ISIS Terrorist Plotting Suicide Attack against Indian “Ruling Elite” Detained in Russia
Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Aug 22: Russia is claimed to have detained an Islamic State terrorist allegedly plotting a suicide attack targeting “one of representatives of the ruling circles in India” to take revenge for derogatory remarks against Prophet Mohammad.
The terrorist who hailed from Turkey is claimed to have confessed before the Russian security agency about his plans to launch the terror attack in India, Russian media reports said.
“An Islamic State terrorist from a Central Asian country, who was plotting a suicide attack against a member of India’s leadership elite for the offensive comments on the Prophet, has been detained in Russia, the country’s top intelligence agency said on Monday,” media reports said.
According to Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), the foreign national was recruited by one of the Islamic State’s ringleaders as a suicide bomber sometime between April and June 2022, while in Turkey, media reports said. “The Federal Security Service has identified and apprehended in Russia a member of the outlawed (by the Russian Federation) Islamic State international terrorist organisation. The detainee is a native of a Central Asian country, who planned to commit a terrorist attack against a member of India’s ruling circles by blowing himself up,” the FSB said.
The terrorist’s “ideological indoctrination was conducted remotely via Telegram messenger accounts and during personal meetings in Istanbul with an IS representative,” the Russian Federal Security Service’s Centre for Public Relations (CPR) said.
The FSB noted that the would-be suicide bomber swore allegiance to the IS Emir (chief), after which he was instructed to leave for Russia, draw up the necessary documents and fly to India to commit this act of terrorism, the report said. The terrorist, who was not identified by the Russian intelligence agency, confessed that he was preparing an act of terrorism against a member of India’s ruling circles for insulting the Prophet Muhammad.
In a video of his interrogation released by the FSB, the terrorist could be heard admitting that he was supposed to take revenge in India “for insulting the Prophet.” Recruited by one of the ISIS leaders as a suicide bomber in Turkey, the terrorist said he planned to commit an act of terrorism against a member of India’s ruling circles by blowing himself up.
“I was supposed to be given things there to commit a terrorist attack at the behest of the IS for insulting the Prophet Muhammad,” the man was quoted as saying by the Russian media.
The FSB said its officers had detained a suicide bomber, a member of the ISIS terrorist group, who was plotting a terrorist attack against one of India’s leadership elite. “Russia’s FSB identified and detained a member of the Islamic State international terrorist organization banned in Russia, a native of a country in the Central Asian region, who planned to commit a terrorist act by blowing himself up against one of the representatives of the ruling circles of India,” the authority said in a statement.
ISIS and all its manifestations have been notified as Terrorist Organization and included in the First Schedule to the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 by the Central Government, according to Home Ministry. ISIS uses various internet-based social media platforms to propagate its ideology. Cyberspace is being closely watched in this regard by the agencies concerned and action is taken as per law.
The terrorist apparently was inspired by the recent Prophet remark row wherein a spokesperson of an Indian political party had made some remark on national television that drew the ire of several West Asian countries. BJP’s spokesperson Nupur Sharma was subsequently suspended from the party and the party’s Delhi media head Naveen Kumar Jindal was expelled by the party after their controversial remarks against the Prophet which sparked protests in the Muslim world. India had condemned the party spokesperson’s statement and the central government had distanced itself from Sharma’s remarks and reaffirmed ties with Middle East countries.
The ISIS and all its affiliate organisations, responsible for a series of savage attacks and killings in Iraq and Syria, have been banned in India under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. Recruitment of youths to the outfit from India and their radicalisation is a matter of serious concern for the country especially with regard to its likely impact on national security when such youth return to India, the Home Ministry has said while banning the terrorist group.
“The Islamic State/Islamic State of Iraq and Levant/ Islamic State of Iraq and Syria/Daesh and all its manifestations have been declared outlawed in India under UAPA,” a notification issued by the Ministry said last year.
Earlier this month, Minister of State (MoS) for External Affairs V Muraleedharan had rejected any claims that comments by the leaders of political parties in India have affected its friendly ties with Arab countries. “No. India shares historic and friendly relations with Arab countries which have strengthened significantly in past few years in different domains including political, trade and investment, defence, security, science and technology, culture and people-to-people ties,” he wrote.
