Author: K V Ramana
Publication: The Times of India
Dated: August 29, 2007
Introduction: As Good As Any IT Professional,
They Are Just Awaiting Orders: Top Cyberabad Police Source
If two terror attacks in less than three months
have battered the image of Hyderabad as a growing international IT hub, even
more alarming is the disclosure that about 13 trained operatives of extremist
groups have infiltrated the rank and file of some of the IT companies.
Disclosing this to TOI, highly placed sources
in Cyberabad police said efforts are on to track them down. "They (the
operatives) are as good as any other IT professional. They have all the required
qualifications and merit to join any IT firm. But they are also elements inspired
to carry out a dangerous operation on instruction from their handlers,"
the source said. Two professionals working the city-based IT and ITeS companies
have been named in terror attacks so far. While Naved, who was an employee
of an MNC BPO, has been accused of participating in the Mumbai serial train
blasts, Kafeel Ahmed, who was an employee of the city-based Infotech's Bangalore
facility, was accused in British car bomb plot.
"It is a sensitive issue. Identifying
a particular group with the trained extremists will alienate an entire community.
We have to find some way to handle the issue," the source said. A few
months ago, IT firms in Cyberabad formed the Cyberabad Security Council with
the intention of stepping up security and gathering of intelligence. The council
collaborates with the Cyberabad police.
The authorities have passed on information
about the infiltration to representatives of the IT industry. "We have
to examine the database of some of the companies. It is still too early to
call the situation grave," the source added.
In fact, authorities have also tracked down
an association of IT professionals they think have on their rolls some subversive
elements. The details of the association are still being evaluated. "We
need to see who is behind this association and what kind of members are there
in it," the source said.
"Extremists now are techsavvy. They are
able to hack into servers, download critical data and use the technology to
achieve precision in their operation. This fact has been proved more than
once in the recent days," a source in the forensic department said. There
are reports the people behind Saturday's blasts may have used the internet
to put together the bombs.
The sources said one of the factors going
for the IT sector is that these operatives have to choose between killing
as many people as possible or getting international attention by carrying
out a blast at an MNC or the IT district in Madhapur, Hi-Tech city and Gachibowli.
"For now, it seems their focus is on achieving the maximum hits,"
the source said.
