HYDERABAD: Four city-based youth detained by a security agency in Kolkata for attempting to join the ISIS, a Sunni Jihadist militant group, were brought to the city and handed over to their parents after providing proper counselling.
Once informed about them, the Counter Intelligence Cell officials have been regularly monitoring their Facebook and Twitter accounts to collect more data.
The students were pursuing engineering courses in various colleges in the city. They were tracked down to Kolkata last week from where they were allegedly preparing to flee to Iraq to join the ISIS. “We gave strict warnings to parents of the youth to take measures to mend their ways. The local police, however, will keep a vigil on their activities,” sources told Express.
The officials said the youth never got in touch with any ISIS agent or member. Though police tracked the profiles and e-mail IDs, there were no proper proof to suggest that the ISIS agents were in touch with them. The youth might have been attracted by speeches of ISIS leaders on YouTube, they said. According to information received by intelligence agencies, several youth from states such as Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka have crossed the border to work for the ISIS. Police teams are monitoring such movements. Some police officials who questioned the four are understood have learnt their names and addresses among others.
“This is not the first time such a thing is coming to our notice. Earlier, the security agencies along the border have caught many persons belonging to the city and other parts of Telangana. We will take the issue seriously to prevent such incidents, while sensitising the parents of youth and their family members,” an officer said.