Pune: A 16-year-old Muslim girl, who was reportedly radicalised by her ISIS contacts abroad and brain-washed to go to Syria, was questioned by the Pune Anti-Terrorism Squad and sent to a de-radicalisation programme.
The ATS had been monitoring her online conversations over the last few months since she had started searching about ISIS over the web. She had got in touch with a person from Sri Lanka and thereafter started chatting with people with different countries on Facebook, Twitter, Telegram and email.
She was also in touch with Sirajuddin who was arrested from Rajasthan. ATS has recorded their conversation. An ISIS handler arrested from Rajasthan, Sirajuddin had assured her that they will fund her further studies (medicine) after she comes to Syria.
ATS source says there was a drastic change in her behaviour over the last 4 months. She stopped wearing jeans and opted for burqa and hijab and that she was planning to leave the country and join ISIS.
According to the ATS, the minor girl got attracted to the ISIS ideology after watching a documentary on television and subsequently started regularly monitoring news on Al Jazeera channel.
"Later, she used the internet to get in touch with ISIS contacts and got in touch with about 200 young persons from different countries. Her interrogation revealed that she was told to come to Syria for medical education and for further initiation," Pune ATS officer Bhanupratap Barge said.
According to the officer, the girl is a bright convent educated class XI student, studying in a city college. "The girl was interrogated by the ATS last week after monitoring her movements for many days on getting information about her. It confirmed her initiation by the ISIS. The interrogation of the girl revealed that she was ready to go to any extent to carry out the ISIS directive," Barge said.
The girl is now undergoing a de-radicalisation programme with the help of her family members and community religious leaders. Barge said the de-radicalisation programme of the ATS with the help of community clergy and family members was "working" for the girl with encouraging results.
Pune has been on the terrorist radar and had witnessed bomb blasts including the German Bakery blast that killed 17 persons including many foreigners in 2010.
(With PTI inputs)
Comments
0 comment