National Investigation Agency (NIA), the premier investigation agency of India has released a hotline number 011-24368800 for common people to inform or lodge complaints against people involved in propagating ISIS ideology on social media or trying to radicalize youth.
The NIA has investigated a large number of cases related to terror funding, conspiracy and attack and out of which 37 are such cases where accused were inspired by ISIS. The most recent case was registered by NIA in June 2021. During the investigation, NIA arrested a total of 168 accused. Chargesheets have been submitted in 31 cases, and 27 accused have been convicted by the special NIA court.
Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is one of the notorious terrorist outfits of the Middle East. Infamous for its brutal violence and assaults on civilians, the outfit aims to establish an Islamic state through violence.
What has left security agencies worried is the findings of the probe that confirms that ISIS is trying to spread its tentacles in India through continuous online propaganda. Among Indian states, the maximum number of cases of ISIS modules, recruitment, radicalization and even some joining ISIS terrorists have been reported from Kerala. Especially the northern part of Kerala has been under the scanner of security agencies.
ISIS has been using open social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Telegram, Hoop Instagram and likes to identify and trap gullible youths. Once a person shows interest the ISIS handlers sitting abroad start radicalization of youths using encrypted social media platforms like the dark web. The handler asks them to upload and spread ISIS literature, generate online content, translate terror literature in local languages, prepare modules sleeper cells, collect arms and ammunition, assemble IEDs, terror funding and attacks.
ISIS also publishes India centric online propaganda magazine ‘Voice of Hind’ on monthly basis to radicalize and recruit youths. There are instances where local recruits of the ISIS also established modules of ISIS that operate under different names. For instance, during the investigation of the murder of Y. Wilson, Special Sub-Inspector of Tamil Nadu Police in January 2020 allegedly by ISIS operatives Abdul Shameem and Thowfeek it was found that they are part of the Al-Hind module of ISIS.
It was found by Khaja Moideen and Mehboob Pasha with an intention to establish Khilafat or Islamic Rule in India, as part of furthering the objectives of ISIS. There are other modules too like Hizb-ut-Tahrir which was busted in Bengaluru. They have been tasked to kill Hindu leaders in India.
There are instances when even terror training camps were organized in the deep forest of South Indian states to give training to recruits to operate weapons and manufacture IEDs. This was revealed during the investigation of one of the ISIS terror cases of Kerala investigated by NIA (RC 02/2020/NIA/DLI) where ISIS operatives had manufactured and tested IEDs using the dark web for secret communications with foreign-based handlers and jungle camping equipment were procured to organize terror training camps.