Noida, November 3: Social media posts carrying alleged pictures of a 17-year-old Kashmiri student Ahtesham Bilal Sofi, who went missing from Sharda University, Greater Noida, on October 28, claimed that he had joined a terror group. Bilal was a first-year graduate student. As per media reports, he left the university with official permission to go to Delhi.  A missing report was also filed in Greater Noida as well as Srinagar. In the picture, the Kashmiri student was shown wearing a black outfit and posing with weapons and a flag of the Islamic State.

Meanwhile, in an audio message, the person claims to be Bilal and announces that he has joined the IS group operating in Jammu and Kashmir. Police are verifying the authenticity of the picture and the audio. The UP Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) said it has been tracking the case since October 28 and has taken cognisance of the photos. The Noida police traced the last location of Sofi's mobile phone to terrorism-hit Pulwama district in South Kashmir. "We are in touch with Jammu and Kashmir police. We are tracking the footprints of the boy from Greater Noida to Kashmir," Inspector General, ATS, Asim Arun told PTI. Kashmiri Student Studying in AIIMS Bhubaneswar Goes Missing

Bilal, a native of Khanyar in downtown Srinagar. He took admission in Sharda University in Greater Noida and was living in the university’s hostel at the Knowledge Park area. The Kashmiri student had informed his father that he was going on a "sightseeing" trip to Delhi. However, according to police, his mobile phone details showed that he last spoke to his father at 4.30 pm, when his location was traced to Pulwama.

Similarly, a 21-year-old Shoaib Ahmed Lone, an engineering student who was studying at a Dehradun college, joined a terrorist outfit just two weeks after he went missing in September. Lone joined the Hizbul Mujahideen outfit. Kulgam superintendent of police Harmeet Singh also confirmed this to the media. The 21-year-old Kashmiri student was studying BTech (IT) at Dehradun’s Alpine Institute of Management and Technology (AIMT). As per reports, he left Dehradun on September 20 but did not reach home.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 03, 2018 12:19 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).