Guwahati: An IIT Guwahati student was detained on Saturday after allegedly pledging allegiance to ISIS in Hajo, Assam. The fourth-year Biotechnology student recently claimed on social media and emails that he intended to join the terrorist organization and went missing from the IIT-Guwahati campus.
This comes close on the heels of the arrest of Haris Farooqi, the head of ISIS in India, in Dhubri district, allegedly crossing over from Bangladesh.
According to police sources, a lookout alert was issued for the student, who is a resident of Delhi, after he wrote an open letter on LinkedIn stating the reason for his decision. He was discovered at Hajo, approximately 30 kilometers from Guwahati, in Kamrup district and detained for questioning.
When police contacted the authorities at IIT-Guwahati, they informed them that the student had been missing since noon and his mobile phone had also been switched off.
“Reference IIT Guwahati student pleading allegiance to ISIS – the said student has been detained while travelling and further lawful follow up would take place,” Director-General of Police GP Singh posted on X.
Additional Superintendent of Police (STF) Kalyan Kumar Pathak said, “After receiving an email, we verified the authenticity of the contents and started an investigation.” The email was sent by the student, in which he claimed that he was on the way to join ISIS.
According to Special Task Force sources, he was taken to his hostel room and police found a black flag that looked like the ISIS flag and an Islamic manuscript. He was a loner and didn’t have friends on the campus, police said.
On Wednesday, Assam police arrested Haris Farooqi and his associates, who have been active since 2019. His associate Anurag Singh alias Rehan belongs to Panipat and converted to Islam. His wife is a Bangladeshi national. Sources reported that Farooqi was suspected of hiding in Bangladesh and radicalizing Indians.
