An Indian was behind the twitter account @shamiwitness, a top propaganda site for Islamic State, claims report
Intelligence agencies are investigating a Bengaluru-based executive who allegedly operated Islamic State's most influential Twitter account and could be one of the biggest online recruiters for the terror group.
The National Investigation Agency was reportedly aware of the twitter account "@shamiwitness" and was tracking it even before Britain's Channel 4 News came up with its report on the account holder, allegedly a marketing executive with an Indian conglomerate, whose first name is revealed as "Mehdi".
"His tweets, written under the name Shami Witness, were seen two million times each month, making him perhaps the most influential Islamic State Twitter account, with over 17,700 followers," the channel said.
Sources say the police in Bengaluru had already been alerted and verifications had begun.
"India will seek access to servers to try and track the man down," sources told NDTV.
Channel 4 News revealed that it traced the man after learning that he used the Twitter handle El-Saltador once. The same name was used for a Google Plus and Facebook account. And through these, the channel saw photos of the man and his location.
The man has since shut down the account, which the channel said was a leading source of information between jihadis, supporters, and recruits.
"He spent his mornings, afternoons and evenings sending thousands of tweets of propaganda about Islamic State," the news channel said, claiming that two thirds of all foreign fighters on Twitter followed him.
The channel quoted "Mehdi" as saying he would have joined Islamic State, but his family was financially dependent on him. "If I had a chance to leave everything and join them I might have... My family needs me here," he is quoted as saying.
Asked whether he agreed with the methods of ISIS, he replied, "Not all methods, no, but maybe yeah, but mostly."
The channel says the man, on his Facebook pages, "regularly shares jokes, funny images and talks about superhero movies, posting pictures of pizza dinners with friends, and Hawaiian parties at work." He has also spoken out against rape on that account.
"We are investigating the matter. We have always been alert and we will try to get more details," Bengaluru police commissioner MN Reddi told NDTV.