The twin developments—first the expose of Bangalore-based Twitter handler for ISIS propaganda, Mehdi Masroor Biswas and then the Sydney hostage crisis led by a self-styled Muslim cleric from Iran Haron Monis has put the Indian security agencies on the edge forcing them to review the threat perception that could be in store for India.
They are not discounting the possibility of "Lone Wolf" attack (could also be a small pack of wolves) by self-indoctrinated Jihadis that are roaming freely in the cyberspace and are well educated.
On a precautionary note the IB has put five states – Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh including Telangana, Karnataka, West Bengal and the NCT of Delhi - on alert.
The threat so far was existed from the less educated and Madarsa bred youth, especially from economically backward families coming from the ghettos, who were easier to convert into Jihadis by way of indoctrination by fundamentalist Maulvis.
The repercussions ISIS threat were also discussed threadbare about a month-and-a-half ago by the Intelligence Bureau in a especially called meeting of all the Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) chiefs of various Metros.
The trigger was the discovery that several thousands educated Indian youth based in Metros and big towns are getting hooked to the ISIS on different chat forums in the social media. The main lacuna that emerged was the inability of security agencies to monitor cyberspace constantly.
"As it has become clear now that ISIS supporters are behind the Sydney hostage crisis and the world is taking a notice of it, we also have to be prepared for the fall out of virtual world terrorism. This new dimension is still unfolding and the worry is how many of these virtual Jihadis can become real terrorists. Even if it is one in a thousand, it is big enough a danger to be prepared for," said sources.
Experts in intelligence agencies said the shrill noise made by the media, especially by the electonic media, in the case of @ShamiWitness twitter handle run by Mehdi has not helped the cause and has made it worse.
"The Media hype on @ShamiWitness and portraying Mehdi as a big recruiter and radicaliser has not gone well. It has rather helped the cause of the ISIS and may make it easier to get a foothold in India that was missing until now," said sources.
Had it not been for the media hype, we would have dealt with Mehdi in a different manner and instead of slapping serious charges on him would have tried to treat and de-radicalise him and bring back to the mainstream as a reformed person, sources added.
Mehdi, according to sleuths who have met him, appears to be a badly shaken person.
"He is a highly radicalised person but at the same time a timid one. When he met his mother he told her, "Ammi! Mera kya hoga, mujhe bachaa lo, please."
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