Missing Sharda University student Ehtesham Bilal Sofi joins ISIS?

According to the police, Sofi had left for Srinagar from Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport in the afternoon of October 28 and headed to Pulwama from there. Police say his call records reveal that that he last spoke to his father in Srinagar at 4.30 pm from Pulwama.

Purported picture of Ehtesham Bilal Sofi being widely shared on social media.

Noida (UP): Another Kashmiri youth studying in a college here has strayed into the fold of militancy following the footsteps of AMU scholar Mannan Wani who was recently killed in an encounter in the Valley by security forces. Certain social media posts have suggested that Ehtesham Bilal Sofi, a first year graduation student at Sharda University, has allegedly joined the ISIS. It is however not known whether he is still present in India or has crossed the border. Some reports say Ehtesham is currently in Kashmir. The 17-year-old went missing on October 28 after he left the varsity with official permission to go to Delhi, days after he was mistakenly roughed up during a scuffle between Indian and Afghan students in the campus. A missing complaint was registered in the case at the Knowledge Park police station in Greater Noida as well as at Khanyar police station in Srinagar, officials told news agency PTI. The pictures on social media showed Sofi dressed in a black outfit and claimed he had joined militant group ISJK, an outfit influenced by ISIS ideology. The UP Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) said it has been tracking the case since October 28 and has taken cognisance of the photos. "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. The Gautam Buddh Nagar police, who had traced the last location of Sofi's mobile phone to militancy-hit Pulwama district in South Kashmir, is also probing the matter. "A missing complaint was registered and police teams are working on the case," a senior official told PTI. According to the police here, Sofi had left for Srinagar from Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport in the afternoon of October 28 and headed to Pulwama from there. Police say his call records reveal that that he last spoke to his father in Srinagar at 4.30 pm from Pulwama. However, he had told his father that he was in Delhi and was returning to the university by metro, the police added.