Dhanbad men held for wearing ISIS shirts during procession
DHANBAD/RANCHI: Dhanbad police detained two cousin brothers for questioning on Wednesday after they were seen wearing T-shirts printed with the words “ISIS Pakistan” and allegedly promoting the violent militant group during a Muharram procession.
Shakir Rashid, 20, and Mohammad Javed Rashid, 22, were seen in the procession on Tuesday, but trouble began for them a day later when a local daily published Sadiq’s photograph in the ISIS T-shirt.
Taking cognisance of the picture, police picked up the two from Indra Nagar colony.
Dhanbad SP Hemant Toppo said, “Prima facie, we have not found any terror links (to) the three youths. The boys have revealed that they were portray- ing terrorists during the street play organised on account of Muharram.” But other police sources said the brothers had admitted to being inspired by the terror group and that they wanted to join the organisation but couldn’t do so because they didn’t know whom to contact.
Working on a tip-off, the police also picked up one Sanjay Saw, 24, the owner of a printing firm for embossing “ISIS Pakistan” on the duo’s T-Shirts.
Vishnu Rajak, officer in-charge of the Jharia police station, said the interrogation was still on.
“We are verifying their antecedents and trying to find out (the) names of people who are behind these youths and supporting them into the illegal act,” he said.
“This is something very serious,” said Jharkhand minority commission chairman, Shahid Akhtar. “We are in constant touch with Dhanbad police. Our team will step in once they are done with their preliminary probe,” additional director general of Jharkhand CID, S N Pradhan said.