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Twitter's response to Bengaluru man's ISIS handle

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IS का ट्विटर हैंडल चलाने वाले की तलाश में खुफिया टीमें

BENGALURU: Senior Bengaluru police officials said that a search is on for the man who is suspected to have operated ISIS 's most successful Twitter account, @ShamiWitnes.The officials, speaking to TOI on condition of anonymity, said that the man may have fled the city. They added that the cyber cell, however, is still trying to get leads on him.Bengaluru city commissioner MN Reddi on Friday said that the task of investigation has been given to the central crime branch.The man, who was identified as Mehdi, works with a multinational advertisement firm in the city and lives with his family here.This particular Twitter handle went on air last year and since has been posting photos and videos of ISIS aggression. He even posted ISIS updates from the front lines, according to a British news channel."If I had a chance, I would have left everything and joined them. But my family needs me here," Mehdi told UK's Channel 4. He also said he is in contact with British jihadis and announced that he believed in beheading.The account, which had nearly 18,000 followers, has been shut down following reports.On Twitter, the account was reportedly followed by jihadist fighters and Middle East analysts.The man had been encouraging ISIS fighters through his tweets, and had several times posted the video of US aid worker Peter Kassig's beheading.Channel 4 reported that his Facebook account was markedly different and had routine updates about dinners and work parties.While his Twitter account has been shut down, a blogspot page — linked in his Twitter bio — is still live. The latest blog here is from June last year, titled, "On al Baghdadi's disobedience of Dr Zawahiri", addressing inter-jihadi disputes.Another one from May 2013 is titled "When Jihadists are the only ones left standing". Here he talks about the incipient beginnings of ISIS, as noticed through videos doing the rounds online."This is a huge opportunity for jihadist expansion. All the regime advances are happening at the expense of the mostly SMC-allied brigades which are losing ground, partly due to lack of weapons. A logical next step for these hapless fighters would be to ally with the one force that very rarely loses territory to Assad regime : Jabhat an Nusra and allied jihadists."