NEW DELHI, Dec. 13 (UPI) -- A 24-year-old Indian computer engineer who ran a Twitter account that glorified the Islamic State terrorist group was arrested and charged with cyber-terrorist offenses.
Indian police said Mehdi Masoor Biswas was charged with trying to "wage war against Asiatic powers," The Washington Post reported. Police added he likely does not have direct links to any Muslim extremist groups.
Authorities said Biswas used the Twitter handle @ShamiWitness for years and was one of the main English-language sources about the group. The IS militant group is known to use social media to recruit fighters and disseminate information. The @ShamiWitness account had more than 17,700 followers before it shut down.
Biswas was exposed by Britain's Channel 4 and identified only as Mehdi. He told Channel 4 "If I had a chance to leave everything and join them I might have" but that "my family needs me here."
Biswas told The Indian Express that he is not @ShamiWitness or a member of any organization "that should evoke suspicion," and only told Channel 4 that he was responsible for the Twitter account in the hope that they wouldn't run the story.
"But I am telling you that I am not @ShamiWitness. Somebody must have hacked my email account which I used as [email protected] and used it to upload stuff. I have been framed. Someone must have planted this."
