Terror Crackdown Continues, Islamic State’s Digital Warriors Searched in 7 States | Exclusive

Continuing with its crackdown on terror, search operations on pro-IS (Islamic State) cadre were carried out in seven states on Sunday morning.

The action was based on the leads provided by the central intelligence agencies.

According to sources, interrogation and forensic examination of the seized digital media is underway.

They were identified by the agency for their pro-IS activities in the cyberspace.

Initial revelations indicated that some of them were actively involved in content creation as well as propagation of India-centric IS magazine ?Voice of Hind?.

WHAT HAPPENED ON SATURDAY?

Nation-wide raids were conducted on Saturday against IS supporters and cadre as part of a coordinated operation by central intelligence agencies to counter threat from the terror group.

Over 25 pro-Islamic State individuals were detained in Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Gujarat and Rajasthan.

Sources said the detained individuals came to notice “for their leanings towards the IS and making preparations for violent action”.

IN THE RECENT PAST

CNN-News18 had reported on Tuesday that the Tamil Nadu Police arrested Erode-based Islamic State sympathisers Asif Mustheen and his associate Yasir Nawab John and recovered a knife, a black IS flag, incriminating documents and digital media devices from their possession.

According to top intelligence sources, the men were on the radar of the agencies for some time.

They said Mustheen was in contact with the IS-core in Syria/Iraq and had expressed his willingness to carry out a suicide attack in India with the intension to target Hindus, monasteries and police stations.

In another IB operation on July 24, the Bengaluru Police had arrested a city-based pro-Al Qaeda (AQ) subject Akhtar Hussain Laskar, who originally hails from Assam.

Based on Hussain’s revelations, one of his Salem-based associates — Mohd. Juba, originally from West Bengal — was arrested by the Tamil Nadu Police.

Both Akhter and Juba were propagating AQ ideologies through social media platforms, the sources said. They added that the duo was in contact with various foreign (Bangladesh & Afghanistan) as well as India-based pro-AQ entities.

“They also intended to do ‘hijrath’ to J&K and join AQ ranks for ‘jihad’ against India,” they said.

Read all the Latest News and Breaking News here