

There is more than what meets the eye. While the critics of the newly-amended citizenship law have been quick to question the police action against the ‘peaceful’ protesters, investigations being conducted by multiple agencies suggest that the protests are orchestrated in such a manner that they turn violent.

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Both at Mangaluru and Uttar Pradesh, where the police had to resort to firing, it was found that the violence was not spontaneous, but pre-planned. The police of both states released some telling images of the violence, in which it was clearly shown that these ‘peaceful’ protesters had reached the venue with arms and stones.

The outsider link:

It has now come to light that several protesters who created a ruckus in Uttar Pradesh were outsiders. The probe being conducted by the UP Police showed that Kashmiris and Bangladeshis were part of the protests that turned violent.

Senior superintendent of police, Kanpur, Anand Deo, said that everything happened in an organised manner. He said that there is ample evidence to show that people from Bangladesh and Kashmir were involved in the violence.

The spill over the Bangladeshis into the protest is hardly surprising. Several groups back in Bangladesh have been protesting over the new law. They have called it xenophobic, divisive and said that it legalises the extreme views of Hindus nationalists. It must also be recalled that in the aftermath of the Babri Masjid demolition, several Hindus in Bangladesh were targeted.

An Intelligence Bureau report seen by MyNation spoke about the outsider link to the protest. There are several illegal Bangladeshi migrants in different parts of the country. Many were pushed into UP and other places where the protests took place. A majority of them had come from Bengal, with a specific brief to trigger violence, the report also says.

This is a typical modus operandi when it comes to using illegal Bangladeshis to commit crimes on Indian soil. We have seen it in the past as to how illegal immigrants were used to carry out blasts in Bengaluru as well as Bodhgaya. They are used in narcotic trafficking as well as counterfeiting of Indian currency. The IB report says that similarly they are being used to fan violence during these protests.

The SIMI link:

The SIMI link had cropped up when violence erupted in Delhi. Picture this, the SIMI has its strongest networks in Uttar Pradesh, Mangaluru, Delhi and Kerala. The police are now probing whether there was a financial transaction that took place to fan the violence.

The SIMI uses the Indo-Nepal border with ease. Most of the arms and ammunition and the finances come in through this border and from its modules in Nepal.

Moreover the SIMI triggers its local modules when it comes to violence on the basis of religion. In this protest, the misinformation campaign being spread by the Opposition and the radicals is that the new law targets Muslims. This is entirely incorrect and even the Opposition as well the radicals know it.

Ministry of home affairs sources say that they do not rule this link out at all. We have seen a large cache of arms being used during the protests. This indicates that the arms have been supplied by some terror group.

In UP, the SIMI has a strong network in the Muslim-dominated areas. Further, there are many who are part of this outfit, who also indulge in arms smuggling. The SIMI uses the money it makes from this racket to further its activities.

Recruiting through a ruckus:

It has been pointed out several times in the past as well that terror groups thrive on such situations. They become part of such protests and fan violence. This is a classic recruitment strategy that has been used by various terror groups and especially the SIMI in India.

The Intelligence officials are keeping a close watch on the homes of the victims who have died in the protest. The recruiters would look to tap such persons and recruit them into their fold.

The SIMI has used issues such as the Babri riots to its advantage. It would send its men to the homes of the victims and brainwash them against the system. Rough estimates suggest that through these drives, it managed to recruit over a 1,000 youth into its fold. Each one of them were told that the only way to fight back is to carry out terror attacks against the state.

Investigations being conducted in various places where the violence broke out have all suggested an extremist link to the protests.

The NIA would step in:

There is no decision taken as yet by the home ministry, but over a period of time, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) would step in to probe these cases. The NIA is already in the midst of a probe at Assam where it has arrested a naxal sympathiser, Akhil Gogoi for fanning the violence.

Sources say that the NIA would eventually step in. These protests have not only been plotted to turn violent by the local radical elements. There were WhatsApp groups that were sending messages to people across the country, with a clear intention of creating panic. For instance the protest at the Aligarh Muslim University would not have turned violent had there not been a fake message circulated that said several persons had been killed in police firing at the Jamia Millia University.

Similar messages have reached groups in other parts of the country and the protests have turned violent. The NIA is currently examining the naxal link to the protest in Assam. The probes in other parts of the country are all at a preliminary stage. Once the final reports are out, the MHA would examine whether the protests have a pan-India link and also the extent of the role played by the terrorists and radicals. Based on this assessment, the NIA would be roped in to probe the case.