IS among us, but where?

Tribune Team 

First a disclaimer: All characters described here are mostly real and any resemblance to the dead or alive is courtesy intelligence sources. These individuals are supposed to be a part of a shadow war in the long and convoluted struggle involving the state and its 'enemies.' On the list of over a dozen blackballed groups and individuals, there's a recent entrant, the Islamic State (IS) or Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) or Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). The group fighting a war in distant Syria is headed by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. 

So far National Investigation Agency (NIA) along with states' Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) has detained or arrested over 30 Indians including a few who were deported from the UAE. They were mostly picked up on the basis of their "illegal" activities in cyberspace. These  ranged from recruiting through indoctrination, attempting to form a terror group and planning attacks on pre-determined locations. 

The broad-brush briefs come from intelligence sources — the NIA, Research & Analysis Wing (R&W), National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO), Intelligence Bureau and ATS: 

December 2014: Mehdi Masroor Biswas was arrested from his one-room rented house in Jalahalli, Bangalore, following a report by UK's Channel 4, which revealed that the man operating with @ShamiWitness twitter handle, who claimed to be a Libyan, was actually "an executive in Bangalore working for an Indian conglomerate." While the British public-service TV broadcaster concealed his identity on his request, Biswas's name and photograph could be ascertained from the twitter handle @mario_greenly. He was booked under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for allegedly advocating terrorism, facilitating recruitment for terrorist activities and various other sections of the IPC raging from waging war to "making statements amounting to public mischief." 

September 2015: Afsha Jabeen alias Nicky alias Nicole Joseph was arrested in Hyderabad after she was deported from Dubai for being an alleged ISIS recruiter. She had allegedly built up a vast data bank of Indian Muslim youth, many of them working in the Gulf, for possible recruitment. Jabeen, 38, was even successful in motivating around a dozen youth from India to join the ISIS, the Hyderabad police said. 

Her plot: Gather email addresses by reaching the 'recruits' through multiple Facebook pages and Twitter. She got addresses of around 25,000 Muslim youth. She allegedly provoked them with stories on how Islam was under threat all over the world and how an Islamic Caliphate was the need of the hour.

January 2015: Nine persons from Bengaluru were deported by Turkish authorities from Istanbul after they were caught trying to cross over to Syria to join the IS. On reaching India, they were set free after counselling. However, one among them was caught by the NIA in January this year on terror charges.

January 2016: Accusing the Maharashtra Police and ATS of torturing him in custody, Noor Mohammad Shaikh, 32, attempted suicide after drinking rat poison. He was admitted to KEM Hospital Mumbai where he underwent treatment for several days before he was discharged and returned to NIA custody, sources said.

He and Wajid Shaikh are prominent suspects in the ATS custody after they left their homes in suburban Malvani allegedly to join ISIS. The unrelated men are close to Mohsin Abrahim Sayeed, who was arrested by the Delhi police earlier this month. All three had left their homes in December allegedly with the intention of joining the ISIS in Iraq. They are said to be close to Ayaz Sultan who had left India in October last. The Maharashtra Police say Sultan may have already reached Iraq.

January 22: Aleem Ahmad from Indira Nagar in Lucknow and Rizwan Ahmad from Kushinagar on the Indo-Nepal border were arrested for being IS operatives. They were allegedly planning blasts at Haridwar's Ardh Kumbh. But human rights lawyer Mohammad Shoeb, describes imaginary web of terrorism intricately linked to international politics. Recently he was felicitated by the residents of Azamgarh for his single-minded determination to fight cases of the string of Muslim youth arrested in Uttar Pradesh on charges of terrorism. 

February 6: In the ongoing investigation into a suspected terror module linked to the IS, the NIA arrested the 20th suspect from Hardoi in Uttar Pradesh. The accused, identified as Abdus Sami Qasmi, was allegedly delivering provocative and inflammatory speeches in support of 'Caliphate,' an NIA spokesperson said. NIA has arrested 14 of a terror module from across the country in a coordinated exercise last month, besides Special Cell of Delhi Police has picked up five youth from Haridwar, Uttrakhand.

