The Bangaluru police has arrested Mehdi Masroor, the alleged handler of the most influential pro-Islamic State (IS) Twitter account. Addressing a press conference, Police Commissioner M N Reddi said, the person arrested for his association with Islamic State militant group was an engineer by qualification. He said, the accused confessed that he was operating IS twitter account for several years. Mr Reddi said, the accused used to help IS recruits with the account by translating Arabic tweets to English. Mr. Reddi said has been arrested under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. He said, an FIR has been registered against him and he has been arrested.

Bengaluru Police were on the hunt for “Mehdi” who was reported to be working as an executive based out of Bengaluru. Britain's Channel 4 News had aired the report regarding the country's IT capital's link with the Twitter account that is followed by foreign jihadis. The British news broadcaster did not reveal his full name as he said his life would be in danger. The account was shut down after the report surfaced. Channel 4 News had said 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.