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New Delhi, November 10 (IANS) Islamic State is developing its strategy and now it has ranged from lone wolf attacks to trying to mix poison in water at many places in India. The revelations come as police in Gujarat foiled a major Islamic State-inspired plot that involved the use of ricin, a highly toxic compound derived from castor seeds.
Ricin, known as a powerful naturally occurring toxin, is classified as a Category B bioterrorism agent and also a Schedule 1 controlled substance under the Chemical Weapons Convention.
Gujarat Police has arrested MBBS graduate Dr Ahmed Mohiuddin Syed, who studied in China before taking up a job in Gujarat. Police said he along with Mohammad Suhail and Azad Suleman Saifi of Uttar Pradesh had planned to extract ricin and use it to poison water for public consumption.
They had also planned to mix poison in the temple offerings in Lucknow and Delhi. This reflects a clear change in the operations of the Islamic State. The organization had initially planned to set up the module in India, but that plan did not work out. Later, he encouraged his recruits to join the lone wolf attacks, but this also did not help.
According to intelligence agencies, the organization is discussing the change in strategy through its online channels and encrypted chat groups. Bio-terrorism has been under discussion among major terrorist groups for some time. Islamic State now intends to take it further. This is an extremely dangerous trend that is being seen in the country, and the idea of using ricin only shows how much the group has evolved.
Another official said that Islamic State is growing with every passing day. Its tactics have changed frequently, and the fact that it relies on a very unconventional style makes it even more dangerous. A lone wolf attack required no planning, and detection levels were almost zero. Such attacks require no planning and anyone who has been radicalized online can carry out an attack.
Moreover, it is very difficult to keep track of every individual who is radicalized by the ideology of Islamic State, and the fact that such a person does not undergo formal training and is not part of any terror module is almost impossible to trace. The use of ricin is part of another emerging strategy of the Islamic State. It can be extracted from castor seeds, which is easily available.
The matter of concern for the agencies is that ricin has no connection with terrorism. This means that it is difficult to detect. The arrested persons have been on the radar of the agencies for the last few months.
During investigation, it was found that they wanted to kill many people by poisoning water for public consumption. If this plan had succeeded, it would have been a huge disaster. The plan of these individuals was to cause the death of more than 1,000 people.
Police officials say, while the plan to pollute the water was deadly, Islamic State realized that such an attack would wreak havoc on people’s minds. This would have spread panic and disturbed the psyche of many people. In fact, such an attack would have been physically and mentally harmful to society as a whole.
The investigation now focuses on whether the three have links with Pakistan. These developments come in the wake of Pakistan’s support to Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP). Intelligence agencies had warned that ISI’s support to ISKP could have major implications, as the organization has strong interests in India.
Although Islamic State’s plans may be vast, experts say no terrorist group has yet managed to obtain pure ricin. Many attempts were made before, but none were successful. In addition to investigating a conspiracy, investigators are also looking into the Islamic State’s potential capabilities in purchasing pure ricin.
–IANS
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