Soon after the pro-IS Twitter account @ShamiWitness was shut down when a British news channel traced and interviewed its owner Mehdi Masroor Biswas, a new Twitter page @ShamiWitness_2 has surfaced.
The tweets that were on @ShamiWitness are being re-tweeted by the followers of the new page. By Sunday night, the new page had four tweets and 1,355 followers. The tweets states that they are for @ShamiWitness and want Mehdi to be freed at the earliest.
When asked about the new Twitter page, a senior officer from the City police said, “It has been brought to our notice and the work is already on to block the page. Efforts are being made to trace the person handling the page. We have still not received any information as to where the person is operating the Twitter account from. More details will be ascertained after zeroing in on the person. The tweets on the page seem as if the person is showing solidarity with Mehdi after his arrest and asking that he be freed,” the officer said. The first tweet posted on the new page on December 12 says: “So wait; indeed we, along with you, are waiting.”
Various theories are doing the rounds on how Mehdi was traced. According to one version, he was tracked down with the help of his mobile phone number and inputs from central intelligence agencies.
On the other, it is said that he was tracked down after examining the blurred image of him which was flashed on Channel 4. The police, based on his T-shirt colour, started checking if a similar photograph was found on Facebook. They were lucky to find a profile in the name of the accused with a profile photo in which he was wearing the same coloured T-shirt, along with other credentials which matched, said sources.
A senior police officer said, “The operation to trace him was planned with top officers and intelligence agencies. These plans cannot be revealed as these are methods used by officers to nab any high-profile accused.”
The police found that his IP address was masked and they could not trace him through that.
DH News Service
Deccan Herald is on WhatsApp Channels| Join now for Breaking News & Editor's Picks