India: Global Terror And Failure To Launch – Analysis

On August 22, 2024, the Delhi Police Special Cell uncovered a terrorist network linked to Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), arresting 11 suspects and detaining three others, in raids at 15 locations across three states, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh. Six suspects – Hasan Ansari, Enamul Ansari, Altaf Ansari, Arshad Khan, Umar Farooq, and Shahbaz Ansari – all residents of Jharkhand, were arrested in Bhiwadi, Rajasthan, while undergoing weapons training. They had been residing in Rajasthan for the preceding few days. Another five more suspects – Ishtiyaq Ahmed, Motiur, Rizwan, Mufti Rahmatullah, and Faizan – were arrested in Ranchi, Jharkhand, following the arrest of and disclosures by, the six arrested earlier. Three suspects were also detained from Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh, for questioning.

A cache of arms, ammunition and other materials were recovered during the operation, including one AK-47 rifle, a .38 bore revolver, six live cartridges of .38 bore, 30 live cartridges of .32 bore, and 30 live cartridges for the AK-47. A dummy INSAS rifle, an air rifle, an iron elbow pipe, one hand grenade, some wire, a 1.5-volt AA battery, a table watch, four ground sheets, a target, a camping tent, and various food items such as biscuits, a packet of chips, and a water bottle.

According to reports, members of the terrorist module received training, including weapons handling, at various locations, such as the jungles of the Aravalli Hills in Rajasthan. According to the Police, the module, active for several months, with its members coordinating through social media, was planning to carry out a terrorist attack in northern India during the upcoming festive season.

A Delhi Police statement noted, “The module, as per the current state of operations, was being led by one Dr. Ishtiyaq of Ranchi (Jharkhand), and it was aspiring to declare ‘khilafat’ and execute serious terrorist activities within the country.”

Dr. Ishtiyaq Ahmed, employed with a major private hospital in Ranch, Jharkhand, led the module that was conspiring to carry out terrorist activities across India and was purportedly on the cusp of executing terrorist strikes.

Reports further indicate that the neutralised module was linked to an AQIS module dismantled in December 2015. While five were arrested then, another 12 managed to remain undetected and continued their operations. Some of them have now been arrested. This module appeared to be inspired by Al Qaeda ideologue Abu Sufiyan, who is allegedly in Afghanistan.

This is not the first Al-Qaeda/AQIS module that has bene neutralized in India. According to partial data compiled by the South Asia Terrorism Portal(SATP), at least 63 Al-Qaeda/AQIS cadres have been arrested since March 6, 2000, from across India.

Al-Qaeda, a global Islamist terrorist outfit, has continued with its efforts to establish a network and to provoke violence in India since 1996, though with no success at all.

Meanwhile, the United Nations Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team’s latest report released in July 2024 observes, “In the medium term, a potential merger of TTP [Tehreek-Taliban Pakistan] and AQIS could escalate the threat against Pakistan, and eventually India, Myanmar and Bangladesh.”

The second major global Islamist terrorist formation – the Islamic State or Daesh – despite having failed to carry out any significant attack since its ‘entry’ into India, continues with its efforts as well. Most recently, on August 8, 2024, the Delhi Police Special Cell arrested an Islamic State terrorist, identified as Rizwan Abdul Haji Ali, who is also an operative of the Pune (Maharashtra) module of the Islamic State, from Ganga Baksh Marg near the Biodiversity Park in the Tughlakabad village of South East Delhi District, Delhi. He is a resident of Daryaganj in Central Delhi District, and carried a reward of INR 300,000 declared by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for his arrest. NIA had filed a charge sheet against him in March 2024, for his involvement in the Pune Islamic State arms and explosives seizure case of July 2023.

According to the SATP database, 545 Islamic State sympathizers/recruits have been arrested/detained in India (till August 25, 2024), including 316 terrorists and 229 sympathisers. The NIA is investigating around 40 Islamic State modules related cases, in which 182 persons have been arrested; charge sheets have been filed in 35 cases; and 42 accused have been convicted.

In one of the latest charge sheets, filed on August 12, 2024, against two persons – Mohammed Zoheb Khan, who was arrested by NIA in February 2024, and Libya-based Mohammed Shoeb Khan – in the Islamic State terror conspiracy case connected with the Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar (Aurangabad), Maharashtra, linked module, the Agency has revealed a web of anti-India activities involving the two accused. NIA found that the two men had taken ‘bayath’ (pledge of allegiance) toward the self-proclaimed Khalifa of the Islamic State and planned to flee to Afghanistan or Turkey after executing a series of terrorist attacks in India as part of the conspiracy, were also found to be actively involved in developing a website for the promotion of the violent ideology of the Islamic State. Investigations further revealed that Mohammed Zoheb Khan, who was recruited by Mohammed Shoeb Khan, had created a WhatsApp group and had added more than 50 youths from the Aurangabad area to the group with the intent to radicalise and recruit them for furthering the activities of the Islamic State in India. The accused had been sharing videos related to the manufacturing of explosives and fabrication of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). They had also prepared a detailed plan of action for the execution of terrorist attacks at multiple places in India and actions to be taken after the execution of attacks.

