ISIS is the latest challenge to India and its efforts to recruit youth from the country are on, the government today said.
"Latest challenge of ours is of ISIS. Although we do not have that level of threat or presence as in Europe but we have to acknowledge that efforts for recruitment (by ISIS) are on," Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju told reporters here on the sidelines of a function.
He said security forces have been vigilant and successful in containing the threat posed by the ISIS but steps have to be taken to stop any attempt to radicalise youths.
"India has been successful in containing the situation. But we have to concentrate on youths and work on de- radicalisation, identify areas and institutes where such things can happen," he said.
According to a recent intelligence report, nearly 150 youths in the country are under the surveillance of security agencies for their alleged leanings towards ISIS, responsible for the recent terror attacks in Paris.
The 150 people, mostly from South India, are believed to be attracted to the ISIS and sympathetic to the group's activities.
Twenty-three Indians have so far joined the ISIS, six of whom were reportedly killed.
The dead were identified as Athif Vaseem Mohammad (Adilabad, Telangana), Mohammad Umar Subhan (Bengaluru), Maulana Abdul Kadir Sultan Armar (Bhatkal, Karnataka), Saheem Farooque Tanki (Thane), Faiz Masood (Bengaluru) and Mohammad Sajid alias Bada Sajid (Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh).
Another intelligence report prepared by foreign agencies and shared with Indian agencies says 58 people of 18 nationalities have left the ISIS ranks in the past two years.
Among them, two were Indians - Areeb Majid, a youth from Mumbai suburb Thane and a 17-year-old girl, who was deported from Qatar while she was on her way to ISIS held Iraq-Syria region. Majid was arrested upon arrival and is currently in judicial custody.
The highest number of ISIS deserters belong to Syria (21), followed by Saudi Arabia (9).
The reasons for deserting the ISIS ranks have been described as ill treatment, harassment and force menial jobs, it said.
Tunisian, Palestinian, Saudi Arabian, Iraqi and Syrian fighters were trusted most in the ISIS ranks while Europeans were regarded very highly, the report says.
The ISIS top brass thinks that South Asian Muslims, including Indians, are inferior to Arab fighters in the conflict zone of Iraq and Syria.
Due to this, "some Indian nationals have already joined it
or are in the process of joining it for committing terrorist acts in the conflict zone of Iraq, Syria and Libya. The ISIL is also contemplating to expand its activities to other parts of the world including India," the NIA FIR said.
The arrests were made in connection with the ongoing investigation in this case following simultaneous searches and raids at 12 locations in six cities--Bangalore, Tumkur, Mangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Lucknow on Friday with the support of local police.
14 people, aged between 20 and 53 years, were picked up after they had purchased explosive material, electronic circuits used for fabricating Improvised Explosive Devices, acid and nut and bolts, used as splinters in bombs, sources said.
They had purchased over 42 mobile phones with SIM cards which they were planning to use as triggering mechanism for detonating IEDs.
The group was aiming at spreading its activities in Hyderabad, Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Uttrakhand, Assam and Karnataka, sources said.
During the last eight months, members of the group had visited some places in the country and photographed important installations, sources said without disclosing the details.
Two of these suspected terrorists were today produced before a designated NIA court in Delhi which remanded them in the custody of the central terror probe agency for 13 days.
Hyderabad residents Abu Anas and Nafees Khan, both aged 24 years, were produced before special judge at Patiala House courts and their custody handed over to the NIA, sources in the agency said.
