Bengaluru: The High Court has refused to grant bail to Mehdi Masroor Biswas, a Bengaluru-based techie, who was arrested on the charge of promoting and supporting the claims of terrorist organisation Islamic State (IS) through Twitter handle “@shamiwitness.”

Justice L. Narayana Swamy passed the order while dismissing a petition filed by Mehdi. “The entire material, investigation papers and the statements recorded reveals that there are materials, which convince the court about the involvement of the accused,” the judge said while agreeing with the special court’s view that there is a prima facie material in support of the accused having committed the offences punishable with death or life imprisonment for denying him the benefit for bail.

The accused was arrested on December 14, 2014 and a charge-sheet was filed against him on June 1, 2015 under the provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, the Information Technology Act and the Indian Penal Code.