Lashkar-e-Taiba recruiting illegal immigrants from South India

Representational image. File pic

The busting of the Faridabad module and the recent terror plot that aimed at targeting temples revealed that Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba are increasingly stepping up homegrown activities.

As reported by news agency IANS, officials from the Special Cell of the Delhi police say that the Lashkar-e-Taiba has been scouting for illegal immigrants who have settled in South India to execute attacks in North India.

There has been a surge in activity, especially around the Bengali camps in Kerala, where Lashkar-e-Taiba operatives are scouting for persons to undertake terror attacks, officials say.

Special cell arrests six Bangladeshi nationals

Amid the concerning situation in South India, similar activity has been noticed in Tamil Nadu as well. Recently, the Special Cell had also arrested six Bangladeshi nationals from Tamil Nadu with the help of the local police.

The investigation pointed to a larger ploy, where the Lashkar-e-Taiba were planning on using these persons to attack temples in and around Delhi.

Speaking about the operation, an Intelligence Bureau official said that to undertake these operations, the Lashkar-e-Taiba has sought the help of the touts who bring the illegal immigrants into India.

The touts bring these persons into India and provide them with Aadhaar cards and voter IDs. The official said that the same tactic that these touts use to get these persons to vote during an election in West Bengal and the Northeastern states is being used to make them undertake terror activities.

An official also said, "The touts provide them with valid documents on the condition that they vote in elections. If they fail to do so, then they are tracked and immediately sent back to either Bangladesh or Myanmar, as cited by IANS.

Furthermore, the same tactic is being used now to recruit them into terror groups such as the Lashkar-e-Taiba, the official also added.

Lashkar-e-Taiba targets West Bengal elections

The increase in recruitment activity coincides with the Intelligence Bureau recently warning that the elections in West Bengal and Assam could be targeted by the Lashkar-e-Taiba, reported IANS.

These terror groups are trying to take advantage of the fact that the security agencies would be too busy with the elections, and hence, a slip-up could take place.

Why is Lashkar-e-Taiba recruiting from South India?

Another official, while expressing his views on the operations of the terror group, said that the Lashkar-e-Taiba is deliberately not recruiting the illegal immigrants who are already present in many parts of Northeast and West Bengal.

The idea to recruit from the South is because they are not familiar faces to be part of an operation in the Northeast and West Bengal.

Another official said that these illegal immigrants are either roped in by issuing threats or are paid well to undertake the job.

As reported by IANS, if Lashkar-e-Taiba has assured the recruits that if they carry out a terror attack, then they will be paid heavily and will also be given easy entry back to either Bangladesh or Myanmar.

(With inputs from IANS)