New Delhi: To keep a watch on youths who are susceptible to online radicalisation and recruitment by the Iraqi miliant group Islamic States, Telangana Police is dipping into its Naxalite-era experience in surveillance and methods.
As per officials more and more youths are getting influenced by the social networking and propaganda websites of IS.
The incident in which four Hyderabad engineering dropouts who were detained by West Bengal Police last September while they were on their way to Iraq appears to be one of the many cases when Telangana Police's surveillance techniques came in handy. Intelligence officials say that since then, 16 individuals who wanted to join IS were prevented in the nick of time as they prepared to leave.
After coming out of jail, even those who did not intend to join the movement went and joined in hordes. It was a huge setback. We changed our strategy; we increased vigilance and used counseling as a deterrent. Instead of arresting them we would show them proof of their activities and then guide them back into society. We were able to deter more number of people this way than by using force. We are using the same tactic now to deter potential IS recruits,'' the official said.
Faced with a similar situation 10-15 years back at the height of the Naxalite movement when youths would attend Naxal meetings in rural areas or meet Naxals, police initially used to haul them to stations and book cases. But this time police is using a different tactic to stop youth to join IS.
