Islamic State audio clip calls for Las Vegas-style attack on Kumbh Mela, Thrissur Pooram; police traces source to Afghanistan

The Islamic State has reportedly released an audio clip in Malayalam, calling for Las Vegas-style lone-wolf terror attacks  at crowded places in India, such as the Kumbh Mela and Thirssur Pooram.

In the 10-minute-long audio clip, which is believed to be from regional Islamic State outfit Daulatul Islam, a male voice quotes verses from the Quran warning of terror attacks in India, Zee News  reported.

“You use your intellect. Poison them in food. Use trucks. Drive over them at Thirssur Pooram or at Maha Kumbh Mela. Islamic State Mujahideen are doing it in several parts of the world. In Las Vegas, one of our supporters killed many people at a music concert. At least you should try to derail a train. Or use a knife,” the voice in the clip says, according to the report.

Police said the audio clip was transmitted over the Telegram Messenger app from Afghanistan, and the voice belongs to Rashid Abdullah, the leader of the Kasaragod Islamic State module, who left the country to join the outfit in Afghanistan, Outlook  reported.

The report added that Abdullah has been chargesheeted by the National Investigation Agency under Sections  120B r/w 125 of the Indian Penal Code and sections 38,39 and 40 of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. Interpol had also issued a red notice against him.

PTI had earlier quoted Kerala police officers as saying that about 100 people from the state were suspected to have joined the Islamic State .

Kumbh Mela is one of the biggest religious events in the world where over a million pilgrims gather to offer prayers.

In early October, at least 58 people were killed and 500 injured when a heavily armed “lone wolf” gunman opened fire from a 32-floor hotel room on an open-air concert on the Las Vegas Strip, in the deadliest mass shooting in US history.

The Islamic State later claimed that Stephen Craig Paddock, the 64-year-old Nevada man behind the massacre, was one of its “soldiers”, but the FBI said it had found no such connection.

With inputs from AFP