Delhi Police Arrests 20-Year-Old CA Aspirant for Alleged Links With ISIS

Delhi Police Arrests 20-Year-Old CA Aspirant for Alleged Links With ISIS

The Delhi Police Special Cell, with help from the Madhya Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), has arrested a 20 year-old man from Bhopal for having an alleged connection with an Islamic State (ISIS)-inspired terror module.

The man was an aspiring Chartered Accountant (CA) and originated from a middle-class family. His father is an accountant while his mother is a housewife.

Investigators say that behind the ordinary image of a student’s life, he was being brainwashed online through an encrypted social media group, and slowly he was drawn into the web of ISIS propaganda and extremist ideology.

However, this is not his first brush with law enforcement. Sixteen months ago, the Uttar Pradesh ATS (Anti-Terrorism Squad) took him into custody for uploading a threatening message to a judge who was involved in the Gyanvapi Mosque case, the same judge who had ordered an Archaeological Survey Of India (ASI) survey of the disputed site in Varanasi.

Earlier investigations exposed that he was active in multiple WhatsApp groups located in Lucknow connected to ISIS sympathisers.

While he was preparing for his CA exams in Bhopal, he allegedly maintained constant contact with radical handlers online, absorbing their ideology and spreading their content.

According to the police, he was slowly influenced by people linked to ISIS. These recruiters took advantage of his curiosity and loneliness while he was online.

The police have taken his phone and laptop. Computer experts are now checking his messages and internet activity to find others who might be part of the same group.

Notably, this is the second ISIS-linked arrest reported from Madhya Pradesh in just one month. Previously, a 26-year-old who was identified as Kamran Qureshi from Biaora town in Rajgarh district was arrested.