Hyderabad: The Indian Mujahideen, which was behind a series of blasts in the country from 2005 to 2014 till the arrest of the key accused, has cumbled and the operatives have formed a new group, called the Ansar-ut Tawhid fi Bilad al-Hind. Others have joined ISIS.
In fact, Yasin Bhatkal was confident of ISIS succeeding around the world. None of their cadres remain active and are instead working for ISIS. Bhatkal in Karnataka, that has been the birthplace of the Indian Mujahideen’s key accused Riyaz Bhatkal and Yasin Bhatkal, is also the place from which ISIS India's chief, Shafi Armar alias Yousuf Al Hind, hails from.
Mr. Vikram Rajakumar, an analyst at the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research, Singapore, wrote in a research paper that Indian Mujahideen have not “pledged allegiance to Al Qaeda or ISIS”.
"Yet, many of their members have joined the ranks of ISIS in Syria and Iraq. This is a game changer to jihadism in India and is significant to the security of the region. The deceased leader of the group, Abdul Khadir Sultan Armar, who had been endorsed by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi of ISIS, was a former member of the IM.” The Ansar-ut Tawhid fi Bilad al-Hind has called for jihad in both Syria and Afghanistan. Shafi Armar is the now the head of ‘Janood ul Khalifa e Hind’ (Army of the Caliph of India), the Indian arm of ISIS. Interestingly Yasin Bhatkal had hopes on the ISIS and a conversation on the phone tapped from jail revealed that he was planning to be freed through a jailbreak organised by the ISIS, an official said.
