New Delhi, March 24 (IANS) The security agencies are closely monitoring online chatter by terror operatives and their sympathisers as the states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala get ready for elections.

Intelligence inputs suggest that plans are afloat by sympathisers of the banned Popular Front of India (PFI) and those linked to the Islamic State, to try and disrupt the elections.

The agencies say that sympathisers and cadres of both the PFI and Islamic State are working closely to undertake a strike in a bid to disrupt the elections.

However the agencies warn that the bigger threat for these southern states is the disinformation campaign that these outfits are planning to indulge in.

Disinformation campaigns are aimed at creating communal tensions. If communal harmony is disturbed, then it acts as a perfect radicalisation and recruitment tool.

The Islamic State has focussed extensively on the southern states and tends to get more traction in this part of the country.

However, its activities have largely been online and the bigger aim is to radicalise the youth in Kerala and Tamil Nadu in large numbers.

The terror group will look to take advantage of the fact that the security apparatus would be busy in ensuring that the elections are conducted smoothly.

The current focus of these terror groups is limited to Kerala and Tamil Nadu and once the elections are completed they would look to target the remaining states in South India.

An official said that the radicalisation in South India witnessed a massive jump when the Wahhabi preachers visited in large numbers. This set the tone, following which outfits such as the PFI, Islamic State and Al-Qaeda to some extent managed to find a foothold.

The official added that these groups have treated South India as their radicalisation laboratory for long. The danger in South India is that the radicalisation process for these terror outfits has been relatively easier in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, the official pointed out.

Another official said that prior to the dates of the elections being announced, these groups were already planning attacks and indulging in disinformation campaigns.

Further the world today is a fragile place owing to so many conflicts and this is being taken advantage of, the official added.

After the war in Iran broke out, the Union Home Ministry had issued an advisory warning against possible radicalisation attempts. An Intelligence Bureau official said that when there is conflict in the Gulf, it is the Southern states that become more vulnerable to radicalisation.

While the Wahhabi spread is one reason for this, the other is that there is a large population from Kerala who are in the Gulf.

In addition to the existing threats from the Islamic State and PFI, the agencies are also closely watching another group-the Hizb-ut-Tahrir (HuT). The HuT which has been banned by the Indian government under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) has opened several ghost accounts on social media platforms which are aimed at large scale radicalisation in South India.

The agencies are keeping a close watch on the content that the HuT has been circulating online. Its activities have only increased in the wake of the elections coming up, an official said.

Some of the content that it circulates includes the creation of hit squads in South India and also the need to carry out lone wolf attacks. With these fresh inputs coming in ahead of the elections, the agencies are also re-visiting the investigation that was conducted following the arrest of Faizul Rehman the Emir of the HuT in Tamil Nadu.

He had told his interrogators that the HuT wants to set up several recruitment modules in South India. He also said that they planned on inciting the youth and creating communal tensions in the region.

An Intelligence Bureau official said that all the terror groups operating in South India are currently focussing mainly on inciting communal violence. They want to disrupt the electoral process and then use the violence as a radicalisation and recruitment tool.

Polls are due in Assam, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal, Assam and Puducherry. In Kerala, Assam and Puducherry elections will be held on April 9. West Bengal would poll on April 23 and 29 in two phases. Elections in Tamil Nadu will be held in a single phase on April 23. Counting will take place across all four states and Puducherry (UT) on May 4.

--IANS

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