Stephan Kayyar
Daijiworld Media Network - Kasargod (RJP)

Kasargod, May 7: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has found pro-ISIS messages being circulated on WhatsApp and begun a probe on Sunday, May 7.

The investigation follows a complaint by a local named Haris Mastan who allegedly received a WhatsApp message in Malayalam promoting the dreaded Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terror organization.

The message was received on Saturday May 6 and Mastan immediately informed Kasargod police about it. The police in turn brought this to the notice of NIA through state top brass.

The name of the WhatsApp group is 'Message to Kerala'.

NIA sources said the investigation on this issue has already begun.

Mastan received a message that he was one of the 200 people inducted into the WhatsApp group. When he asked the administrator though a message as to what the motive of the group was, he was sent a pro-IS message based on which he lodged the complaint.

The group administrator of the WhatsApp group is believed to be a youth from Palakkad named Abu Isa who has been reported missing for some time.

However, media reports stated that the group was started by a native of Kasargod named Abdul Rashid, using a mobile number he had taken from Afghanistan. Rashid had earlier allegedly transported 21 people to Afghanistan, said a report in The New Indian Express.

"We have examined a few witnesses at Kasargod and extracted messages as part of the investigation into the IS case being probed by our team," NIA officers were quoted as saying.

"It might be part of dawah work assigned by the people handling them in Afghanistan," the officer said.

Mastan said he was added to the group without his permission and knowledge.

It may be recalled that 21 people - 17 from Kasargod district and four from Palakkad district have gone missing, and have reportedly joined the terror organisation in Syria.

In the last two months, three youths from Kasargod district were reported to have been killed in the US-led strikes against the IS. Their relatives received social media messages about their deaths.

It is learned that the message came from a number registered in Afghanistan.

The NIA has however decided not to register a case in this matter as it will include this as part of its investigation against the 14 persons who had migrated to Afghanistan from Kasargod.

With Inputs from Agencies