DNA Edit: Busting of the terror group in UP and MP is a lesson to police forces

Credit must go to the intelligence agencies and the various state police forces that coordinated to bust a hitherto unknown jihadist cell, apparently inspired by the Islamic State, before the group could go on to launch a major terror attack. The blast carried out on the Bhopal-Ujjain passenger train on Tuesday morning spurred the Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh police to launch coordinated searches that have led to the arrest of as many as eight operatives of the group by late evening, and the showdown in Lucknow on Tuesday night where another member of the group was killed in the exchange of fire. According to a UP police press release, the group styled itself as “ISIS Khorasan” and the recoveries included videos and literature glorifying the Islamic State (IS). 

If this information is correct, this is the first terror attack by an IS-inspired group in India though it was propounded that the 2014 Bengaluru church attack was an IS attack. It is not clear yet whether IS handlers coordinated and directed the attacks as has happened in other places especially Europe. That the IED used in the train blast was poorly designed and executed indicates that the police managed to nip a fledgling terror group before it perfected its techniques and learned to design more potent bombs. It is worrying too because the IS has launched signature attacks in Western Europe, Turkey, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan and this is the first indication that a group inspired by it has amassed enough firepower and ammunition to launch large-scale terror attacks in India. Indian intelligence agencies have been awake to the threat, with the National Intelligence Agency claiming it has arrested 52 persons in connection with alleged terror plots inspired by the IS.

Yet another aspect of this phase of terrorism, which is disconcerting, is that many of those who are being picked up are from educated backgrounds, revealing how the IS strategy of reaching out to potential recruits through social media platforms is reaping a dividend. Even the present module was purportedly busted through the surveillance of online chat rooms. The IS’ effective social media outreach also differentiates it from the other jehadi groups that preceded it. Across the world, a large number of misguided youngsters have left their home countries to travel to the IS bases in Syria and Iraq. A 21-member group from Kerala is reportedly based in the mountaineous Khorasan region of Afghanistan.

The challenge before Indian intelligence agencies and state police forces is to ensure better coordination and faster information sharing. Though the present group was under surveillance, the train blast appears to have provided the spur for the disparate anti-terrorism units to come together quickly and swoop down on them. The Centre is reportedly considering a revival of  the National Counter Terrorism Centre, the brainchild of former Union Home Minister P Chidambaram, which did not find favour with state governments who feared central intrusion into the states’ law and order turf. Equally important is the technological challenge facing intelligence agencies with the advent and popularity of end-to-end encrypted mobile messaging services, which is reportedly being used globally by IS cells to plan and execute terror strikes. The success of the UP and MP police on Tuesday is a message to police forces across India to shed their turf wars and come together to build a robust intelligence sharing mechanism, with or without the NCTC.