Police officer receives threat message after arrest of ISIS Twitter a/c handler

Bengaluru, Dec 14: A senior police officer has received a threat in connection with the arrest of Mehdi Masroor Biswas, the alleged handler of the most influential pro-Islamic State (IS) Twitter account, even as the latter was remanded in five-day police custody.

"Bengaluru CCB Police has got five days police remand of Mehdi Masroor Biswas. He was presented before the Magistrate last night," DCP(Crime) Abhishek Goyal said today.

After Biswas was picked up yesterday, Goyal received a threat message in reply to his tweet about the arrest of the 24-year-old engineer working as "manufacturing executive" with ITC Foods in Bengaluru from his one-room apartment here.

"@goyal_abhei we will not leave our brothers in your hand Revenge is coming wait for our reaction," reads a reply from twitter handle @abouanfal6.

Responding to the threat, Goyal said he is not taking it much seriously.

"Personally I'm not taking the threat much seriously.... taking it in stride and not much alarmed," he said. On the basis of "credible" intelligence inputs received on the presence of ISIS Twitter Ideologue @ShamiWitness in Bengaluru, the city police chief had formed a special team, which closed in on Biswas and arrested him.

Bengaluru Police had launched a manhunt for Mehdi after 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.

Police had yesterday said that Biswas has "confessed" that he was handling the pro-jihad tweeter "@ShamiWitness" that became a source of incitement and information for new ISIS recruits.

Biswas has been arrested under Sec 125 of IPC (whoever wages war against the Government of any Asiatic power in alliance or at peace with the Government of India or attempts to wage such war, or abets the waging of such war), Sections 18 and 39 of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and Section 66 of the Information Technology act, they had said.

PTI