Terror groups luring tech-savvy youth

Hyderabad: Terror groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) are increasingly turning tech-savvy. They are not only luring gadget-obsessed youth into their fold but are also training their local recruits in using internet-based tools to hoodwink investigating agencies and ensuring a relatively safe mode of communication.
    Sources claim that this trend started post the 26/11 Mumbai attack and picked up rapidly. The LeT handlers, based either in Saudi Arabia or Pakistan, reportedly use internet-based communication, either voice or text, for recruitment since it is possible to maintain anonymity and use codes to communicate. The outlawed Indian Mujahideen (IM), which is suspected to be behind several blasts including the recent twin blasts in Dilsukhnagar, is controlled by the LeT.
    “Educated youngsters who have inclination for gadgets are being lured,” sources said. “After the arrest of several suspects in the recent past, it became clear that recruitment of locals was done on the internet. Also, the handlers and the members of their modules use only the net since it is difficult for the investigating agencies to track the communication unless there is specific information,” sources in the intelligence wing said. They added that in case their most suited person cannot use softwares, he is usually trained.
    This was earlier corroborated by the 26/11 accused and alleged LeT operative Syed Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal after his arrest in various conspiracy cases. Both Abu Jundal and Fayyaz Kagzi had carried out recruitment through the internet until the former was deported from Saudi Arabia. Kagzi continues to do so and it is learnt that some members from Hyderabad were lured in the same way.
    Alleged IM suspects - Imran Khan of Nanded, Irfan Mustafa and few others – who were arrested in relation to terror incidents across the country reportedly used to be in touch with their handlers using anonymous names on the internet. Similarly, city-based Obaid-ur-Rehman, an alleged LeT operative, banked heavily on the internet for communication. Imran Khan is an engineering graduate, while Obaid-ur-Rehman is an undergraduate student.
    The state intelligence officials had earlier planned to set up an internet monitoring and analysis lab to keep tabs on suspicious and antinational activities on the internet. However, red tape has ensured that this proposal remains on paper.