ISI’s long-game: Distraction, surveillance and a bigger plot ahead of UP polls
New Delhi, April 30 (IANS) The ISI is playing a long game and is plotting a big attack leading up to the elections in Uttar Pradesh scheduled to be held next year. In the run up to the big plot, ISI backed elements are causing major distractions through their propaganda channels, officials have learnt.
The Uttar Pradesh election is a big event and the ISI is plotting to carry out a series of attacks in the lead up, an official said. The official explained that if one notices the pattern, the ISI backed elements are indulging in multiple acts such as setting up CCTV cameras, indulging in spying activity among others. All this is aimed at gathering information about sensitive locations in India.
The sudden surge in activity is to keep the Indian agencies engaged so that these persons can slip in an attack of a huge magnitude, an Intelligence Bureau official said.
The official said that these people are not just plotting major strikes, but also plan on disrupting communal harmony. There are multiple intercepts which have been picked up that suggest that the propaganda channels have been asked to go on overdrive mode to disturb peace and harmony, the official also said.
The intent is not just to create problems in major cities in Uttar Pradesh. The ISI has its eyes on tier-2 cities and villages as well. The idea is to confuse the agencies in India and then slip in the surprise element, another official said.
Recently the Ghaziabad police busted a module that was involved in setting up CCTV cameras at railway stations and other sensitive locations. Solar powered cameras were being installed so that live feed could be provided to the handlers based out of Pakistan. This prompted a CCTV camera audit across the country.
The agencies worry that these elements may have procured CCTV cameras in large numbers much in advance. The official said that they propose to use the same tactic in the run up to the UP elections.
The plan is to install them at roadside dhabas and other shops. The aim would be to keep an eye on the routes that the big politicians take during campaigning. Officials also say that the ISI is unlikely to use its elements who have set up shop in Uttar Pradesh. They are likely to use elements from other states as there is a chance that the police are unlikely to have a record on them. Using elements from UP will create suspicion and the ISI wants to avoid that at all cost, the official also said.
Officials say that while the agencies bust espionage and terror modules in various states, a close eye should also be kept on what is happening elsewhere. The constant distraction that the ISI is trying to create in reality is aimed elsewhere and the plan is a big one, officials also note.
Such planning also suits the ISI’s larger narrative of having multiple homegrown modules to carry out attacks in India. Following the change in doctrine where India would treat every act of terror from Pakistan as an act of war, the ISI, too, has tweaked its tactics.
An official said that while the ISI wants to hit big in India, it also wants to ensure that the trail does not lead back to Pakistan. While the doctrine change is one factor, Pakistan is aware that it is under the watch of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
With an economy that is struggling, the last thing Pakistan wants is to get back to the Grey List. Islamabad had come out of the Grey List on the promise that it would stop financing terror.
Pakistan’s ISI has been accused of diverting drug money and funds generated through charities to keep terror groups going. This explains the major change in tactic by Pakistan whereby it wants every attack to look like it is homegrown, an official also said.
–IANS
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