Guwahati, Mar 25, 2024, IANS

Guwahati, March 24 (IANS) A student from IIT Guwahati was detained on Saturday night near Hajo in Assam's Kamrup district, according to police, after he allegedly swore allegiance to ISIS and was on his way to join the terrorist outfit.

This comes four days after ISIS India chief Haris Farooqi, also known as Harish Ajmal Farukhi, and his accomplice Anurag Singh, also known as Rehan, were taken into custody in the Dhubri district following their crossing from Bangladesh.

Assam Director General of Police G.P. Singh posted on X, “Reference IIT Guwahati student pleading allegiance to ISIS – the said student has been detained while travelling and further lawful follow up would take place.”

Additional Superintendent of Police (STF) Kalyan Kumar Pathak said, “We got about to verify the authenticity of the contents after receiving an email and started an investigation... The email was written by the student, in which he stated that he was en route to join ISIS.”

According to Pathak, the IIT Guwahati officials were notified right away and it was learnt that the student in question had gone "missing" and his cell phone had been turned off.

The police officer said that the student hails from Okhla in Delhi and was a fourth-year student.

After a search operation was launched, the student was found in the Hajo area, some 30 km from Guwahati, with the assistance of the locals, according to police.

“Following preliminary interrogation, he has been taken to the STF office. We are confirming the email's motivation,” said Pathak.

According to him, a black flag that was allegedly similar to that of ISIS was found in the student’s dorm room and was being forwarded to specialized organizations that handle banned clothing for verification.