30/07/2017
PUNE:
A
teenage girl from Pune, who was allegedly radicalised by online operatives of
the Islamic State (IS) and then “de-radicalised” through counselling two years
ago, has once again been influenced by the terror propaganda of IS operatives
on social media, according to the Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS).
The girl had been provided counselling by the ATS in
December 2015 after it was revealed that “she had decided to go to Syria” to
join the IS. The girl, now 17, was nabbed in Delhi by investigative agencies a
couple of days ago. After questioning her, the investigators handed the girl
back to her family, but cautioned them that she had been highly ‘radicalised’
and needed counselling by experienced Islamic scholars for ‘de-radicalisation’.
Investigators suspect that the girl travelled to
Delhi from Pune without informing her family, and she was planning to meet some
persons in Jammu and Kashmir. The probe agencies are now trying to ascertain
who the teenager was in touch with on social networking sites and whether any
online terror handlers were trying to indoctrinate her, to make her leave India
and join the IS.
The agencies are also keeping a watch on the
movement of the girl. In 2015, the girl, a resident of Kondhwa, was found to be
connected on Facebook with Mohammed Sirajuddin, who had been arrested from
Jaipur for his alleged links with the IS, said ATS officials. But she had not
made any attempts to contact Sirajuddin directly, they said.
According to sources, the teenager, a bright student
from a Pune-based college, used to watch news pertaining to IS and had joined
the FB group out of curiosity. That’s how she came in contact with a Sri Lankan
national suspected to be an IS operative, said sources. The girl allegedly
later came in contact with more Indians and foreigners, who were online terror
operatives, on social media. She allegedly started communicating with them
through FB, Twitter, WhatsApp and e-mail.
According to the ATS, the online operatives
brainwashed her and she started believing in IS propaganda about establishing a
Caliphate. She was even prepared to go to Syria to join the IS, said ATS
officials The operatives had assured her that she would be given admission to a
medical course in Syria, and she was told to be “ready to do anything for IS”
in India, said the ATS.
The teenager was ‘radicalised’ to such an extent
that she changed her lifestyle, and her fanatical behaviour left her family
members worried, said officials. It was then that ATS officials had stepped in
to “de-radicalise” her with the help of Islamic scholars, said sources in the
squad.
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