The raids by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) across 60 locations in South India has brought back into focus the use of forest land for terror activities.
The NIA had in the past also spoken about how forests lands in South India were being used to undertake training activities by terror groups.
Earlier this week, the NIA carried out raids in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala. The NIA said that the raids were in connection with the blast that took place in Coimbatore and Mangaluru on October 23 2022 and November 19 2022 respectively.
The agency learnt that the accused in the Coimbatore Blast, Jamesha Mubeen along with others had entered into a criminal conspiracy in the interior of the forested regions of Asanoor and Kadambur areas of the Sathyamangalam forest, Erode district in February 2022.
The meeting was attended by Umar Farook, Mubeen, Mohammed Azharuddin, Sheikh Hidayatullah and Sanofar Ali and in the forests they conspired to execute terror attacks against Hindus in a bid to create communal tensions.
The jungles of South India
A terror conspiracy being hatched in the forests by the operatives of the Students Islamic Movement of India, Popular Front of India or the Islamic State is nothing new. There have been instances in the past as well in which the forests in South India have been used to plot terror attacks.
Take the case of the Mangaluru blast in which Mohammad Shariq is the main accused. He along with another accused Taha had held conspiracy meetings and had planned on establishing a terror camp within the Forrests.
Sources tell OneIndia that attempts were made to establish the Islamic State Provinces in the forests of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala.
These persons have visited Shivansamudra in Karnataka to identify land within the forests to set up their camps. They discussed on how the land can be used to impart arms training. These persons had already procured, bow tents, bows, arrows, ammunition, boots, ropes, ladders and sleeping bags. They also purchased a large number of firecrackers to make explosives, the source also said.
The accused members had also surveyed forest land in Kodagu, which is around 160 kilometres away from Mangaluru. They were learning jungle survival skills.If one looks at the kind of ammunition they have procured, it is very typical of what the Islamic State says in its rule book for lone wolf attacks and the use of unconventional weapons.
The accused in the Mangaluru blast had also visited a home-stay in Kodagu. During their stay they were identifying forest land. In a nut-shell the accused persons in all these cases wanted to set up terror training camps in the forests, the probe by the NIA also showed.
Why forests
By using the forests, the Islamic State operatives are aping the naxalites, who too operate in the jungles. The detection in the forests is lower and the terrorists feel that they are safe from the eyes of the agencies. Moreover they can plan extensively and also train without the fear of getting caught.
A similar modus operandi was found when the Students Islamic Movement of India had rebranded itself as the Indian Mujahideen. They had assembled at a forest camp in Kerala before moving out to the rest of the country to carry out terror attacks.
Officials say that a close eye needs to be kept on such activities as the Islamic State keeps looking for the most unconventional ways to attack.
Source: OneIndia