor in Kolkata and interrogated his parents.
Meanwhile, Investigators are looking into every possible connection of alleged handler of pro-Islamic State, IS Twitter account Mehdi Masroor with the ISIS virtual and actual world. A top police official said that Preliminary investigation showed Masroor was a propagandist of ISIS ideology and has been instrumental in influencing minds against our friendly nations against whom ISIS is at war. Joint Commissioner of Police Hemanth
Nimbalkar, who is heading the special probe team, told PTI that Masroor's virtual or actual relations are under intense scrutiny. He said the investigation team is also looking into presence of any of the domestic connect or sleeper cell existing or not. Masroor, who was arrested in Bengaluru on Saturday, has been remanded in police custody for five days.
He faces charges of waging war against the Government and Country and inciting youth to join ISIS through his twitter handle @shamiWitness. Karnataka Director General of Police L Pachau told reporters in Bengaluru yesterday that Masroor had confessed that he was handling the pro-IS Twitter account and he was particularly close to English-speaking ISIS terrorists.