Police notice on ISIS suspects keeps residents on tenterhooks, info turns out to be false

The notice by the Sushant Lok police station had cautioned the residents’ welfare associations of Sushant Lok and Ardee City to keep a watch on three suspects “living in the area after joining ISIS”.

A notice by Gurgaon police on Saturday that three ISIS cadres were living in Sushant Lok created panic among residents of the area. However, after four days of keeping residents on tenterhooks, the police clarified late Wednesday evening that the alert was issued “based on false information”.

Worried RWAs of Sushant Lok and Ardee City (above) circulated the printouts among residents, upped security, and asked all vendors, shopkeepers and paying guest owners to keep a watch on the movement of ‘suspicious’ people. (HT Photo)

The notice by the Sushant Lok police station had cautioned the residents’ welfare associations of Sushant Lok and Ardee City to keep a watch on three suspects “living in the area after joining ISIS”.

On Wednesday evening, the police clarified the information was wrong. They said a fake complaint was lodged at the cyber cell on the basis of which the Sushant Lok police had issued the alert.

But by then, worried RWAs had already circulated the printouts among residents, upped security in the area, and asked all vendors, shopkeepers and paying guest owners to keep a watch on movement of the ‘suspects’.

In its circular, the police claimed that the cyber cell had information about three persons -- Mohammad Khalid, Salman Kalim, and Rashid Ali -- having joined ISIS and were residing in the area. The notice asked the RWAs to search the area and report on whether the suspects lived in their respective areas.

The locality has more than over 6,000 families residing in nearly 3,000 homes. There are 22 gates and about 80 CCTV cameras and security was stepped up at all the gates.

Romesh Kumar, president of Ardee City RWA, said the notice was handed over to the builder who maintains the area. He said the residents were alert as the notice came from the police.

On Wednesday evening, deputy commissioner of police (east) Deepak Saharan clarified that the complaint was false.

“Regarding a complaint filed by a woman against three persons, stated to be working as ISIS activists in Sushant Lok area, this is to update you that the complainant completely denied the facts and stated that somebody else filed a false complaint on her behalf,” he said.

A source close to the matter said the complaint was filed in the name of a woman resident of Sushant Lok and it seemed someone was trying to harass her. The officer said the cyber cell released the notice to Sushant Lok police station in a hurry without verifying the facts.