New Delhi, June 13 (IANS) The Hizb-ut-Tahrir (HuT) has been vigorously pursuing its activities, with the prime focus being on South India and its digital footprint increasing, even as Indian agencies are probing the encrypted messages shared between the cadres of this outfit.

The Indian agencies that have been probing the financial trail have learned that funds are being pumped in large numbers from several nations abroad.

An Intelligence Bureau official said that the revival of the HuT is extremely important for the ISI’s South India operations. The HuT has been eyeing the southern states for a few years now. While it had remained largely silent for several years, the sudden rise in online activities has left the Indian agencies worried.

The official said that the outfit has not been preparing for immediate ground operations. The focus is now largely on radicalisation, and the group has been reaching out to scores of youth to rope them in for terror operations, the official added.

Further, the HuT is using the networks and resources of the banned Popular Front of India (PFI). Officials say that it is reaching out to several cadres of the PFI who have gone underground post the ban.

The official added that following the ban on the PFI, there has been a large vacuum that has been created for operations in South India. There are multiple groups that are vying for that spot, and one of the main players that is trying to cash in is the HuT.

Another official said that to run operations, the HuT has been getting funds from various parts of the world. The ISI has been overseeing these operations and is helping the group bring in the funds. The HuT’s funding trail from various countries, such as Germany and Switzerland, is now under the radar of the agencies. Investigators are working closely with these nations to get more details about the funding that was raised for the HuT, an official said.

Officials say that the HuT appears to be following a different pattern this time. The main focus remains radicalisation. It wants to recruit as many youth as possible so that it can spread its message to a wider audience. The target states currently are Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Once it manages to rope in a sufficient number of youth, it plans on sending them to the other southern states and undertaking radicalisation programmes.

Once the radicalisation process is complete, the HuT plans on setting up multiple proxy outfits. These outfits would be tasked with staging protests and inciting violence. Analysts and experts say that this seems to be the new trend. Groups such as the HuT want to move away from the conventional terror attacks that involve shootings and bombings. The group intends to radicalise society and focus largely on creating communal rifts and violence on the streets.

The outfit wants to propagate the implementation of the Sharia law and intends to change the mindset among the people. During its radicalisation programmes, the HuT preaches about radical Islam and how it is the duty of the recruits to spread this message across states.

The revival plans of the HuT first came to light when the Chennai Crime Branch arrested five operatives of the outfit in May 2014. The arrested persons were identified as Nawaz Sharif, Hameed Hussain, Mohammad Maurice, Ahmed Mansoor, and Abdul Rahman.

Investigations revealed that the HuT module was holding secret classes in Chennai every Sunday. During these classes, the members propagated for radical Islam and also spoke about the need to establish an Islamic Caliphate in south India.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is probing the case, learned that the cadres were told to operate in three stages. The first stage would focus on recruitment and radicalisation, the second would concentrate on pushing for an Islamic Caliphate. The third would involve the creation of Muslim armies, seeking foreign assistance and then carrying out attacks.

An official said that the HuT is currently in the first stage of its operations. The focus remains largely on radicalisation. The outfit is playing a long game and does not want to indulge in anything bombastic for the moment. It intends to keep a low profile and deal with a select number of outfits as it wants to stay away from the radar of the Indian agencies, the official also said.

–IANS

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