Raipur
The Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) of Chhattisgarh has arrested two minors from Raipur and Bhilai for allegedly being in direct contact with ISIS handlers. Both are students of 10th and 11th standard, who were being brainwashed using the glamour of violence.
The ATS investigation, which involved decrypting chats, logs, and digital content, revealed that the minors were being trained through a “digital module” in secret Instagram groups and gaming chats.
ATS officials said the training included teaching the minors tools used by terrorists to hide their identity—Dark Web, TOR, Fake IPs, and VPNs.
The situation escalated when handlers asked the minors for map clippings related to ‘Operation Sindoor’, which they allegedly sent. Both minors were reportedly groomed, and ready to take up arms.
ATS uncovered the network using human surveillance and cyber tracking, registering an FIR under the UAPA (1967). The two minors are in ATS custody. One minor’s father is a CRPF jawan, the other’s an auto driver. Four more minors from Bhilai are being questioned.
The case surfaced after a complaint about objectionable social media content, leading authorities to a group linked to an ISIS network run with a fake Instagram identity.
Cyber teams found that two Indian minors were consistently active in the restricted group where Pakistani handlers were posting radical content.
The minors were under surveillance for 1.5 years. Handlers would shut down groups quickly if they suspected monitoring, often showing messages like “archived” or “unavailable”.
ATS sources revealed that handlers intensified contact during a media blackout between India and Pakistan, around Operation Sindoor, exploiting the information gap. They demanded air strike map clippings, which the minors reportedly recorded from news channels and sent.
This Pakistan-based ISIS module targets users with interests in violence, aggressive content, or religious debate. Instagram’s algorithm itself pushes such content.
One minor was active in gaming groups, while the other consumed aggressive videos and religious debate content on Instagram.
The indoctrination process began with soft religious content, slowly escalating to violent videos, radical messages, and Jihadi audio clips. Handlers kept shifting them to new groups and fake accounts to maintain control.
Chat history shows handlers assigned tasks like creating new groups, sharing files, and adding users—part of the grooming strategy.
Content in the groups included daily violent videos, blasts, weapons, Jihadi speeches, and posts glorifying terrorist missions. Minors were praised as “real Mujahids” and “true Jaanbaaz”, deepening their psychological alignment.
This continuous feed pushed them away from normal life into a mindset where violence and Jihadi ideology felt justified.
Handlers also targeted minors through gaming chat rooms, especially in shooting and mission-based games, where violence feels normalised.
ATS showed the families all evidence—chats, screenshots, fake IDs, violent content, and handler conversations. Parents were shocked.
Since both are minors, ATS is following the Juvenile Justice Act. Questioning is done in the presence of parents, and both minors are getting psychological counselling.
Several other Instagram IDs from the group are now under ATS radar. A detailed investigation is ongoing under UAPA.
With inputs from other sources.
