ISIS propaganda on social media attracted Hyderabadi girl in Qatar

Hyderabad: Hyderabad police Saturday said that a city girl residing in Qatar planned to join ISIS and went up to Turkey but came back without joining the terror group.

The teenager has returned to her parents in Hyderabad and police have counselled her.

Commissioner of Police M. Mahendar Reddy, however, clarified that she neither joined the terror outfit nor underwent any training.

The police chief said the 19-year-old was not brought back by police but returned on her own.

The girl along with a woman living in her apartment building in Doha went up to Turkey to join ISIS. However, they changed their mind after seeing the conditions in Iraq and Syria and returned to Qatar.

The girl, whose identity has not been revealed, later came back to the city. The commissioner said the incident took place two months ago. "She had been living in Qatar for 10 years," Mahender Reddy said.

The incident has come to light close on the heels of arrest of an engineer from the city, who was planning to join ISIS in Syria.

The 32-year-old US-returned techie was arrested at Hyderabad airport on Jan 16 when he was about to leave for Dubai. Police claimed that Salman Mohiuddin, during his stay in the US, had come in touch with a British woman living in Dubai, via social networking sites.

Last year, the city police had prevented six youths including a former employee of Google, from leaving for Iraq to join ISIS.

Police said in all cases reported so far the youth were attracted by the propaganda over social networking sites. The commissioner said they were keeping a close tab on the activities of youth, who scan ISIS related material on Internet or in contact with sympathizers of the outfit.

He said after identifying such youth, police were counselling them with the help of parents.