Delhi Red Fort Blast: Online radicalisation without recruitment; Umar Nabi’s case signals new challenge for security agencies

India is witnessing a major shift when it comes to dealing with acts of terror Online radicalisation and the joining of terror groups voluntarily without being coaxed is a matter of grave concernDr Umar Nabirsquos case is a classic example of this Nabi who had carried out the blast near the Red Fort was not coaxed by anyone to join the JaisheMohammed Investigators say that he was part of several online channels of the terror group since 2018Intelligence Bureau officials say that between 2018 and 2023 he would not converse with these groups Instead he would follow the content and not even comment He was not into discussing what he read about with anyone and stayed to himself and went about his workHowever in 2023 he decided on his own that he would join the JaisheMohammed and carry out acts of terror He then decided to form a small group with whom he could discuss his plans Over the next couple of months Nabi created 15 Telegram channels and invited a select few peopleHe began by discussing the message of Masood Azhar the chief of the JaisheMohammed He would explain to the other members the importance of Azharrsquos work and why backing the JaisheMohammed is important Owing to his online skills he was able to dodge the agenciesHe used virtual numbers that were procured through VPN and VoIP applications that were registered in Nepal and Turkey Once the members were in and the network set he invited top JaisheMohammed members from Afghanistan to discuss his plan further He also had members from Turkey to suggest ideas and give guidance In the runup to the formation of the Faridabad module all the members part of this group had two handlers one from Afghanistan and the other from TurkeyInvestigators have learnt that his behaviour and approach changed completely from 2023 onwards He had become more determined and felt that indoctrination was not enough but it was necessary to carry out major attacks in the countryAn official said that the manner in which Umar Nabi functioned was more or less like a lone wolf He was the one who joined these online radical channels He recruited himself and was not reached out to by anyone This is an increasingly dangerous trend as such persons are hard to track They act alone and to the outside world look normalThe suspicion of such persons while they are going about their work is nil While this works for terror groups like a charm it is a nightmare for the security agencies The very fact that Nabi managed to keep everything under wraps between 2018 and 2025 itself suggests how dangerous such operatives are for national securityThere could be many such persons across the country who are loneacting terrorists Such persons are not part of organised networks and are motivated digitally They have no expectations from the terror group that they owe their allegiance to Instead they are willing to do everything and even act on their own Officials say that such persons are the biggest assets for terror groupsThis is a huge challenge for the security agencies going ahead Officials say that persons like Nabi ought to be made into a case study to understand the gravity of the situation and how to deal with this problem Based on this officials say that they would need to devise a new strategy which should also be evolving in nature if such threats are to be counteredThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever