Raman is a senior IPS officer and has recently been posted as D.G. of a state. Among the various issues and problems/challenges which needed his immediate attention, the issue relating to recruitment of unemployed youth by an unknown terrorist group, was a matter of grave concern.
It was noted that unemployment was relatively high in the state. The problem of unemployment amongst graduates and those with higher education was much more grave. Thus they were vulnerable and soft targets.
In the review meeting taken by him with senior officers of DIG Range and above, it came to light that a new terrorist group has emerged at the global level. It has launched a massive drive to recruit young unemployed people. Special focus was to pick young people from a particular community. The said organisation seemed to have the clear objective of utilising/using them for carrying out militant activities. It was also gathered that the said (new) group is desperately trying to spread its tentacles in his state.
A definite/reliable intelligence tip was received by the State CID and Cyber Cell that a large number of such unemployed youth have already been contacted by the terrorist outfit/group through social media and local communal organisations and other contacts. The need of the hour was to act swiftly and to check these elements/designs before they assume serious proportions.
Discrete inquiries made by the police, through the Cyber Cell, revealed that good numbers of unemployed youth are very active on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. On an average, many of them were spending 6 – 8 hours each day, using electronic devices/internet, etc. It also came to light that such unemployed youth were showing sympathy and endorsing the messages received from certain persons, allegedly the contact persons of that global terrorist group. Their social media accounts revealed their strong affinity to such groups inasmuch as many of them started forwarding anti-national tweets on their WhatsApp and Facebook, etc. It seemed that they succumbed to their ploy and started propagating secessionist ideology. Their posts were hyper-critical of the government’s initiatives, policies and subscribing to extreme beliefs and promoting extremism.
(a) What are the options available to Raman to tackle the above situation? (b) What measures would you suggest for strengthening the existing set-up to ensure that such groups do not succeed in penetrating and vitiating the atmosphere in the state? (c) In the above scenario, what action plan would you advise for enhancing the intelligence gathering mechanism of the police force?
Approach · directive: “what”
What it asks · Set out Raman's options against a global terror group recruiting unemployed youth online, measures to strengthen the set-up, and an intelligence plan.
The question has 3 parts — answer each
- (a) Set out the options available to Raman to tackle the situation
- (b) Suggest measures to strengthen the existing set-up so that such groups cannot penetrate and vitiate the atmosphere in the state
- (c) Advise an action plan for enhancing the police force's intelligence-gathering mechanism
Open with · The threat mixes unemployment, identity-based targeting and online radicalisation — it needs both firm policing and humane outreach.
Cover
- Stakeholders: vulnerable youth and families, the targeted community, police and intelligence agencies, platforms, local organisations, the public.
- Dilemmas: security vs civil liberties, surveillance vs privacy, firm action vs avoiding the profiling of a whole community.
- (a) Options: blanket crackdown (quick, alienating); counselling only (humane, slow); a calibrated mix — prosecute handlers, de-radicalise the drifting majority.
- (a) Lawful action under the UAPA and IT Act against recruiters and handlers; takedown and blocking of accounts through due process.
- (b) Strengthen: cyber cells, community policing, de-radicalisation and counselling, skilling and job links, and outreach through families and community leaders.
- (c) Intelligence plan: community-based human intelligence, lawful social-media monitoring, coordination with central agencies and platforms, a data-fusion cell, trained staff.
- (c) Safeguards: lawful authorisation for monitoring and an audit of intelligence use, so counter-terror tools are never turned on dissent.
Close with · Neutralise the handlers firmly and win back the youth patiently — security and development must reinforce each other.
Add value (verified)
- Explanation to Section 152 of the BNS: comments disapproving of government measures or action, made to change them by lawful means and without exciting the activities in the section, are not an offence. The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (Act 45 of 2023), Section 152 — Gazette of India ↗“Explanation.––Comments expressing disapprobation of the measures, or administrative or other action of the Government with a view to obtain their alteration by lawful means without exciting or attempting to excite the activities referred to in this section do not constitute an offence under this section.”
