NIA arrests of 13 ISIS suspects largely preventive, says former intelligence officer

Action does not mean ISIS or Al Qaeda have put down deep roots in India; greater threat from Indian Mujahedin, says retired IB official

The pre-Republic Day arrest of 13 people suspected to be linked to al Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) from across India should be seen as preventive and does not necessarily mean the ISIS or Al Qaeda have managed to put down deep roots in India, a recently retired Intelligence Bureau official told Business Standard.

Without minimising the ISIS’s potential to grow in India, the official, who did not want to be identified, said that the greater threat to India was from Indian Mujahideen, which has as its target the Prime Minister himself. The evidence of this is that bomb blasts at the PM’s election rallies in Patna last year.

“This is not to say that ISIS is not active. But to say they are running a terrorist ring all over India would be incorrect. They have a marginal presence in India and have little support in the Indian Muslim community – which is why parents of prospective IS recruits are the first to inform the police and cooperate with law enforcement agencies” he said.

National Security Advisor Ajit Doval has himself said that the threat from Al Qaeda or ISIS is not of a magnitude that cannot be dealt with by India.

According to the retired officer who spoke to Business Standard, the ISIS’s activities stem from Ansar ut-Tawheed Fi Bilad al-Hind (Supporters of Islamic Monotheism in India) established in 2013. In India, this group is mainly engaged in translation into Urdu from Arabic and social media activities.

Late last year, those monitoring the group found evidence of alarming messages. “If you are in the fortunate position to kill and American or a European, whether French, Australian or Canadian, or other unbelievers who have declared was on the Islamic state, then do so” one of the messages said.

The majority of the 13 who were arrested from Karnataka are, according to Karnataka police sources, said to be engaged in social media and translation activity. Given the close coordination with international intelligence tracking of jihadi websites, the NIA used information from various resources to arrest the individuals. However, this does not mean that India is in the grips of ISIS networks. “That would be an affront to Indian Muslims who, by and large, do not support ISIS activities” the officer said.