New Delhi, March 21 The spy networks that Indian agencies have been uncovering in recent months were not just focused on providing sensitive information about the Indian armed forces. Within the espionage network, there were a group of people who were specifically instructed to focus solely on places of religious worship.
Investigations have revealed that these individuals were specifically instructed to gather information about places of religious worship. Many had gathered information about Hindu temples in various parts of the country.
An official from the Intelligence Bureau said that these elements are increasingly targeting temples. This clearly indicates that these people were providing information about temples, so that the ISI could plan attacks. An attack on a temple would lead to communal tensions, which is what the Pakistani spy agency has been aiming for.
The official added that recent intercepts and ongoing investigations into the espionage cases have revealed that the Pakistan-based elements are heavily focusing on attacking temples in India. This is being done with the intention of inciting communal tensions in India.
Inciting communal violence is a stronger tool for the ISI compared to a terror attack. Such violence spreads easily and causes greater instability.
Moreover, there are elections that are approaching in multiple states, and if violence erupts at this time, it would add to the stress on the security mechanism.
Officials say that in the first phase, the spies were asked to scout and provide information about smaller temples.
Once the first phase of the plan is implemented, the idea was to move on to larger places of worship, the official also added.
Another disturbing trend that has come to light is that the spies recruited by the Pakistanis have been told to place cameras at sensitive locations. This came to light during an investigation by the Ghaziabad police following the arrest of six people from the Kaushambi area on March 14.
It was learned that these individuals had managed to install a camera at the Delhi Cantt railway station. This helped the ISI in securing live feed from the station.
Similarly, the members of the espionage network were told to install cameras near temples, so that the logistics could be secured live.
Access to a live camera means that the planners of the terror attack will get to study the security detail live.
These elements also have access to other details.
Inciting communal tensions has been an old trick of the ISI. Even when the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) was passed, there were several ISI-backed elements, who ran a disinformation campaign that led to communal riots in many places.
The Intelligence agencies had warned that the ISI-backed elements had infiltrated the protests and were looking to spin a communal angle to the act.
Even the Pahalgam attack was aimed at inciting communal tensions, apart from trying to ruin the tourism industry in Jammu and Kashmir.
The terrorists who carried out the attack asked the victims about their religion before killing them.
This was a clear sign that the main ploy was to incite communal tensions and create a rift between the people of Jammu and Kashmir and those living in other parts of India.
Another official said that the ISI-backed elements are looking to carry out a major strike on places of worship ahead of the April elections. These elements are aware that elections are taking place in sensitive states and hence would look to take advantage of the situation.
Elections are being held in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam and in the Union Territory of Puducherry. Security is a concern in all these states, as both internal and external elements would look to drum up communal tensions.
An official said that a close watch must be kept on religious sites, as this is the time that these elements would look to carry out a strike.