Touseef Ali Farooqui, a fourth-year student in the Bioscience department at IIT Guwahati, was detained on Saturday. Assam Police’s special task force (STF) officials disclosed that an email penned by Touseef to his family played a crucial role in his arrest. The arrest took place in Kamrup district of Assam as the student attempted to leave the country, allegedly to join the terrorist group Islamic State ISIS.
Kalyan Kumar Pathak, additional superintendent of police for STF Assam, stated that they received information through local news portals and swiftly acted upon it. Touseef’s hostel room was found closed, prompting authorities to delve deeper into the matter.
Further investigation revealed that Touseef hails from Manipur and had a limited circle of friends. He had sent an email to his family, IIT-G authorities, and the police, in which he used symbols reminiscent of those associated with IS. This raised concerns and prompted the authorities to take action.
Touseef left his hostel room on Saturday afternoon, and his whereabouts were traced to Damdama Bus Stand in Hajo, Kamrup, where he was apprehended by locals. Upon verification, he was confirmed to be the IIT-G student and was taken into custody by the police.
A black flag, allegedly similar to that of ISIS, was found in his hostel room and sent for verification. The police are investigating the intention behind the email and examining the items seized. The director general of police for Assam confirmed the detention of the student and stated that further lawful procedures would ensue.
The arrest comes shortly after the apprehension of IS India head Haris Farooqi and his associate Anurag Singh in Dhubri district. Farooqi, a resident of Dehradun, and Singh, from Panipat, were reportedly planning to establish an ISIS network in the northeast region.
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