Govt has info that some individuals, including from South, joined IS: G Kishan Reddy

Some instances of individuals from different states, including from southern ones, having joined terror group Islamic State (IS) have come to the notice of government agencies, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Wednesday.

Union Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy said the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has registered 17 cases related to the presence of IS in the southern states of Telangana, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, and arrested 122 accused.

"Some instances of individuals from different states, including southern states, having joined Islamic State (IS) have come to the notice of central and state security agencies," he said in a written response to a question.

The minister said NIA investigations have revealed that the Islamic State is most active in Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.

"The IS is using various internet based social media platforms to propagate its ideology. Cyber space is being closely watched in this regard by the agencies concerned and action is taken as per law," he said.

The minister said the government has information on how these people are being funded and whether they are getting any foreign funding to activate their terror activities.

Reddy said the Islamic State, Islamic State of Iraq and Levant, Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, Daish, Islamic State in Khorasan Province (ISKP), ISIS Wilayat Khorasan, Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham-Khorasan (ISIS-K) and all its manifestations have been notified as terrorist organisation and included in the First Schedule to the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 by the central government.