03 January,2016 07:10 AM IST | | Chaitraly Deshmukh
The 17-year-old girl thanks the Anti Terrorism Squad for rescuing her from the dark side, will now help cops combat extremist online propaganda of terror groups like the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria
The Anti-Terrorism Squad has had its hands full trying to counter the growing online network of terrorist groups in India. Four men had disappeared from Malvani last month, and while two have been rescued and counselled so far, the other two continue to be on the run.
Also read: The Hindu Quran expert who is helping Pune ATS
The ATS had launched a campaign to help de-radicalise youth who have fallen prey to ISIS handlers and recruiters online. The campaign has so far helped rescue 25 youth from across the state, and Islamic clerics and scholars are aiding the ATS in this initiative.
Suspected ISIS agent Mohammad Sirajuddin being produced in a court in Jaipur
The arrest of Mohammad Sirajuddin, a manager at Indian Oil Corporation, from Jaipur on December 5, was a huge success for the ATS. His arrest led to the unravelling of several toxic chat rooms and groups on social media that were radicalising youth and urging them to join the ISIS. While screening the social media groups, the ATS discovered a 17-year-old girl from Pune, nicknamed Radical Gun, who was being coaxed to fly to Syria and attend to wounded soldiers. The teenager had a 90% score in her SSC and was pursuing medicine when she was roped in by the social media handlers. However, the ATS was able to de-radicalise the girl and make her see the truth behind the sinister plans of the ISIS.
Another youth that the ATS rescued was a Hindu engineering student, who had converted to Islam and had been teaching Arabic at Madrassas across Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh. The boy is now helping the ATS sift through jihadi material that is printed in Urdu and Arabic and circulated across social media.
