Mehdi’s domestic links under intense scrutiny

Bengaluru: A day after his arrest, the police team interrogating suspected ISIS handler Mehdi Masroor Biswas is scrutinising his domestic connections and whether he was in touch with sleeper cells.

Officials of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) joined city cops in questioning Biswas, an electrical engineer working with ITC, whose ISIS Twitter handler @ShamiWitness had a huge following.

Mehdi was produced before a magistrate on Sunday and handed over to police custody for five days. “Our investigations show he is a propagandist of ISIS ideology and has been instrumental in influencing minds against our friendly nations with which ISIS is at war,” joint commissioner of police (crime) Hemant Nimbalkar said.

Another officer quoted Mehdi reportedly telling interrogators that he had no contact with any ISIS terrorist. “We are investigating if he was getting funds to manage the Twitter account, we are also scrutinising his bank accounts. He has denied recruiting anyone for the terror outfit,” the officer said, adding Mehdi has been visiting Mysore regularly.