IITians are helping Anti-Terror Squad break into chat rooms used by ISIS and stop brainwashed youth from leaving the country

It may sound a little weird to know that IIT students, otherwise known for their creativity and innovations, are helping Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad in cracking down on ISIS activities online.

In a great joint effort by IITians and ATS, almost 24 youngsters in Maharashtra, who were on the verge of falling into ISIS' clutches, have been successfully pulled out and deradicalized by Islamic scholars.

All 24 youngsters were on the verge of leaving the country to join ISIS when they were identified.

The role of IITians in this operation involving 732 cops is to help the Squad make inroads into the chat rooms that the ISIS is using to target young Muslim youths.

Meanwhile, the ATS is using this information and leveraging the potential of its ground intelligence, technical support and centralized intelligence network to reach out to the affected youths.

ISIS is radicalising youths in just about 40 days through the internet. They are targeting cities like Mumbai, Pune and places like Nanded, Parbhani, Beed Malegaon, Dhule, Solapur.

Earlier SIMI and Indian Mujaheedin were mind-washing the youth in a similar way by showing them video clips and giving lectures online. It would, however, take them over 9 to 10 months to complete radicalise the youths and turn them into sleeper cells.

"Cracking the ISIS network is a very difficult task as it operates through the internet. They radicalize one person and that person will act as an agent for them and he will radicalize several others. We cannot stop the internet content flow. If we block something they start it with another medium or site on the internet," a top level officer from ATS revealed to India today.

Even as stopping ISIS activities online pose a big challenge in front of authorities, over 354 videos of ISIS on various websites have been blocked, as per a source. Maharashtra ATS has also blocked 14 websites in suspicion of illegal terror activities.