ITC confirms IS supporter Mehdi Biswas is an employee

Mehdi Masroor Biswas, an Indian supporter of the Islamic State (IS) terror group, who was arrested here early Saturday, is an employee of Indian conglomerate ITC Ltd, the company said.

“An employee has been arrested by Bengaluru Police in connection with an allegedly objectionable social media activity carried out under a pseudonym,” ITC vice-president Nazeeb Arif said in a statement from Kolkata.

“We informed police about his employment status following media reports on him and extended cooperation to the investigation,” Arif said.

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Mehdi, 24, who was selected by the company from campus recruitment, worked in a junior trainee capacity for two years before he was confirmed in March this year as an executive in the company’s Bengaluru operations.

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“As part of our routine recruitment requirements, we visit several technical and management institutes. In such cases, where a candidate does not have prior work experience, we do a reference check with the educational institution,” Arif said.

The company, however, clarified that Mehdi did not have access to external social media platforms from its office network.

Mehdi’s arrest came two days after British Channel 4 News Thursday reported from London that he was part of the IS terror group’s Twitter activities and was regularly tweeting from this city.

Police registered a case against Mehdi under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Information Technology (IT) Act for waging war against the country.

IANS