SPECTRE OF THE EDUCATED TERRORIST: Islamist propaganda on Internet main source of recruitment for Indian Mujahedeen
Professionals are the new face of terror as they swell the ranks of outfits such as Indian Mujahedeen
By Abhishek Bhalla in New Delhi
3 Aug 2012
Professionals are the new face of terror as they swell the ranks of outfits such as IM
A JOURNALIST, a doctor, a researcher at the Defence Research and Development Organisation, an employee of a major computer MNC and an engineer — all professionals, many excelling in their chosen fields.
But they have also become the face of modern violent Islamic extremism.
In contrast to the image of the jihadi being a madrasa- educated, semi- literate individual, today’s terrorist, going by the profile of the various groups who come under the rubric of the “ Indian Mujahideen”, can be from any segment of society.
The 16 people arrested last week — six in Bangalore, five in Hubli, four in Nanded and one in Hyderabad — allegedly for planning terrorist attacks, fall into this category.
Muti- ur- Rahman Siddiqui is a reporter who covered the higher education beat for Deccan Herald , MCA student Shohaib Mirza and his brother Aijaz Mirza, a DRDO junior scientist, are among those arrested. The others, too, are educated and relatively well- to- do.
Abu Bashar, arrested in 2008 for his alleged involvement in the Ahmedabad serial blasts the same year had made certain startling revelations in his interrogation about the new strategy of recruitment.
Sources say he had said: “Terror groups are on the lookout for young men who speak good English, are comfortable with using the Internet and computer and most importantly they would not look different. New terror recruits who wear clothes such as jeans and T- shirt dress up like any other youngster and be part of the crowd.” While counter- terror experts say this is part of the recruitment strategy of terror groups, this is also the consequence of the radicalisation of a section of the youth in the Muslim community.
“With terror recruits having good jobs and leading normal lives it makes them less suspicious.
They can go to colleges, work in corporate offices, mingle with the crowds and nobody can suspect them,” an intelligence officer said.
Intelligence agencies and counter- terror experts believe the Internet is a major factor that has helped in giving an image makeover to terrorists.
“There is a lot of terror- related activity in cyber space. Educated people are needed for this. There is also a lot of provocative literature which is being read by the educated class making them vulnerable to terror recruits,” former Intelligence Bureau chief Ajit Doval said.
The fresh arrests in Bangalore have put the spotlight on this new breed of terror recruits. Indian Mujahideen ( IM) members who were arrested in 2008 have revealed that among their ranks they have been people such as Mohammed Ansar and Mohammed Sadiq Sheikh, software engineers from Mumbai, Afzal Usmani, a hotelier from the western suburbs of the city who was arrested from UP. Also on their roster are Mohammed Mansoor Asgar Peerbhoy a software engineer employed by a subsidiary of Yahoo! in Pune, Riyaz Bhatkal — the son of the owner of a leathertanning factory and computer graphics artist Qayamuddin Kapadia, who is the son of a cloth merchant.
These are just some of the recent examples of this changing trend of recruiting men who are well- off.
Most of these arrests were a fallout of the Batla House encounter in Delhi in 2008 that led to the busting of various IM modules across the country.
Intelligence officials say most IM recruits were from rich families.
“Most of the boys were young. They were either studying at university or were young professionals,” a police officer who investigated the IM cases said.
Almost all those arrested have said they wanted to avenge Gujarat riots and the Babri Masjid.
Another new trend is looking for recruits in West Asia. This is something Abu Jundal also told interrogators that he was given the responsibility of “ spotting talent” among the educated Indians in Saudi Arabia.
Jundal himself was a product of indigenous recruiting.
