In a tragic incident, a fourth-year Biotechnology IIT-Guwahati student on Saturday was arrested following he allegedly pledged his allegiance to ISIS in Assam's Hajo. Recently, the student on a social media platform and emails expressed his intent to join the terror outfit and he also went missing from the college campus.
As per a senior police official, the student has been charged under the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
Soon after the arrest, the accused was taken to a Guwahati court, which sent him to 10-day police custody.
Haris Farooqi, the alleged head of ISIS India, was recently apprehended in Dhubri district, suspected of entering from Bangladesh.
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Initially, police issued a lookout alert for a student from Delhi after he penned an open letter on LinkedIn expressing allegiance to ISIS.
He was located in Hajo, Kamrup district, about 30 km from Guwahati, and detained for questioning. Authorities had been alerted to his disappearance, with his mobile phone switched off since noon.
After verifying the authenticity of an email in which the student declared his intention to join ISIS, law enforcement began an investigation. Subsequently, during interrogation, a black flag resembling the ISIS flag and an Islamic manuscript were discovered in his hostel room. Described as a loner, he lacked friends on campus.
Meanwhile, Haris Farooqi, active since 2019, was arrested along with associates by Assam police. Anurag Singh, alias Rehan, one of his associates, hails from Panipat and converted to Islam. Suspected of radicalizing Indians, Farooqi was believed to be hiding in Bangladesh. He had allegedly played a significant role in establishing terror modules across several states.
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Farooqi, originally from Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, had been wanted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for his alleged involvement in terrorist activities.