Kerala's area wise list of youth vulnerable towards ISIS

Area wise list of ISIS sympathisers in Kerala

The incident in which several youth from Kerala left the state to join the Islamic State in Afghanistan has rattled the security machinery. The entire machinery woken up to prevent similar occurrences and more importantly the Kerala state administration has acknowledged that the threat is for real.

With the ISIS incident shaking the mechanism, an exercise called "Operation Pigeon" was launched to prevent similar instances. During the investigations conducted by a joint team of the Kerala police, Intelligence Bureau and the National Investigation Agency it was found that 350 youth were vulnerable and could join the ISIS.

Area wise list of ISIS sympathisers in Kerala:

Kannur: 118
Malappuram: 89
Kasargod: 66
Palakkad: 16
Other districts: 61

Back in the fold:

Among the 350 'vulnerable Malayali youth," the police have managed to bring back into the mainstream 330 of them. They were all found online chatting with various persons who were sympathetic towards the ISIS or part of it.

The identification took place after the special team scanned social media accounts, chat transcripts and other details. The next step was to speak with the community elders and parents and begin the counselling process. A special team of the IB and NIA handled this part and managed to bring back 330 into the mainstream. Although there is an assurance that they would not join such groups, they are still being closely monitored.

30 refuse to budge:

While the special team managed to convince 330 youth not to join the ISIS, the rest of the 30 remain adamant. During the various rounds of counselling they said that they are firm in their commitment to join the ISIS. They also said that they would not relent as they feel deeply about the cause.

The special team has not booked them as yet. We will continue to counsel and speak with them. The intention is to bring them back into the mainstream without hurting their feelings. We are confident that we will be able to do so, said an officer part of this exercise.

OneIndia News