Arrested IS linkmen from Bengal used Telegram Web to contact their handlers in Syria

Kolkata, Jan 8 Mohammad Saddam and Syed Ahmed, the two local Islamic State (IS) linkmen arrested from Howrah district in West Bengal by the Kolkata Police, used Telegram Web links to interact with their handlers in Syria.

The two were arrested by the sleuths of the Special Task Force (STF) on Saturday.

Some interactions were made with their handlers in Saudi Arabia also, said sources.

City Police sources said that the examination of the laptop and mobile phones seized from them revealed around 20 such Telegram Web interactions, most of which were with their handlers in Syria and some in Saudi Arabia.

The STF sleuths have also tracked information about Saddam moving frequently to different parts of the country, which had made them believe that his area of operations was not just concentrated in West Bengal.

On the other hand, Syed Ahmed, a student of mechanical engineering at the Aliah University, was comparatively a new entrant in this cell. He has admitted to the investigating sleuths that he was brought in the cell by Saddam, who himself is a qualified engineer and was employed with a private company.

Preliminary investigation has revealed that in West Bengal they were engaged mainly in brainwashing youths to join the IS and also arrange funds to spread their network in the state.

"One thing is clear that Syed Ahmed is the recruit of Saddam in the cell. Now the question is who is the immediate higher-up of Saddam or rather who recruited him for the cell. Once our investigation officials are able to crack that more important clues in the chain of links will come in hand," a city police official said.

They were arrested on Saturday while they were going on a motorcycle to attend a secret meeting at the Khidirpur area in Kolkata. "We are trying to know what the agenda of the meeting was all about. This time is extremely crucial because of the Gangasagar Mela in Sagar islands starting from Monday," the official said.

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