‘Most boys were young either studying in some university or young professionals’
ABDUL SUBHAN QURESHI AKA TAUQEER
Status: Currently absconding Charged with: Being one of the major leaders of the Indian Mujahideen, he is supposed to be a bombmaking specialist and assisted in the bombings in Ahmedabad, Jaipur and New Delhi in 2008. He is also a suspect in the July 2006 Mumbai train blasts Background: Has a diploma in industrial electronics from a Mumbai institute and has worked for several computer firms in the Mumbai area. He belonged to the original group of hardline SIMI activists. Fluent in English, he was editor of Islamic Movement , SIMI’s journal from New Delhi. He is originally from Uttar Pradesh’s Rampur
MOHAMMED SADIQ ISRAR SHEIKH
Status: Under arrest Charged with: Involvement in the American Center attack in Kolkata in 2002 and planting bombs in Varanasi in 2005 and for involvement in the 2008 IM blasts Background: The 31- year- old from Azamgarh, settled in Mumbai where he did a course in airconditioning and refrigeration at the Habib Technical Institute, Dongri. With a SIMI background, he went via Bangladesh to Pakistan and trained in an LeT camp
SHAHNAWAZ ALAM
Status: Absconding, believed to be in Pakistan Charged with: Being involved in bomb blasts in Varanasi in 2005, Mumbai local trains in 2006, and in Delhi in September 2008 Background: Was a doctor at a private hospital in Lucknow and is the elder brother of the Delhi blast accused Mohammed Saif.
Believed to have been recruited by Sadiq Israr Sheikh, he visited Pakistan for training
RIYAZ BHATKAL ( SHAHBANDARI)
Status: Absconding, believed to be living in Pakistan Charged with: arranging the delivery of 35 kg of explosives used in the Mumbai serial train blasts of July 2006. Brains behind the planning and financing of the 2007 Hyderabad blasts in August, 2008 Jaipur blasts in May, Ahmedabad blasts of July 2008 and the Delhi blasts of September 2008 Background: An engineer by training, he comes from the town of Bhatkal. He is considered to be the founder and leader of the Indian Mujahideen and began his activities in the Mumbai underworld
IQBAL BHATKAL ( SHAHBANDARI)
Status: Absconding, believed to be in Pakistan Charged with: Providing logistics for serial blasts in Hyderabad, involvement in Jaipur blasts of 2008, supervising the transport of bombs and explosives for the Delhi and Ahmedabad blasts of 2008 Background: Brother of Riyaz Bhatkal, is seen as the leading ideologue of the IM. Believed to have composed the rabid emails sent by the IM announcing their attacks
AMIR RAZA KHAN
Status: Believed to be living in Pakistan Charged with: organising the attack on the American Center in Kolkata. Principal brain behind the activities of the IM and for organising jihadi activities against India Background: Originally from Kolkata, he was involved in criminal activities in the City of Joy, such as the kidnapping of businessman Partho Roy Burman in 2001
MOHAMMED MANSOOR ASGAR PEERBHOY
Status: Under arrest Charged with: Involvement in the Ahmedabad serial blasts of July 2008. He played the key role in hacking the unsecured Wi- Fi connections and sending the emails drafted by Iqbal Bhatkal following the blasts Background: A graduate in software engineering from Vishwakarma Institute of Technology in Pune, he worked for several computer firms, the last one being Zimbra software, where he was the principal engineer. The firm was taken over by Yahoo!
MUTI- UR- RAHMAN SIDDIQUI
Status: Under arrest Charged with: Plotting to assassinate senior Hindu politicians and journalists; attacking the Kaiga Atomic Power Station and identifying high profile targets Background: Originally from Uttar Pradesh, his family came to Hubli in the 1970s in search of livelihood.
The 27- year- old completed a postgraduate diploma in mass communication & media studies from Bharathiya Vidya Bhavan, Bangalore after his BA. Has been working with Deccan Herald as a correspondent since 2008
DR JAFFER IQBAL SHOLAPUR
Status: Under arrest Charged with: Plotting to assassinate senior Hindu politicians and journalists Background: Son of a deputy conservator of forests, watershed development department, Government of Karnataka, the 27- year- old secured the 104th rank in CET exams for admission to a medical course. He completed his MBBS at KIMS, Hubli, and a postgraduate diploma in neurology from Mangalore.
