ATS questions Pune girl 'radicalised' by ISIS sympathisers

Pune, Dec 18: A city-based 16-year-old Muslim girl, who was reportedly radicalised by her ISIS contacts abroad and brain-washed to go to Syria, has been questioned by sleuths of Pune Anti-Terrorism Squad and sent to a de-radicalisation programme, an ATS officer said here tonight.

According to the officer, the girl is a bright convent educated class XI student, studying in a city college.

"The girl was interrogated by the ATS last week after monitoring her movements for many days on getting information about her. It confirmed her initiation by the ISIS.

"The interrogation of the girl revealed that she was ready to go to any extent to carry out the ISIS directive," Pune ATS officer Bhanupratap Barge told PTI revealing the details of the ATS operation.

The girl is now undergoing a de-radicalisation programme with the help of her family members and community religious leaders, who are fully cooperating with us, he added.

According to the ATS, the minor girl got attracted to the ISIS ideology after watching a documentary on television and subsequently started regularly monitoring news on Al Jazeera channel.

"Later, she used the internet to get in touch with ISIS contacts and got in touch with about 200 young persons from different countries.

Her interrogation revealed that she was told to come to Syria for medical education and for further initiation," Barge said.

He said that the girl, who is highly intelligent, had recently changed her lifestyle and started wearing burqa, giving up jeans she used to wear before her exposure to the ISIS contacts.

"Even her family members noticed the change in her and felt disturbed," the ATS inspector said.

Barge said the de-radicalisation programme of the ATS with the help of community clergy and family members was "working" for the girl with encouraging results. Pune has been on the terrorist radar and had witnessed bomb blasts including the German Bakery blast that killed 17 persons including many foreigners in 2010.

PTI