An NIA source recalls a recent case: In October last, there were reports that a youth from Azamgarh, UP, who went to Syria about six months back to join the IS, recently called his family from Raqqa and asked his parents to help him return home. "He is frustrated with the activities of IS and desperately wants to come back," said an intelligence officer. His family told intelligence agencies that the youth fell sick in Raqqa, where he is currently involved in logistics-related work for the IS. 

Here's what the ground situation looks like in some states, including the national capital:

Intel aflutter

New Delhi: Security and Intelligence sources assert that ISIS has reached Afghanistan-Pakistan and is at India's doorstep - even inside. "Since the NIA was formed, one thing was made very clear to the sleuths that they should not rush into things. They should first verify and observe the activities for a while and then make a formal arrest, particularly in cases involving local lads," said a top NIA official, adding the security establishment had learnt its lessons. 

"We make no arrest if we find somebody expressing a radical view, but we keep such an individual under watch. Once s/he crosses the threshold, we first detain and only after preliminary interrogation, we make a formal arrest," said a senior NIA investigator. 

The NIA has also sought assistance from social networking giants to track ISIS propaganda activities under Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT).

Meanwhile, in a joint statement by Muslim organizations such as Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH), Jamiat-e-Ulema Hind, Jamiat Ahle Hadees, Muslim Majlis e Mashawerat and All India Milli Council, Muhammad Salim Engineer, JIH secretary general: "These arbitrary arrests of Muslim youth in the name of ISIS is an organized conspiracy…to create hatred between Hindus and Muslims." 

Scare in community

Lucknow: Rights activist and lawyer Mohammad Shoeb, who has been instrumental in securing the release of many 'victims,' was recently felicitated by the Muslim community. He says most of the cases that he handled were based only on suspicion. "Fabrication of evidence does not stand in the court of law," says Shoeb.

He sees a pattern: "Uncha pyjama, lamba kurta, gol topi aur dadhi" (ankle-length pyjama, long kurta, skull caps and beards). In fact, one of the arguments for the release of Aftab Ahmad Ansari, arrested for a role in the 2007 Lucknow High Court blasts was that he did not sport a beard. Shoeb is spearheading the Rihai Manch which is fighting for the restoration of the human rights of such youth.

There's the case of Zafar Masood alias Guddu from Sambhal in western UP. On December 17 last year, the Delhi Police Special Cell arrested Guddu from Moradabad for allegedly funding al-Qaeda's Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) operatives for crossing to Pakistan. However, a fact-finding team of civil society members and journalists on December 29 challenged the claims. About Masood allegedly possessing four passports, the team found that his first passport had expired after 10 years. He got another one made which similarly expired after 10 years. The third one got misplaced and so a fourth new passport was issued. But he never possessed four passports at the same time.

State Additional Director General (Law and Order) Daljeet Singh Chaudhury says due diligence is done before terror accused are arrested. "Notes are compared with other intelligence agencies," he said. Speaking of the difficulty in monitoring the social media, Chaudhury said the investigating agencies still did not have the required technology. "For instance, Rizwan who was picked up from Kushinagar was active on a social site called Trillion the server of which is untraceable," he said. 

Maharashtra counters

Mumbai: The state police say Areeb Majeed, Fahad Sheikh, Shaheen Tanki and Aman Tandel had left Kalyan on May 23, 2014 ostensibly on a pilgrimage to Iraq and shortly afterwards joined the terror group in that country. However by December that year Areeb Majeed was back in India reportedly with the help of the NIA and presented evidence on how young men were recruited by IS in India.

