TN engineering student arrested for IS links

Chennai, July 31 A 22-year-old engineering student has been arrested for allegedly having links with Islamic State (IS) and planning a terror attack.

Meer Anas Ali, a resident of Masudi street in Ambur district of Tamil Nadu was arrested by the police on Saturday after Central intelligence agencies received information about him having regular contact with the IS groups through telegram and other social media platforms.

Ali, who is a third-year Mechanical Engineering student at a private college in Ranipet district of Tamil Nadu, was taken to Anaicut police station in Vellore, police sources told .

Ali has come on the radar of Central Intelligence Bureau after some of his online activities raised suspicion in the police officers.

According to sources in the Tamil Nadu police, Ali was conspiring to kill an important personality in Tamil Nadu to instill fear among the non-Muslim communities in the state.

Police have registered FIR against him under IPC Sections 121 (waging war, or attempting to wage war or abetting the waging of war against the Indian state), 122 (collecting arms, etc with the intention of waging a war against India, 125 (waging of war or abetting of war against any Asiatic power that is in alliance with India) and various other sections under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).

He was produced before a magistrate court during the early hours of Sunday and remanded in Vellore Central Prison.