New Delhi, Nov 2 (IANS) Pune in Maharashtra has emerged as a major focus of several terror outfits over the past few years, with the city increasingly featuring in their recruitment strategies.

The trend has continued, with outfits such as the Islamic State (IS) and Al-Qaeda attempting to recruit individuals from the city. Their activities in Pune have largely centred on digital platforms, with online networks being used to identify and approach potential recruits.

The Indian Mujahideen was among the first outfits to establish a recruitment network in Pune. Following the dismantling of the organisation, there was a lull in such activities for some time.

However, an official said the Islamic State had subsequently taken up where the Indian Mujahideen had left off, turning Pune into one of its principal digital recruitment centres.

Recruitment by the Islamic State has also been reported in southern states such as Tamil Nadu and Kerala. However, officials point out that the modus operandi of terror outfits in these states differs from their approach in Pune, particularly in the manner in which recruitment networks are developed and operated.

The Pune module is white-collar, and those being recruited are highly educated, an official said.

Between 2023 and 2026, the agencies have busted multiple modules in Pune. Al Qaeda radicalised module involving one Zubair Hangargekar, the Islamic State module in Kondhwa, Pune, and the Ayan Sheikh case linked to the Islamic State, to name a few.

In all three cases, it was found that the members of these modules were either in the process of preparing improvised explosive devices (IEDs) or spreading violent Jihad through encrypted channels.

The common factor was that all these module members were highly educated and capable of working on their own without any external help.

An Intelligence Bureau official said that in Pune, outfits such as the Islamic State and Al Qaeda have managed to find a lot of educated and talented persons.

The very fact that these members are doing jobs in big companies gives them basic cover from detection. These individuals are also tech-savvy, and this helps them disseminate information and spread it through their digital channels.

This eliminates the need for basic technical training.

Further areas such as Kondhwa ensure low visibility, and this helps these persons go about their work without getting detected.

It was in Kondhwa that the members of the Islamic State module had rented a house and set up an IED training workshop.

They had also identified a site to carry out tests, the probe by the Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) found.

Despite these busts in recent years, the Islamic State continues to actively pursue recruitments from Pune.

These busts are no doubt setbacks, but the Islamic State would lie low for a couple of months before pursuing the recruitment drive in another couple of months, the official said.

Another official said that the recruitments that are being made in Pune are not limited to operations in the city alone.

The outfit is looking at the larger picture and would look to connect the Pune module to ones in Mumbai and Thane.

This offers them a larger jurisdiction to operate, and if successful in their attacks, the scale would be an unprecedented one, the official said.

The Islamic State is, however, not looking to stop at Pune, Mumbai and Thane. The outfit has devised a plan similar to the one in South India.

In the South India case, it was found that the first known recruitments took place in Tamil Nadu. It then spread to Kerala and Karnataka.

In the Maharashtra case, the idea is to connect these modules to those in Rajasthan and then Jammu and Kashmir.

Since the Pune module members are the ones with the most expertise, the city would continue to function as an operational hub, which would instruct members in modules in Mumbai, Thane, Rajasthan, and Jammu and Kashmir. These modules are not meant to create a noise immediately.

The Islamic State wants to take one step at a time. Once the Pune module is fully established, it would move to other places and then connect all of them.

Since the module in Pune would be the command centre, it is upon members of these modules to source material, test it, and then train the rest of the members.

In addition to the members being highly educated, what makes these modules dangerous is that they are not preparing for attacks immediately.

They are ready to wait it out for months, if not years, before executing an attack, and it is this patience level that makes the Islamic State’s Maharashtra-led module extremely lethal, an official said.

–IANS

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