Raman is a senior IPS officer and has recently been posted as D.G. of a state. Among the various issues and problems/challenges which needed his immediate attention, the issue relating to recruitment of unemployed youth by an unknown terrorist group,

Question

Raman is a senior IPS officer and has recently been posted as D.G. of a state. Among the various issues and problems/challenges which needed his immediate attention, the issue relating to recruitment of unemployed youth by an unknown terrorist group, was a matter of grave concern.

It was noted that unemployment was relatively high in the state. The problem of unemployment amongst graduates and those with higher education was much more grave. Thus they were vulnerable and soft targets.

In the review meeting taken by him with senior officers of DIG Range and above, it came to light that a new terrorist group has emerged at the global level. It has launched a massive drive to recruit young unemployed people. Special focus was to pick young people from a particular community. The said organisation seemed to have the clear objective of utilising/using them for carrying out militant activities. It was also gathered that the said (new) group is desperately trying to spread its tentacles in his state.

A definite/reliable intelligence tip was received by the State CID and Cyber Cell that a large number of such unemployed youth have already been contacted by the terrorist outfit/group through social media and local communal organisations and other contacts. The need of the hour was to act swiftly and to check these elements/designs before they assume serious proportions.

Discrete inquiries made by the police, through the Cyber Cell, revealed that good numbers of unemployed youth are very active on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. On an average, many of them were spending 6-8 hours each day, using electronic devices/internet, etc. It also came to light that such unemployed youth were showing sympathy and endorsing the messages received from certain persons, allegedly the contact persons of that global terrorist group. Their social media accounts revealed their strong affinity to such groups inasmuch as many of them started forwarding anti-national tweets on their WhatsApp and Facebook, etc. It seemed that they succumbed to their ploy and started propagating secessionist ideology. Their posts were hyper-critical of the government's initiatives, policies and subscribing to extreme beliefs and promoting extremism.

(a) What are the options available to Raman to tackle the above situation?

(b) What measures would you suggest for strengthening the existing set-up to ensure that such groups do not succeed in penetrating and vitiating the atmosphere in the state?

(c) In the above scenario, what action plan would you advise for enhancing the intelligence gathering mechanism of the police force?

UPSC Answer Check · Accepted Answer

The case combines youth unemployment, online radicalisation and a global terror network targeting one community. Raman's response must be firm against recruiters but humane and lawful towards vulnerable youth.

(a) Options Available to Raman
Enforcement-heavy approach: mass detentions under the UAPA and the BNS. It may disrupt the network quickly but risks alienating educated youth and feeding extremist propaganda.
Graduated response (preferred): triage the targets—prosecute recruiters and handlers, seek takedowns under Section 69A of the IT Act and coordinate with the IB and NIA; place youth who only consumed or forwarded content in non-custodial deradicalisation with counsellors, families and community elders (as in the Maharashtra ATS programme); and link them to skilling and jobs through the State Skill Mission and PMKVY.
Safeguards: act proportionately (Puttaswamy) and follow the D.K. Basu safeguards, so that one community is not stigmatised.

(b) Strengthening the Existing Set-Up
A State counter-radicalisation task force of the police and the higher education, labour and social welfare departments for early detection and joint action.
Community policing on the lines of Kerala's Janamaithri Suraksha, youth clubs and campus outreach to rebuild trust.
Counter-narrative campaigns on Instagram, X and YouTube with credible educators, influencers and religious scholars.
Grievance cells and fast, transparent recruitment and examination processes to reduce the despair that recruiters exploit.

(c) Action Plan for Intelligence Gathering
Technical and open-source intelligence: upgrade the cyber cell into a cyber command centre with OSINT and network-analysis tools, operating under lawful interception rules.
Human intelligence: revive beat policing and trusted contacts in neighbourhoods, campuses and local organisations; train constables to spot early signs of radicalisation.
Integration: use the State Multi-Agency Centre, CCTNS, I4C, the central Multi-Agency Centre and NATGRID for real-time sharing and inter-state tracking of handlers and finances.
Specialised capacity: a counter-ideology unit in the Special Branch with trained analysts, linguists and digital-forensic experts, with regular review of outcomes.

By combining precise intelligence, lawful policing and economic inclusion, Raman can break the recruitment network while keeping the state's youth in the democratic mainstream.

Raman is a senior IPS officer and has recently been posted as D.G. of a state. Among the various issues and problems/challenges…

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(a) Options Available to Raman

(b) Strengthening the Existing Set-Up

(c) Action Plan for Intelligence Gathering

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