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@shamiwitness: India arrests man over pro-Islamic State tweets | |
(about 1 hour later) | |
A man suspected of running an influential Twitter account promoting Islamic State (IS) has been arrested in southern India, police say. | |
The man, a 24-year-old working in Bangalore, was named as Mehdi Masroor Biswas. | |
It comes after the British network Channel Four said it had identified the man running the account. | |
The @ShamiWitness account, which has since closed, provided news on IS and celebrated its rise in Syria and Iraq. | |
Police said Mr Biswas was arrested for cyber-terrorism offences and crimes against the state, but they do not believe he has actual links to IS. | |
'Family needs me' | |
An engineer by training, Mr Biswas went online late at night to "ferociously tweet" information about IS, police said. | |
With nearly 18,000 followers, @ShamiWitness was one of the main sources of information about the group in English. | With nearly 18,000 followers, @ShamiWitness was one of the main sources of information about the group in English. |
The IS militant group has used social media to recruit foreign fighters and to disseminate videos of their fighters beheading Western journalists and aid workers. | The IS militant group has used social media to recruit foreign fighters and to disseminate videos of their fighters beheading Western journalists and aid workers. |
The Channel Four report said he told followers that he would have joined IS himself if his family did not depend on him. | |
"If I had a chance to leave everything and join them I might have... my family needs me here," he said. |