- Blocking under Section 69A of the IT Act follows the Information Technology (Procedure and Safeguards for Blocking of Access of Information by Public) Rules, 2009. Government bans 59 mobile apps — PIB (Ministry of Electronics & IT), 29 June 2020 ↗“The Ministry of Information Technology, invoking it’s power under section 69A of the Information Technology Act read with the relevant provisions of the Information Technology (Procedure and Safeguards for Blocking of Access of Information by Public) Rules 2009”
- The UK's Prevent strategy aims to tackle the ideological causes of terrorism, intervene early to support people susceptible to radicalisation, and help those engaged in terrorism to disengage and rehabilitate. Prevent duty guidance for England and Wales — GOV.UK (Home Office) ↗“The objectives of Prevent are to: tackle the ideological causes of terrorism intervene early to support people susceptible to radicalisation enable people who have already engaged in terrorism to disengage and rehabilitate”
- The UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy (adopted 2006 by consensus) has four pillars, the first on conditions conducive to terrorism and the fourth on human rights and the rule of law as the fundamental basis of the fight against terrorism. UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy — UN Office of Counter-Terrorism ↗“The United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy is composed of four pillars, namely: Measures to address the conditions conducive to the spread of terrorism. Measures to prevent and combat terrorism. Measures to build States’ capacity to prevent and combat terrorism and to strengthen the role of the United Nations system in that regard. Measures to ensure respect for human rights for all and the rule of law as the fundamental”
- The Union Home Minister (19 July 2024) asked that the IB's Multi Agency Centre become a cohesive platform bringing together all law-enforcement, anti-drug, cyber-security and intelligence agencies. Review of the Multi Agency Centre (MAC) of IB — PIB (Ministry of Home Affairs), 19 July 2024 ↗“Home Minister impressed upon all the participants to increase engagement in the Multi Agency Centre and make it into a cohesive platform that brings together all the law enforcement agencies, anti-drug agencies, cyber security and intelligence agencies, for decisive and prompt action.”
Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2024, GS Paper IV — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·
Model answer · 379 words (UPSC limit 250) · Minimalist IAS
Raman faces a threat that fuses unemployment, identity-based targeting and online radicalisation. He must neutralise recruiters firmly and recover drifting youth without branding a whole community, which would feed the very narrative the group sells.
Stakeholders and dilemmas
- Stakeholders: vulnerable youth and their families; the targeted community; police, CID and Cyber Cell; central agencies; social-media platforms; the public.
- Dilemmas: security versus liberty and privacy; speed versus due process; firmness versus profiling. Criticism is not a crime: the Explanation to Section 152 of the BNS excludes comments disapproving of government measures that seek change by lawful means.
(a) Options available to Raman
| Option | Merit | Demerit |
|---|---|---|
| Blanket crackdown | Quick, visible | Alienates, feeds propaganda |
| Counselling alone | Humane | Slow; handlers stay active |
| Calibrated mix | Lawful, proportionate | Needs skill and patience |
- Chosen course: the calibrated mix. Prosecute recruiters and handlers under the UAPA; seek blocking of terror accounts under Section 69A of the IT Act through the 2009 blocking rules; treat drifting youth as people to be recovered.
(b) Strengthening the existing set-up
- Prevention model: as in the UK's Prevent strategy, tackle the ideological causes, intervene early with the susceptible, and help those already engaged to disengage.
- Counter-radicalisation cell: legal, cyber and psychological experts in the CID, with SOPs that separate sympathisers from operatives.
- Community policing: regular engagement with religious leaders, teachers and parents, who notice the change in a youth first.
- Conditions conducive: skilling, apprenticeships and job fairs, since idleness is the recruiter's ally; the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy (2006) makes such conditions its first pillar.
- Counter-narratives: digital literacy in colleges and a visible grievance channel.
(c) Action plan for intelligence gathering
- Human intelligence: beat constables and community volunteers as early-warning sources, with source protection.
- Technical intelligence: lawfully authorised monitoring of flagged accounts and open-source mapping of networks by the Cyber Cell.
- Fusion: a state fusion cell linked to the IB's Multi Agency Centre, which the Union Home Minister in July 2024 asked to become a cohesive platform for all law-enforcement, cyber and intelligence agencies.
- Safeguards: training in social-media analytics, and an audit of intelligence use so that counter-terror tools never target dissent.
Firm on handlers, fair to the youth: as the UN strategy holds, respect for human rights and the rule of law is the fundamental basis of the fight against terrorism.
Written by Minimalist IAS from facts checked at source (how we verify) — a little fuller than exam length, so every part of the question is covered; in the hall, keep the structure and trim the detail. UPSC publishes no model answers: compare your structure and coverage with this, then write your own.