Indian girl contacted ISIS agent in Sri Lanka: ToI report
18 December 2015 06:04 am
A teenage girl from India has been put under surveillance after police investigations had revealed that she had links with the ISIS after establishing contact with one of its agent in Sri Lanka and other ISIS sympathizers on social media networks, the Times of India reported today.
The 16-year-old Pune college girl, who was allegedly in touch with an Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) executive Mohammed Sirajuddin, has been put under surveillance for her suspected links with the ISIS, assistant commissioner of police, Bhanupratap Barge of the anti-terrorism squad said.
Sirajuddin, who was arrested, had formed closed groups of IS sympathizers, including boys and girls from Maharashtra, on Facebook and WhatsApp. He was allegedly spreading IS activities online and trying to recruit Indian youths for the terrorist group. He was arrested in Jaipur last week.
The girl was deeply influenced by IS activities and radicalized online. She was in regular touch with many sympathizers of the dreaded terrorist group, Barge said.
Officials said the girl was in touch with Sirajuddin and was about to visit Iran or Syria because IS members were ready to bear her medical education and other expenses.
She was regularly interacting with IS sympathizers on WhatsApp and Twitter and exchanging mails with people in countries such as the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Kenya and some in Europe.
Investigations showed that the girl was attracted to the IS ideology while watching a television channel four months ago. She began searching for more information on IS on internet portals and established contact with an IS agent in Sri Lanka.
ATS officials said the girl began believing that the world should follow an Islamic ideology and Muslims in India should "do anything for the sake of Islam". Her parents noticed a sudden change in her behaviour. She gave up wearing T-shirts, jeans and dresses to college and began to sport a burqa.
"We have not registered a complaint against the girl because she is a minor and she did not radicalize others," Barge told TOI. "As part of our national programme, we have undertaken an exercise for the past eight days to de-radicalize her with support from her parents."
Barge said they had prevented the girl from joining IS. "The girl has shown remarkable signs of improvement because she has realized that she has done something wrong," he said.