On Saturday, four families in the city of Rampur, Uttar Pradesh received a threat letter signed by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) warning of a huge terror attack in the year 2024. The families have also been warned about a sarin gas attack by the year 2024. The ISIS letter demanded a pen drive and a map that they claim belongs to them, and they will be killed if they don’t hand over the items.
“Maybe you people don’t know what is happening with you… I can take lives of you people whenever I want”, the letter roughly read adding that the pen drive has some videos which have been probably taken by some security agency officer who belongs to the same village. The pen drive that was hidden abroad will be brought to India by August 20, the letter stated.
“These maps will be brought to India by August 20 and there is a plan to hand them over to Home Minister Amit Shah. That officer will try his best to hand over all those pen drives and maps to the government, but if he tries to do something all of you will be killed… I will never allow security agencies to reach you. So it is better to think about your future because by August 19, I will have every information about you along with your photo”, the letter signed by ISIS read.
It also threatened the family which is a resident of Anwa village in Shahbad Tehsil of Rampur of Sarin gas attack. “You also have to take care of Sarin Gas. A single mistake can kill many people”, the letter written on yellow paper read. It also blatantly mentioned that all the judges, leaders, officers, etc were on sale in India. Sarin gas is highly toxic and considered 20 times as deadly as cyanide.
The families, however, informed the Times of India that they don’t have any clue about the items that have been demanded by ISIS in the letter. The Police have reportedly been informed about the matter and the investigation is being done by the intelligence agencies to find out the seriousness of the threats and also whether the letter is fake or real.
Reports mention that the Police are scanning notorious elements in the village with the help of the local intelligence units. The police stated that there is no CCTV in the village which could have helped to identify who kept the letter outside the houses. While the letter has been written by someone who is educated, the police claim that the incident might be an attempt to disturb the peace in the village as all the families belong to the same faith.
A heavy police force has been deployed in the village which has a population of around 1200. Investigations in the case are underway.
