NEW DELHI: The fall of the National Thowheed Jamath (NTJ), which masterminded the 2019 Easter bombings in Sri Lanka, came as a major relief for the security agencies. The NTJ had not only spread its ideology in Sri Lanka, but was also active in the southern states, especially in Tamil Nadu. While the NTJ remains largely defunct today, the agencies are keeping close tabs on operatives linked to the outfit, before its fall.
Intelligence inputs suggest that some former operatives are seeking to revive the NTJ and maintain a focus largely in south India.
Officials say that these operatives realise that they cannot operate on the scale that the NTJ used to. However, the intention is to form small groups and indulge in radicalisation activities.
States such as Kerala and Tamil Nadu have been prone to radicalisation for a long time, and former cadres are seeking to take advantage of this.
The NTJ has an old connection with south India. Its founder, Bahrain Hashim, had big plans and had visited Tamil Nadu several times. He managed to radicalise a large number of youth.
Jamesha Mubeen, the mastermind of the car bomb explosion near the Sangameshwar Temple in Coimbatore, was closely linked to Hashim.
The car bomb exploded on October 22, 2022, and the National Investigation Agency (NIA) had said that Mubeen had looked to replicate the 2019 Easter Bombings in south India.
An Intelligence Bureau official says that many, including operatives linked to the NJT, want to fill the vacuum left by the Popular Front of India (PFI) and undertake radicalisation drives. The PFI has remained silent since the Modi government banned it. Although attempts at revival are being made, they have so far not been successful.
The agencies say that these operatives remain in touch with the members of the Islamic State, which has a considerable amount of traction in south India. Hashim, before his death and during his peak, had openly supported the Islamic State and even sought to carry out operations with the group in Sri Lanka.
As the NJT and Islamic State share a common objective and ideology, the operatives of both groups are capable of working together. Those linked to the NJT, who remain out in the open, will look to seek the help of the Islamic State as well as former PFI members to set up small-scale operations.
Another official said that they aim to form smaller groups in towns, cities and villages and provide them with a target audience to radicalise. While this appears to be a smaller operation, if left unchecked, it could turn into a major menace, another official said.
What these people aim to do is make this into a movement, similar to the case of lone wolf actors who carry out terror attacks on their own. They realise that working as a group can catch the eye of the agencies easily.
Such acts are aimed at changing the mindset of the people, and this is a lurking danger that the agencies are trying to prevent.