NEW DELHI: Indian Mujahideen (IM) is losing the plot, of late. However, it is no good news for India. Indian spy agencies have begun to see IM terrorists sheltered by Pakistan’s ISI in Karachi abandoning the terror outfit to join the rival Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) which has an estimated 15,000 foreign terrorists from at least 80 nations operating in the terror-torn Middle-east region for a new global jihad.
Intelligence sources citing the intercepted chatters between IM cadres said that two IM operatives—Sultan and Farhan, suspected to be Indian nationals—may have entered Syria to join ISIS. Besides, four Pakistani terrorists, part of the IM module, have defected to ISIS which is considered as primary terror threat to the world after its rapid emergence recently. At least four other IM terrorists, who were used as arsenal by ISI for Pakistan’s proxy war in India, are also suspected to have disappeared into Afghanistan to fight the religious war with Al Qaeda and the Taliban. Earlier, the agencies had indicated that at least 20 self-indoctrinated Indian youths may have joined ISIS in Syria and Iraq. A report prepared by International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political violence, The Soufan Group and American CIA suggests that at least 330 would-be jihadis from Pakistan may have joined the ISIS. R&AW sources confirmed that at least 23 IM terrorists have been sheltered by the Pak ISI in its safe house in Karachi.
According to intelligence agencies, IM operatives are now more ideologically inclined towards the brutal method of international terror outfits like ISIS. IM top brass has also internally started resenting the total ISI control over their outfit and wants to renew the efforts to wage jihad in India with the assistance of ISIS and Al Qaeda. The chatters between jihadis indicate that they are ready for Bayat (Pledge of Obedience) and hoping to join bigger jihadi theatre to establish Islamic caliphate. The intelligence officials said money could be another reason as Pak ISI choked the funding of IM after paying approximately `25 crore in the last couple of years to carry out blasts in India besides for their operational expenses. An earlier chat interception had revealed that ISI was paying `60 lakh quarterly for personal expenses of IM terrorists sheltered in Pakistan. The financial crunch may have prompted the IM terrorists to forge an alliance with the international terror outfit having deep pockets.
The intercepted communication also revealed that IM has recently split into two factions—the first group, led by most wanted terrorist Bada Sajid, includes Shadab Beg, Khalid, Shahnawaz alias Doctor, Rashid alias Danda, Shabbar and Saleem. The second group led by Riyaz and Iqbal Bhatkal is almost neutralised after Yasin Bhatkal and Assadullah Akhtar were arrested from Nepal last year and subsequent crackdown on the Jharkhand and Bihar modules.
“Some IM terrorists have already moved to Khyber agency in Afghanistan-Pakistan border to join Al Qaeda and ISIS. Bada Sajid and Abu Rashid alias Danda are learnt to be operating in Afghanistan with Al Qaeda,” sources said.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) probing the terror cases has pointed out that Sultan’s younger brother Shafi was also trained for war in Syria. A chat between Riyaz Bhatkal and suspected IM module Afeef revealed that its commander Iqbal had asked Shafi whether he was ready to go to Syria.
Rohingyas May Chip In: The NIA investigation into IM terror operations in India has revealed that an outfit purely made of Rohingya Muslims is also in talks with Al Qaeda to participate in global jihad. NIA pointed out that IM’s chief Riyaz Bhatkal was appointed by Al Qaeda leaders to negotiate with the Rohingyas to carry out terror activities. Intercepts reveal that Taliban and other groups in Pakistan that armed the Rohingya outfit have now completely choked the funding. A group of Rohingya Muslims was sheltered in a Karachi safe house provided by ISI. They had stayed earlier with Taliban commander Mullah Omar, and Amirs of Taliban had promised more money, but later refused due to some problem in Afghanistan.
“The Al Qaeda has directed Riyaz Bhatkal to finalise task with the Rohingyas and a person from Afghanistan would be sent from Afghanistan to guide them,” NIA has stated in a charge-sheet filed in the IM case.
Psychological Ops: Although the defection of IM terrorists to ISIS rang the alarm bells in the security and intelligence establishment, it is particularly worried about a growing breed of radicalised youths—self-indoctrinated through motivational audio and video materials easily available through smartphones and on the Internet. Senior officers warned that terrorists’ presence on micro-blogging and social networking sites indicate that they are losing the battle on the ground but now taking to the cyber world to launch psychological operations against alienated youths.
“The threat or hate documents is being uploaded by the jihadists for their ulterior designs. Provocative accounts are being consistently monitored but since servers are in the foreign countries, it is not possible to block each one of them,” sources said. The government agencies are moving cautiously in dealing with the youths in possession of ISIS jihadi materials or sporting jihadi t-shirts, fearing that any strict action may further alienate them.
“We need to neutralise the terror motivators online to prevent the misguided but motivated youths from joining such outfits,” sources added.
