Islamic State's toxic shift: Gujarat plot to poison water exposes new tactic

New Delhi, Nov 10 (IANS) The Islamic State has been evolving its strategy and has now moved on from lone wolf attacks to attempting to poison the water at many places in India. These revelations came to light after the police in Gujarat foiled a major Islamic State-inspired plot that involved the use of ricin, which is a highly toxic compound that is derived from castor seeds.

Ricin, recognised as a potent naturally occurring toxin, is classified as a Category B bioterrorism agent and also a Schedule 1 controlled substance under the Chemical Weapons Convention.

The Gujarat Police have arrested Dr Ahmed Mohiuddin Syed, an MBBS graduate who studied in China before taking up a job in Gujarat. The police said that he, along with Mohd Suhel and Azad Suleman Saifi from Uttar Pradesh, had planned to extract ricin and use it to poison water meant for public consumption.

They had also planned on poisoning the Temple prasad in Lucknow and Delhi. This shows a clear shift in the operations of the Islamic State. The outfit had initially planned on setting up modules in India, but that plan did not work out. Later on, they encouraged their recruits to indulge in lone wolf attacks, but that too did not gain any traction.

According to the Intelligence agencies, the outfit has been discussing a shift in tactics through its online channels and encrypted chat groups. Bio-terrorism has been discussed among major terror groups for some time now. The Islamic State now intends to take it forward. This is an extremely dangerous trend that the country is witnessing, and the idea to use ricin only shows how much the group has evolved.

Another official said that with each passing day, the Islamic State is evolving. Its strategy has been changing frequently, and the fact that it is relying on a very unconventional style makes it even more dangerous. A lone wolf attack needed no planning, and the detection levels were almost nil. Such attacks did not need any planning, and any person who has been radicalised online could strike.

Further, it is very difficult to keep a tab on each person who is radicalised by the Islamic State ideology, and the very fact that such a person does not undergo formal training and is not part of any terror module makes detection next to impossible. The use of ricin is part of yet another evolving strategy of the Islamic State. It can be extracted from castor seed, which is easily available.

The matter of concern for the agencies is that ricin is not associated with terrorism. This means that the detection is difficult. The agencies have had the arrested persons on their radar for some months now.

During the probe, it was found that they wanted to kill scores of people by poisoning water meant for public consumption. Had the plan gone through, it would have been a catastrophe of a huge magnitude. The plan by these persons was to cause over 1,000 deaths.

Police officials say, while the plan to contaminate the water was a lethal one, the Islamic State realised such an attack would wreak havoc in the minds of the people. It would have caused panic, and this would have disturbed the psyche of many. In fact, this sort of an attack would have been harmful both physically and mentally for society as a whole.

The investigations are now focused on whether the trio have a Pakistan link. These developments come in the wake of Pakistan backing the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP). Intelligence agencies had warned that the ISI backing the ISKP could have a major impact, as the outfit does have a great deal of interest in India.

While the plan by the Islamic State may have been huge in nature, experts say that no terror group has so far managed to obtain pure ricin. Attempts have been made several times in the past, but none have been successful. The investigators, apart from probing the plot, are also looking into the possible capabilities of the Islamic State in procuring pure ricin.

--IANS

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