Twitter India chief summoned over Mehdi Masroor Biswas case

The Bengaluru police has reportedly summoned Twitter India’s marketing head to get under the hood of the Mehdi Masroor Biswas case. Mehdi Masroor Biswas, who works in Bengaluru, allegedly created and operated the Twitter account @ShamiWitness. The account supported the Islamic State group and was used for sending pro-Islamic State tweets. According to Economic Times, Twitter India’s marketing head was summoned today as the social networking site did not offer the expected co-operation to the Bengaluru police. Twitter had said that it does not comment on individual accounts for privacy and security reasons and does not proactively monitor content on the platform. “We asked for certain information five days ago, but we are not happy with the way Twitter officials have responded. So we have issued a notice, asking the company’s India market head to appear before us before 5 pm on Monday,” DCP (Crime) Abhishek Goyal told Economic Times. The Twitter account, @ShamiWitness, had 17,700 followers, including many foreigners fighting for the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq.  It was later shut down following a report by Britain’s Channel 4 News. According to an AFP report , Bengaluru police officials raided his house and seized his mobile phone, laptop and other documents for evidence. “On the basis of credible intelligence inputs… we have apprehended Mehdi Masroor Biswas from his rented one-room apartment,” Karnataka Police Director General L.R. Pachuau said at a news conference. The accused, Mehdi Masroor Biswas, has reportedly confessed to the fact that he was operating the @ShamiWitness Twitter account for years.