Additionally, the Hizb-ut Tahrir (HuT), an international pan-Islamist and Islamic fundamentalist political organisation whose stated aim is the re-establishment of Islamic ideology, youth radicalisation, conversion to Islam and the implementation of the Sharia constitution written by Hizb ut-Tahrir’s founder Taqi al-Din al-Nabhani, has also been active in India. NIA has arrested and charge-sheeted several terrorists/associates of this outfit as well.

Most recently, on June 30, 2024, the NIA arrested two persons, Abdul Rehman aka Abdul Rahman and Mujibur Rehman aka Mujibur Rahman Altham Sahib, both from Thanjavur District, Tamil Nadu. NIA investigations revealed that they were involved in conducting secret classes to radicalise persons against ideologies promoting democracy and the Indian Constitution, law and judiciary. The trainees were taught that India was now Darul Kufr (Land of Non-believers) and it was their duty to transform it into Darul Islam by establishing an Islamic state in India by waging violent jihad. Searches led to the seizure of digital devices (mobile phones, Laptop, SIM cards and memory cards) and several incriminating documents, including books and printouts containing the ideology of HuT, Khilafa, Islamic State and the proposed Khilafa Government and its funding structures etc.

Reports indicate that at least 25 individuals associated with HuT have been arrested from across India in 2023 and 2024 (data till August 24, 2024).

Though all these terrorist formations have failed to make any significant inroads and have failed to carry out any notable attack inside India, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (UMHA), has banned the first two groups and all their manifestations, and is also planning to ban HuT, which has already been banned in 16 other countries, fearing a larger threat.

Meanwhile, to fight the threat of ‘lone wolf’ attacks, which has intensified across the globe post-emergence of the Islamic State, as several Islamic State-inspired individuals have carried out attacks, the Central Government amended the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in August 2019 to include the provision of designating an individual as a terrorist. Before this amendment, only organizations could be designated as ‘terrorist’. By invoking the said amended provision, the Central Government had designated 57 individuals as terrorists.

India has recorded at least four Islamic State ‘inspired’ attacks, all in 2022, though no linkages with Daesh Central’ were established in any of them. These included:

December 14-15: Two terror suspects, Jagjit Singh alias Jagga and Naushad, beheaded a 21-year-old man in Delhi. The incident came on light when the duo was arrested on January 12, 2023, and subsequently based on their revelations, the Delhi Police recovered two hand grenades and a man’s dismembered body on January 14, 2023. Two terror suspects revealed that they were inspired by Islamic State to carry the beheading.
October 23: One person, identified as Jameza Mubin, died in an early morning explosion of the cylinder-laden Maruti 800 near Kottai Eswaran Temple in Tamil Nadu’s Coimbatore District. He was to target the Temple. NIA investigation has revealed that Mubin was inspired by Da’esh ideology.
June 28 : Kanhaiya Lal Teli, a Hindu tailor, was murdered by two attackers, reportedly having links with Islamic State, in Udaipur in Rajasthan. The assailants captured the attack on camera and circulated the video online.
June 21 : A chemist, Umesh Prahladrao Kolhe was stabbed to death by three assailants in Amravati of Maharashtra over a social media post in support of suspended Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Nupur Sharma. Islamic State role was established in the case.
Meanwhile, on July 4, 2024, a 34-year-old man, identified as Faizan Sheikh, a mechanic who was influenced by the ideologies of the Islamic State and other outfits was arrested for allegedly planning “lone-wolf” attacks on Security Forces, from the Khandwa town in Madhya Pradesh. The Ant-Terrorism Squad (ATS) recovered four mobile phones, a pistol, live cartridges, and literature and videos of Da’esh, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad and Indian Mujahideen, from Sheikh. ATS Inspector General Ashish disclosed, “Sheikh was bringing together and helping the families of SIMI [Students’ Islamic Movement of India] activists killed in an encounter [in 2016] with police. He conducted recces to carry out lone-wolf attacks on police personnel in Khandwa town.”

The Islamic State is using various internet-based social media platforms to propagate its ideology. Cyberspace is being closely watched in this regard by the agencies concerned and action is taken as per law.

Radicalisation by the Islamic State, Al-Qaeda, HuT, among others, is one of the most challenging problems faced by countries all over the world. In the Indian context, some foreign agencies inimical to India, along with Global Terrorist Groups, have been making efforts to radicalise people. However, the inclination towards these radical Islamist ideologies has been minuscule among the very large population of Muslims.

The Government has created a Counter Terrorism and Counter Radicalisation Division in the UMHA to help and coordinate with various security and law enforcement agencies to neutralise efforts for radicalisation.

The immediate threat to security from these extremist and terrorist groups is quite low, but they cannot be ignored. A single catastrophic act of terrorism can do enormous damage, and can catalyse a surge in potential recruits to the extremist cause. Continuous efforts are consequently necessary to ensure that these present irritants are not transformed into a major problem.