New Delhi: The digital frontier has long been a battlefield for intelligence agencies, but a recent surge in lone wolves has left them alarmed. From Zaib Zuber Ansari in Mumbai to Rizwan in Delhi and Tushar Chauhan alias Hizbullah Khan in Uttar Pradesh, the shift from organized cell-based plots seems to have created a needle-in-a-haystack scenario that is stretching resources exponentially and prompting a recalibration of security strategies.
Spate of Arrests Raises Concerns
In the last month, there has been a spate of terror-espionage related arrests in Delhi, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, and Gujarat. Many of these individuals showed high levels of radicalization, stemming mostly from DIY (Do-It-Yourself) material shared by terror recruiters online. Sources said many had agreed to carry out lone wolf attacks while consuming extremist propaganda across encrypted platforms and fringe forums, without ever making direct, physical contact with a formal organization.
Global Trend Worries Investigators
This dangerous trend is being noticed globally, investigators said. For years, counterterrorism efforts were designed to intercept communications between known entities or disrupt the logistics of funded networks. However, the latest threat often lacks a physical trail. "The lack of a command and control structure means there are no intercepted phone calls or financial transfers to flag, leaving investigators in the dark until an attack is already underway," said an ATS officer. Also, the speed of mobilization—called the flash-to-bang period by radicalization experts—has narrowed significantly, reducing to a few weeks in many cases and leaving little room for intervention.
Case Study: Tushar Chauhan
In various cases of online, self-initiated radicalization, isolated individuals have turned into threats in the privacy of their own homes. The arrest of Tushar Chauhan (20), alias Hizbullah Ali Khan, in Uttar Pradesh's Meerut is a case in point. His parents were unaware of his second identity and alleged conversion, claiming he was suffering from a neurological disorder.
Intelligence sources, based on recordings of calls Tushar allegedly made to threaten his targets—a group of ex-Muslims and members of hardline Hindu outfits—and which were intercepted leading to his arrest, say the parents' version makes the case even scarier. "It shows that they brainwashed an allegedly disturbed person into converting to Islam and turned him into a weapon. In the recordings, he comes out as someone with a single-minded focus on eliminating the blasphemers."
Recruitment by ISI
He first came on the radar of agencies after making online threats against a religious leader and was arrested in that case. The investigation prompted them to dig deeper into his world, and it allegedly emerged that he had been offered Rs 3 lakh by ISI henchman Shahzad Bhatti to carry out a targeted killing.
Rizwan: Another Self-Radicalized Case
Rizwan, arrested recently for the second time by Delhi's Special Cell, was another self-radicalized person who resorted to nefarious activities shortly after being released from jail. The salad bar of ideologies complicates the work of investigative units, making it harder to predict which individuals will transition from radical beliefs to overt violence.
Online Gaming as a Recruitment Tool
Online gaming has emerged as another common point in these recent investigations. Many of these individuals were either recruited or used these multi-player gaming channels to communicate. Recent arrests of Hamad Siddiqui from Kurla and Mosaib Ahmad from Thane revealed these gaming addicts used PUBG and FreeFire games to connect with each other.
