The Centre and the States on Saturday decided to form a coordinated mechanism to tackle radicalism and pro-ISIS propaganda. The mechanism would involve tracking of cyber world, including social media platforms, cross-country communications, money laundering and doubtful financial transactions, including hawala, besides regular Intelligence and security operations. This apart, community elders too will be engaged to counsel youngsters from being influenced by radical ideologies and joining such groups.
These decisions were the outcome of a high-level security and Intelligence meet convened by the Union Home Ministry. The meeting chaired by Union Home Secretary lC Goyal, attended by DGPs and Home Secretaries of 12 sensitive States, having presence of radical elements, stressed for grass roots-level operations and Intelligence to curb the potential threat from the nascent stages itself.
The meeting assumes significance amid increasing instances of ISIS flags being waved in Jammu & Kashmir and a twitter handle of the outfit too having been handled from Bengaluru. According to an official estimate, around 25 youngsters have been identified across the country as having been attracted to the idea of ISIS and wanting to join the group.
Goyal urged the DGPs and State Home Secretaries for inter-coordination among the States and Central agencies to track down the radical forces and their sleeper cells across the country. The meeting also stressed the need for vigilant monitoring in immigration, passport and visa issue centers. Some DGPs pointed out that most of the youths caught for joining ISIS were actually flown to destinations like Dubai and Singapore and from there were taken to jehadi dens of libya and Syria to join the terror outfit.
Some senior officials pointed out the role of hawala operators in facilitating these youths and sending money to their families. These operators were the engines of these networks, though they were not directly linked to terror activities, said the DGP from a southern State, citing several examples of hawala operations caught in his State from Gulf region. The officials also sought close coordination and real time Intelligence sharing with FIU, RBI and Enforcement Directorate to prevent the hawala operators.
DGPs and Home Secretaries or their representatives, of a dozen States, including Jammu & Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Kerala, Assam, Punjab, West Bengal and Delhi Police Commissioner attended the meeting.
The meeting took note of emerging radical groups on social media like Facebook and Twitter. Strengthening Technical Intelligence and monitoring telecom and several communication apps like WhatsApp were some of the things pointed out in the meetings, said sources.
The focus would also be on how to quickly respond to any report of youths planning to join terror groups like IS and how to prevent Indian youths from coming under the sway of extremist doctrines, official sources said.
A Home Ministry statement said the meeting was held to sensitise States about the existing and emerging threats to the internal security situation in the country. The meeting decided to strengthen capacity-building of police officers in States through training programs, to be organised by Central Intelligence and security agencies.
In Telangana, 17 youths have been prevented from travelling to Syria and, recently, four from Maharashtra were also stopped from travelling to West Asia. Sources said that although none of the youths were arrested, they were kept under surveillance. They went through counselling and are living normal lives now.
Maharashtra and Telangana have already put in place a model for dealing with ISIS-related cases. While there have been arrests in some cases, agencies realised that arrest should not be the first option. Monitoring of social media has already begun, sources, meanwhile, said, adding that efforts would be made to gain the confidence of the Muslim community. Till now, 11 Indians have been identified who joined ISIS, of whom five are reportedly dead.