THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Almost a year after 21 ISIS sympathisers left from Kerala to join the terror group in Afghanistan, around 350 youth are now being de-radicalised in the state. State Intelligence chief Muhammad Yasin said a special de-radicalisation drive has been focusing on 350 people and their families. “Most of these youths are from northern Kerala and are well educated and innocent. They get attracted to unsuspecting Whatsapp messages and social media groups, from where the radicalisation begins gradually,” Yasin said.
Called Operation Pigeon, the drive was a joint operation by the state Intelligence, National Investigation Agency or NIA, and other Central Intelligence wings. When asked about the modus operandi to identify the target group, Yasin said, “We are still undertaking the drive and focusing on nipping this in the bud. Since it is an ongoing process even now, we cannot disclose more than this.”
Investigators had found that the main ISIS indoctrinators Abdul Rasheed had created at least two Whatsapp groups and was sending messages to over 200 people in the state. Most of the people being de-radicalised are in their twenties and thirties.
