The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday said that they have arrested one 28-year-old man from coastal Karnataka in connection with a case registered in West Bengal in March involving terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba. The accused has been identified as one Sayyad M Idris, son of Ibrahim Sab and a resident of Uttara Kannada in Karnataka. He was produced in a local court to seek transit remand so that he could be produced before a Kolkata court.

The NIA said Idris was allegedly part of various social media groups run by Pakistani-based LeT handlers in their effort to recruit individuals for sleeper cells and for furthering terrorist activities. 

In a statement, the NIA said, “The case arose out of West Bengal, Baduria PS FIR No. 150/2020 dated 18.03.2020 pertaining to Pakistan-based handlers belonging to proscribed terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba using various social media platforms to radicalize and recruit vulnerable youth for sleeper cells, to propagate their ideology and for abetting and advocating unlawful activities.” 

The accused was produced before a local court in Uttara Kannada and a transit remand was taken to produce him before NIA Court, Kolkata. In this case, a chargesheet has already been filed against accused Tania Parvin, a resident of  Kolkata earlier on September 10. At the time, the NIA had said she allegedly got radicalised in cyberspace by Pakistan-based cadres of LeT. She gradually became part of about 70 jihadi groups on social media, which propagated a terrorist ideology advocating a skewed version of Islamic Jihad with an aim to further radicalise and recruit impressionable Muslim youth. Other than this she was also tasked with making fake profiles on social media to honeytrap Indian armed forces personnel and  obtain sensitive strategic information.

According to the NIA, she was handled by Hafiz Saeed, the founder of banned terror outfit Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD).