Terror knocks India with knives, garbed in lone wolf attacks

Lone wolf attacks using weapons like knives and sickles are on a rise and officials agree that such attacks are the hardest to track

New Delhi, July 11: The murders in Udaipur and Amravati have put the focus back on radicalisation and lone wolf terror attacks. Speak with any official in the intelligence agencies and they would agree that lone wolf attacks are the hardest things to track.

Prior to the lone wolf attacks in Amravati and Udaipur, there have been four such attacks in the past.

In 2015, Abdul Malik alias Abdul Razak stabbed a constable thrice. The constable was posted outside the Pusad Mosque in Maharashtra's Yavatmal district. The police found that Razak was radicalised by Hafiz Mujibir. It was also learnt that Razak was a sympathiser of the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI).

The second incident was reported from Labhpur in West Bengal. In this case reported in 2016, Mohammad Mosiuddin had planned lone wolf attacks on foreigners. The National Investigation Agency which probed the case said that he had been radicalised online by two handlers of the Islamic State.

On April 3 this year, Murtaza Abbasi, an IIT Mumbai alumnus, forcibly entered the Gokrakhnath Temple in Uttar Pradesh and attacked two provincial armed constabulary jawans with a sickle and also tried to snatch their rifles. He told interrogators that he took oath as a soldier of the Islamic State in 2020.

In 2020 a lone attacker fired at a CRPF personnel in Kashmir's Baramulla with an Ak-47 rifle. In the attack claimed by the The Resistance Front, three jawans died and two were seriously injured.

On June 21, Umesh Kolhe a chemist from Amravati was stabbed on the neck by two men on a motorbike. The probe has been taken over by the NIA. On June 28, Riyaz Mohammad and Ghouse Mohammad hacked a Hindu tailor, Kanhaiya Lal to death in Udaipur.

We should also revisit the case of Kafeel Ahmed. In the year 2007, Ahmed an aeronautical engineer from Bengaluru along with Bilal Abdullah planted explosives in their vehicle and drove it into the Glasgow Airport. While no major damage was reported in the incident, the bombers did not survive. Probes by the various agencies revealed that Kafeel was radicalised online and subscribed to the view of Al-Qaeda.

One witnessed lone wolf attacks in a big way in Syria. It gradually caught the attention of several radicalised Islamists across the world. An Intelligence Bureau official tells OneIndia that it is indeed the hardest crime to stop. A person sitting in his drawing room can get radicalised and then come out and drive his car over people.

Outfits such as the Al-Qaeda and Islamic State have been making a call for lone wolf attacks since 2014.

The officer cited above says that while the terrorist is not associated with any outfit, the weapon of his choice is also hard to trace. It is the element of surprise in such attacks that has become a nightmare for the security agencies.

Another official explained that there is too much literature about these style of attacks on the internet. The agencies will have to scan the internet further to ensure that all such content is taken down. The problem in today's day is that the radicalisation takes place online, he further says.

Al-Qaeda had said in 2015, 'Pick up the truck now not to mow grass, but to mow down enemies.' The ISIS had the same year said, "If you are unable to find an IED or a bullet, run your enemy over with a car. There are cars available and targets ready to kill. Kill them, spit on their faces and run them over with your cars."

"If you are unable to find an IED or a bullet, then single out the disbelieving American, Frenchman, or any of their allies. Smash his head with a rock, or slaughter him with a knife, or run him over with your car, or throw him down from a high place, or choke him, or poison him," the Islamic Sate had also said.

The agencies warn that terror groups will continue to use unconventional methods to attack. Their intent is to create panic and fear and the manner in which it would be done is of no relevance to them. With the vigil high, it is difficult to sneak in weapons and explosives. In such a scenario unconventional weapons come in handy as they never come under the radar.