BENGALURU: The City police will need Central Government’s nod to charghesheet pro-Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) twitter handler Mehdi Masroor Biswas. Along with other legal sections, Mehdi has been charged under Section 125 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for waging war against an Asiatic power in alliance or at peace with the Government of India, for which the Central government’s approval is mandatory.
“It is a legal provision to get Central government permission on the use of Section 125 in a case. Once the sanction comes through we will finalise the chargesheet against Mehdi,” said an official source.
The officer added that Section 66 of the Information Technology (IT) Act - another prominent section under which Mehdi was arrested for allegedly indulging in cyber terrorism by posting pro ISIS tweets at his twitter handle @ShamiWitness may be “immaterial” now after the Supreme Court struck down the section last month as unconstitutional.
“There is enough evidence against him including the fact that he had used his email id - ElSaltador@gmail.com to upload jehadi tweets,” the officer added. Mehdi was outed in December last year by UK’s Channel 4, which was tracking his tweets and exposed him in a covert interview.
Mehdi had later denied that @ShamiWitness was his twitter handle and told a media house that somebody had hacked his email account - ElSaltador@gmail.com to upload “stuff.” His tweets on @ShamiWintess had over 18,000 followers, two million viewers and two-thirds of all foreign fighters, who had allegedly joined the ISIS, followed his tweets.
He was arrested in the City on December 13 under Section 125 of the IPC, Sections 18 and 39 of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and Section 66 of the Information Technology Act. He is lodged in judicial custody at the Bengaluru Central Prison.
