This is how ISIS is wooing Indians online
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Mehdi Biswas told the police that since he could not leave his parents, he decided to wage the "holy war" online
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Facebook and micro-blogging site Twitter remain one of the widely used sites for establishing contact
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Mehdi Masroor Biswas was only 24, when he was arrested by the Bengaluru police, for his connections with the Islamic State (ISIS). Biswas, who worked an executive in a Bengaluru MNC, took upon himself to become a Twitter jihadi for the dreaded Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist group after getting radicalised online.
Under the pseudonym Shami Witness, he established himself an expert on Syria-related affairs and openly supported the ISIS. He was running the account since November 2011 and was initially devoted towards Al Qaeda but as the ISIS grew in influence, he switched sides.
Biswas, who had a day job working in an MNC, was arrested by the Bengaluru police after his real identity was exposed online by an Israeli undercover journalist. He was picked up by the police, just days after he appeared for the Common Admission Test (CAT). In an interview with this journalist, Mehdi's mother once said that she wished her son had a girlfriend as then he would have spend more time with her instead of getting into trouble.
It all began online and like any youngster, for Mehdi, it was initially to gain more understanding on his religion. But clearly, ISIS had more sinister plans for him. In an interrogation after his arrest, Mehdi told the police that he too was asked to join the jihad in Syria, however, since he could not leave his parents, he decided to wage the "holy war" online.
Hidden among hundreds of chat rooms, the ISIS handlers are always on the lookout for youth, who can be brainwashed. Take for example, the case of Nasir Chaus from Parbhani district in Maharashtra. His handler spotted him on an online chat room. However, to check if he was a devote Muslim, he was asked a few trick questions related to "wazu" (the religious ablutions). It was only after he answered these questions correctly that he was asked to start chatting with him on secure app-based messenger sites.
“Satisfied with his answer, Farooque invited him to Telegram where he revealed his name and told Chaus that he is an Indian national based in Syria. Chaus created an ID, Abu-hamdan, on Telegram and used the ID to chat with his handler. Subsequently, when Chaus read about an IS-module being busted by a security agency and that ‘Farqooue’ alias Shafi Armar was their handler, he checked with him. However, Farooque responded to that by saying that Shafi was a brother and they hailed from Bhatkal in Karnataka. Chaus claimed he did not probe further as there was an unstated rule on not checking or probing other members,” a senior official told The Indian Express.
Facebook and micro-blogging site Twitter remain one of the widely used sites for establishing contact. For chats, the terror group uses WhatsApp and of lately, they prefer Telegram, mainly, because of its highly secure features.
WhatsApp and Telegram groups are currently widely being used in India. In the case of a 16-year-old convent-educated Muslim girl from Pune, the investigation agencies were able to save the kid in the nick of time.
She was part of an ISIS WhatsApp group with over 200 youngsters from across the globe. She was all set to leave for Syria, where her ISIS handlers had promised to pay and train her as a doctor. In all probability, she would have become just another ISIS bride.
The fight against ISIS is real and it has be spearheaded online with an effective and result-oriented approach.
