KOZHIKODE: The indoctrination drive of Muslim youths by pro-IS modules and the reported joining of several youths with families in IS camps have exposed the holes in the information gathering network of the police and intelligence agencies.
Lower–level officials say that the movement of families towards IS camps and the indoctrination process were earlier reported to the higher-ups. In fact, the terror monitoring system in the state was lax. In many cases, the reports were either kept under wraps or kept aside carelessly, the officials said.
An official who preferred anonymity told DC that the recruitment of Muslim youths from Kannur district for fighting in Kashmir was earlier reported by the local Special Branch sleuths, but not verified and confirmed at higher level. Ultra outfits running modules in the villages of Wayanad and running training camps with shooting ranges in remote plantations also were reported in the late nineties and later in 2003. “In fact, we were pooh-poohed by some of our superior officials and termed them as ‘fictitious,’ he added.
“But we got confirmation of the reports almost after a decade in 2008 when four youths from Kannur were killed by security agencies in a shootout in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir. The visit of LeT South India commander Thadiyantavide Nazeer, one of the key recruiters at Varampatta in Wayanad, to meet Pathungan Ibrahim Moulavi, the mastermind of the recruitment, was confirmed after the arrest of Nazeer by security agencies in a hideout near Bangladesh border in 2009.
