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Ramanathapuram: Two men have been arrested in Ramanathapuram in Tamil Nadu for suspected links with the Sunni militant group ISIS after a photo showing them sporting T-shirts that carried the group's emblem went viral on social media.
The duo allegedly distributed the T-shirts to the 24 other men who are also part of the group photograph that first appeared on a social networking site after Eid last week.
"Both these men are active supporters of the ISIS and were seeking the support of others... They celebrated the cause of ISIS by distributing T-shirts with the insurgent group's emblem," a senior police officer told NDTV. A case has been registered against them under the Criminal Law Amendment Act for allegedly abetting insurgent activity.
However, sources close to the two men deny that they were supporters of the ISIS or the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, an Al Qaeda breakaway group which has captured large swathes of Iraq and Syria and declared a Muslim "caliphate".
Instead, they claimed that wearing the T-shirts was their way of celebrating the return of the Indian nurses from war-torn Iraq. Over 45 nurses were released unharmed by the ISIS in Iraq early last month after being held captive for over a week.
Police say one of the accused, 24-year-old Abdul Rahman had placed an order for 100 T-shirts through Rilvan, the other man arrested, from a firm in Tirupur district. Cops also claim that Rahman frequently travelled to Thailand and Singapore on tourist visa for business.
The photograph in question was taken in front of a mosque at Thondi.
Initial investigation has revealed that the person who took the photograph had gone abroad and had uploaded the picture on a social networking site. The picture has now been taken off the site.
Two Arrested in Tamil Nadu Over Group Photo in ISIS T-shirts - NDTV