Bhuj man arrested for online posts on ‘ISIS ideology’

Gagada was booked in an FIR registered at Paddhar police station under BNS section 197 (which punishes acts, speech, or publications that cause or are likely to cause disharmony, hatred, or enmity between groups based on religion, race, caste, community, or language, and those prejudicial to national integration). His three phones were seized and have been sent to the FSL to recover data.

Speaking to The Indian Express, PI A D Parmar of SOG, Kutch (West) said, “Gagada has been working as a truck driver in Kutch for the past four years. Before that, he had briefly gone to Saudi Arabia to work as a driver. There, his passport had been impounded by his employer for a period of two years which was the term of his contract. However, he wanted to return to India within 6 months but was not getting his passport back. So, on someone’s advice, he went to Mecca and was caught selling old clothes without a permit.”

Since Gagada did not have his own passport, he was issued an Emergency Certificate, sometimes called a “white passport”, by the Indian Embassy, as a one-way travel document, and then was promptly deported to India by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Since he came back to India, officials said, “He began following videos of Dr Zakir Naik and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and used to put up status on social media based on the same. The spread of this ideology is banned in India. We have now sent his phones to the FSL for their reports. Further action will be taken on the basis of those reports,” said PI Parmar.