He married a doctor two years ago
AIJAZ AHMED MIRZA
Status: Under arrest Charged with: Plotting to assassinate senior Hindu politicians and journalists Background: The 25- year- old completed his BE from Basaveshwara Engineering College in Bagalakote, central Karnataka, and joined the DRDO as a junior research fellow on a two- year contract in 2012. His fellowship is sponsored by the central government
WAHID HUSSAIN
Status: Under arrest Charged with: Plotting to assassinate senior Hindu politicians and journalists Background: The 26- year- old completed his BA from Nehru College, Hubli, and MBA from IEMS Tarihal College, Hubli. He worked for a private firm in Bangalore before returning to Hubli in search of livelihood as he wanted to stay with his family
SHOAIB AHMED MIRZA
Status: Under arrest Charged with: Plotting to assassinate senior Hindu politicians and journalists Background: He is the 24- year- old younger brother of another terror suspect Aijaz Ahmed Mirza. Hails from Hubli, he is pursuing an MCA at the Al- Ameen College in Bangalore.
Fond of playing cricket and football, Shoaib is believed to be good with computer hardware and software
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THE MERCHANTS OF DEATH
Educated terrorists who used their background to carry out terror activities in India
MAULANA MASOOD AZHAR
came to India with a Portuguese passport, claiming to be a journalist. He was also released because of the Kandahar hijack and is now somewhere in Pakistan
AHMED SAEED UMAR SHEIKH,
British national and LSE graduate, was arrested for kidnapping some foreigners in India but got away because of the Kandahar hijack. He was subsequently arrested by Pakistani authorities for the murder of journalist Daniel Pearl
DAOOD GILANI AKA DAVID COLEMAN HEADLEY,
educated in an elite ‘ Sainik School’ in Pakistan, is a US national who changed his name to successfully fool the Indian authorities and carry out reconnaissance for the 26/ 11 Mumbai attack
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Terror ‘hitman’ nabbed trying to flee Bangalore
By Vanu Dev in Bangalore
IN A late night operation, the Bangalore police, who busted a local terror outfit last week, nabbed another major suspect while he was trying to flee the city.
Mohammed Akram, 22, was nabbed while waiting to board a bus to Maharashtra, the police said. Foreign- made arms and ammunition was also seized from him. The police suspect Akram to be the “ killer” who was planning to carry out the attacks on Hindu politicians and senior journalists.
Based on information provided by 11 suspects during interrogation, the police nabbed Akram, from Bangalore’s Subhashnagar inter- state bus station. With this arrest, the total number of terror suspects who have been arrested has gone up to 17. While 11 were arrested in Karnataka, four in Maharashtra and one in Hyderabad, Saturday’s arrest has given fresh leads to the police, sources said. Akram, who is from Maharashtra’s Nanded, had returned to India recently after having spent one year in Saudi Arabia.
“ Akram had gone into hiding after we arrested his associates. We believe that he was planning to execute the target killings. We have seized one foreignmade 7.65 mm pistol along with 16 cartridges and other incriminating articles,” Bangalore city police commissioner Jyothiprakash Mirji said on Sunday. The Karnataka Police have already despatched teams to Hyderabad and Nanded for more information on the suspects and their activities. But Mirji did not want to reveal anything more about them as the investigation was still in progress.
The Bangalore Police central crime branch, which cracked the terror network, on Sunday held two more persons in Bagalkote and Koppal.
But the police refused to confirm the news. “ Our team may have picked a few persons on suspicion for questioning.
We cannot reveal anything further at this juncture,” a senior police officer said.
The police have intensified the interrogation of the 12 suspects nabbed last week. Two of them had reportedly travelled to Iran from where they found their way to Pakistan. According to the police, two of the suspects may have met ISI officers in Pakistan.
“But we cannot confirm at this juncture.
We are seeing multiple angles to this terror network, involving fundamentalists in West Asia and Pakistan.
They must have been trying to secure funding and ammunition to carry out the attacks,” the officer added.
The police admitted that the local terror outfit was “ self- motivated” and drew inspiration from global jihadi elements.
The police believe Mohammed Akram was planning to execute the deadly attacks on Hindu politicians and senior journalists
Source: Mail Today, 3 Aug, 2012
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