Allahabad youth gets ISIS ‘offer’ on WhatsApp
ALLAHABAD: An Allahabad youth on Saturday filed a police complaint after he allegedly received WhatsApp messages from two US-based mobile numbers offering him $5000 per month “for providing information about Indian intelligence agencies to terrorist group Islamic State.
ALLAHABAD An Allahabad youth on Saturday filed a police complaint after he allegedly received WhatsApp messages from two US-based mobile numbers offering him $5000 per month “for providing information about Indian intelligence agencies to terrorist organization Islamic State (ISIS),” police said.
The youth received the messages from two separate US numbers: One reportedly from Memphis, Tennessee and the other from Starkville, Mississippi, police officials said.
He approached the police after he was added to the two unknown WhatsApp groups with a logo of ISIS.
The owner the mobile number, who added the youth to the group, threatened him with dire consequences if he did not follow his orders,” senior police officials.
The scared youth and his family approached Dhumanganj police on Saturday and lodged a complaint in this connection.
SP City Brajesh Kumar Srivastava said an FIR has been lodged and the investigation has been handed over to the cybercrime cell. “The issue is very serious and a detailed investigation will be carried out if other
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THE YOUTH RECEIVED THE MESSAGES FROM SEPARATE US NUMBERS: ONE REPORTEDLY FROM MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE AND THE OTHER FROM MISSISSIPPI
youths in the city have also received similar offers from the terrorist organization,” he said.
Senior sub inspector at Dhumanganj police station Shailesh Singh said the youth is a resident of Mundera area and earlier used to work and study in Mumbai. He informed the police that he was watching an online movie on Friday afternoon when he was added to an unknown WhatsApp group. The youth was scared when he saw the logo of ISIS on the WhatsApp group and left it immediately, Singh said.
However, the administrator of the group repeatedly added him and sent a message in English ordering the youth to work for ISIS and provide information on Indian agencies in return of $5000 per month. The youth then switched off his mobile phone and informed his family. AntiTerrorist squad (ATS) officials have been informed of the incident and the youth has been asked to switch on his mobile for further investigations, Singh said.
Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) or Daesh, has been successful in wooing Indian youths in the past, especially from south Indian states. Two Keralites were arrested in 2015 and shortly afterwards two more people were detained in September 2015 for allegedly having connections with Islamic State. The arrest was made at Karipur International Airport, Calicut.
Earlier, a Dubai-based Indian woman, allegedly recruiting youth for ISIS in Syria and Iraq, was also detained by Hyderabad police in 2015 after Dubai authorities extradited her. The woman was identified as Afshan Jabeen alias Nicky Joseph who hails from Hyderabad and migrated to Abu Dhabi. Afsha Jabeen was allegedly recruiting youth online for Islamic State and propagating jihadi literature.
Union home minister Rajnath Singh has earlier expressed concern over the growing influence of ISIS and conceded that the extremist organisation was trying to ‘inspire’ innocent minds with intolerance and violence. “The appeal of ISIS to the young and educated people, in spite of its medieval ideology, is a cause of concern to the global community,” Singh has said in the past.