Bengaluru Executive's Pro-IS Twitter Account Followed by Areeb Majeed ... - NDTV

New Delhi:  Indian agencies are investigating a report that a Bengaluru-based executive operated Islamic State's most influential Twitter account and could be one of the biggest online recruiters for the terror group.

Intelligence sources say Areeb Majeed, the 23-year-old from Mumbai who was arrested last month for travelling to Iraq to join the IS, was following that handle.

Britain's Channel 4 News had claimed that it has spoken to the man, whose first name is revealed as "Mehdi" and who works as a marketing executive with an Indian conglomerate. "His tweets, written under the name Shami Witness, were seen two million times each month, making him perhaps the most influential Islamic State Twitter account, with over 17,700 followers," it says.

Indian intelligence sources say the police in Bengaluru had already been alerted and verifications began before the report. Sources also say that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) was aware of the Twitter handle and in the process of following up.

Channel 4 News revealed that it traced the man after learning that he used the Twitter handle El-Saltador once. The same name was used for a Google Plus and Facebook account. And through these, the channel saw photos of the man and his location.

On being contacted by the channel the man shut down the account "@ShamiWitness", which was the leading source of information between jihadis, supporters, and recruits, Channel 4 says.

"He spent his mornings, afternoons and evenings sending thousands of tweets of propaganda about Islamic State," the news channel said, claiming that two thirds of all foreign fighters on Twitter followed him.

The channel quoted "Mehdi" as saying he would have joined Islamic State, but his family was financially dependent on him: "If I had a chance to leave everything and join them I might have... My family needs me here," he is quoted as saying.

Asked whether he agreed with the methods of ISIS, he replied, "Not all methods, no, but maybe yeah, but mostly."

The channel says the man, on his Facebook pages, "regularly shares jokes, funny images and talks about superhero movies, posting pictures of pizza dinners with friends, and Hawaiian parties at work."

He has also spoken out against rape on that account.

"We are investigating the matter. We have always been alert and we will try to get more details," Bangalore Police Commissioner MN Reddi told NDTV.

via Top Stories - Google News http://ift.tt/1x9rl5r

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