An engineering student from Ambur, Tirupattur district of Tamil Nadu, was arrested after several hours of quizzing by the Intelligence Bureau (IB) for alleged links to ISIS, the banned terrorist organisation.
Police said he conspired with ISIS to carry out terror attacks and instill fear among non-Muslims, as stated in a report by The New Indian Express.
Ali (22), is a third-year engineering student who caught the eye of IB after liking and sharing social media posts of ISIS. He lived at Neelikollai in Ambur Town, Tirupattur, and studied at a private college in Melvisharam, Ranipet.
Around 4 am on Saturday, IB officials, with help from local police, picked him up from his house and confiscated his mobile phones and laptop. They took him about 35 km away, to the Anaicut police station in Vellore, and interrogated him for several hours.
During the interrogation, it was found that Ali had links to ISIS, and was in touch with the organisation on social media platforms such as Instagram and Telegram, police said.
Based on the investigation, the Ambur Town police registered an FIR - under Sections 121 (waging war, or attempting to wage war, or abetting the waging of war against the Government of India), 122 (collecting arms, etc. with intention of waging war against the Government of India), and 125 (waging war or abetting the waging of war against any Asiatic power in alliance or at peace with the Government of India) of the IPC, and various sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 - and arrested Ali.
Around midnight on Saturday, he was escorted to the Vellore Central Prison and remanded in judicial custody.