"Youth are being contacted at mosques by certain maulanas and other influential people and are being led astray," a police officer said. Among the methods used to influence gullible young men include interactions via discussion groups and "study circles" purportedly created to study Islam. "We are reaching out to maulanas and Muslim education institutions so that the youth are not misguided," an ATS officer said.

Karnataka alert

Bangalore: "One of the key IM operatives from Karnataka is Riyaz Bhatkal who figures prominently on the NIA list of wanted terrorists. But the IS seems to have caught the imagination jihadi elements," says Bidanda Chengappa, a Bengaluru-based security expert.

In January this year, NIA arrested seven people from three places of Karnataka (Bengaluru, Mangalore and Tumakuru) for Jihadi activities. They were taken to Delhi and are now in the NIA custody. These youths are said to be IS operatives. "Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Chikkamagaluru, Hubbali-Dharwad, Belgavi (Belgaum) and Kalburgi (Gulbarga) are believed to be especially sensitive to jihadi propaganda," says Hemant Nimbalkar, IGP. "The context of IM was the demolition of Babri Masjid. The IS sympathisers, on the other hand, are motivated by the events in Syria and Iraq," says SK Pattnayak, home secretary.

Sreedharan, a rights activist and a member of the Peoples Democratic Forum (PDF), said it was disturbing how people from one community were being targeted. He cited the example of DRDO scientist Aijaz Ahmed Mirja who was among 15 people arrested by NIA in 2012 on terror charges. No charge could be framed against Mirza and two others, including a journalist. They were released from jail six months after their arrest.

"Mirza lost his job and faces the stigma of being picked up by police on terror charges. Same is the story of journalist Muthi-Ur-Rehman Siddiqui who lost his job with a reputed daily," Sreedharan said.

AP, Telengana in crosshairs

"It is the NIA which carries out the arrests. We are informed in the last minute. Monitoring the online activity of suspects holds the key," said a senior intelligence official. As many as nine suspects have been picked up from the city in the recent times.

A series of arrests have rekindled suspicion in some quarters that the investigators have jumped the gun. Some of the family members of the suspects allege their kin were victims of discrimination and police harassment. Telangana DGP Anurag Sharma has, in fact, warned that the socio-economic exclusion of Muslims and random arrests could lead to radicalization.

As many as 20 youngsters, who were attracted to ISIS propaganda through social media, were counselled by the police during last year. "We are keeping a close watch on such persons," Sharma said. Significantly, Hyderabad MP and president of Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) Asaduddin Owaisi, whose party has a significant presence in the city, has denounced the ISIS ideology.

J&K's anger

Srinagar: In July 2014, when Kashmir was witnessing protests against Israeli airstrikes on Gaza, protesters unfurled a black flag, resembling that of IS and al-Qaeda, in the city centre Lal Chowk. Days later when Kashmir was celebrating Eid-ul-Fitr, a group of masked men surfaced in the largest prayer ground in old city who waved black flags and banners of IS and al-Qaeda with Kalima inscribed on them. Since that day almost every Friday a group of masked boys appears outside Jamia Masjid in old Srinagar and displays the IS flags.

"We picked up nearly 10 youngsters who hoisted these flags. They have no idea about the ideology of IS and it was just aimed at grabbing attention," said a senior police officer.

Most of the Kashmiri separatists and militants groups operating in Kashmir are opposed to IS and have publicly criticized them for its radical ideology and violent ways of repression.

In a study by an intelligence agency, Srinagar tops the list of Indian cities that follows activities of the IS through social media platforms. The state police are also monitoring the online content.

So far there has been only one instance where Kashmiri youth Adil Fayaz Waida, a business administration graduate, is suspected to have had links with IS. "It is to be fully established," said a police officer.

Mukesh Ranjan in New Delhi, Shahira Naim in Lucknow, Shiv Kumar in Mumbai, Majid Jahangir in Srinagar, Shubhadeep Choudhury in Bangalore and Suresh Dharur in Hyderabad. Coordination & anchoring: Prashant Saxena