INVESTIGATIONS into the car blast near the Red Fort in New Delhi is peeling off a multiple-layered strategy used by terror outfits in the changing security paradigm in the country. The ‘white collar’ terror module has posed a new challenge to the Intelligence and security agencies as they have diverted from the conventional methods and are preferring handlers with no criminal past or separatist links. It is a new model of terror threatening peace in the world. India has acted really fast in this direction creating panic among the ‘white collar’ radicals which actually led to the explosion in the Capital. Indications of extremist outfits changing their strategy were coming in bits and pieces for Intelligence sleuths across the country. Various modules have been on the radar of security agencies which have preferred to stay among the elite and educated class to mask their identity.

 

The age-old practice of recruiting terror handlers caught on the wrong side of the law of the land is slowly being faded out. Radicalisation without recruitment is the new game which holds the dangerous potential of disrupting societal thinking in this age of digital communication. The accused held in the Delhi blast case are medical doctors who never had any affiliation with separatist or terror outfits. Their thinking was twisted in such a manner that they would remain part of the society but keep gnawing at internal security with covert activities. That even their family members were mostly unaware of their activities rings an alarm bell for the country.

 

It is a fresh strategy which calls for increased vigil at all levels, including masses. Probe in the ‘white collar’ terror module has also found a distinct pattern and a common denominator among the accused persons who have been arrested so far. The main accused, Dr Umar Nabi, who was driving the car that blew up outside the Red Fort metro station on November 10, also did not have any past record. However, the common denominator has pointed towards a sinister plan of brainwashing the educated in society to create an urban network. Instead of going for the modus operandi adopted by terror outfits two decades ago, the new-age extremists are scouting for candidates from urban backgrounds. Sowing seeds of hatred among such vulnerable urban youths is being seen as an easy method due to the overwhelming influence of social media on today’s society. The sophisticated terror module spearheaded by the group of doctors was also in search of a suicide bomber since last one year to cover its tracks in the urban area. The pattern here is similar to the Urban Naxal problem dogging Indian cities.

 

The Maoists went for this strategy of using Left-leaning individuals in urban sectors to further their ideology quite early. They had adopted a two-front war against the established Governments -- using armed Naxals against the security forces in rural and forested regions and helping Urban Naxals infiltrate into critical sectors. The problem of Urban Naxals was raised quite early by Intelligence agencies but it was only after the hard stand taken by the current NDA dispensation against Naxalism that the issue is back in consideration. The ‘white collar’ terror modules are also based on the same thinking of using elitist circles as a cover to propagate the dangerous Jihadi ideology in the urban population. Finding such individuals is a real challenge for police and Intelligence sources as they hardly carry any past criminal record. Moreover, the subtlety in their methods of instilling nefarious ideas in receptive minds hardly reveals their radical beliefs. It is a new challenge, on multiple fronts now, both for the State and Central agencies. Fortunately, the Intelligence network has been successful in averting a major incident involving the accused in the Delhi blast cases. The rich haul of weapons and explosives in various cities across India, a day ahead of the car blast, was a major operation that has saved hundreds of lives. But the challenge persists.