ASSAM ON MHA SCANNER IN WAKE OF PARIS ATTACKS

NEW DELHI: After the Paris attacks India has joined the long list of countries issuing security alerts. The government has also been looking at the possible influence of the Islamic State in the country, with vigilance having been increased on the social media as well

Assam is amongst the specific states that have been reportedly placed under the scanner by the Ministry of Home Affairs. The MHA has issued an advisory, including instructions to train police personnel to reportedly keep an eye out on possible IS influence in the virtual web world.

“We have been asked to train our personnel in handling the ISIS threat. Our training module will start very soon and it largely focuses on fighting the battles in the social media,” a senior police official said.

Former Director General, Border Security Force Prakash Singh told The Citizen, “Monitoring is not bad. It is needed and one should be alert. The only cause of concern is the cases of mistaken identity. And we have to be sure and cautious while monitoring that no innocent person gets into trouble.”

Highly placed security officials said that Assam, that will be going to the polls next year, is taking its own precautionary measures.“The centre has issued an advisory and a reminder as well warning about possibilities of IS attacks. We are working constantly to keep of not just IS but activities of all jihadi forces. We have identified possible targets of jihadi forces and have taken stringent preventive measures,” security officials confirmed.

The Assam Police headquarters had earlier expressed worry over growth of people’s interest in IS on the social media in the state. So far there is no record of any person from the state joining IS.

The police claim that the number of visitors to IS related websites from the state is on the higher side in Assam as in Jammu and Kashmir. This, the sources maintained, seemed to be more than curiosity. The National Technical Research Organization (NTRO) is monitoring the social media.

Apart from the threat from IS, recently the police claim to have arrested 24 members of the Jamaat-ul Mujahideen, Bangladesh (JMB), including those who were allegedly involved in the Burdwan blast in West Bengal last year.