The interrogation of suspected members of Islamic State by enforcement agencies has revealed that Goa tops the list of Islamic State (IS) targets in India.
IS is looking to target foreign tourists and Indian security forces in the state for global publicity and to boost the morale of its South Asia cells.
Interrogators also added that the Islamic State might be scouting for a site in India to train its fighters.
Government sources told Hindustan Times that Muddabbir Mushtaq Sheikh of Mumbra, the former head of ISIS’ India operations, revealed the plot to conduct serial bombing in Goa with foreigners as the main target.
IS members in India had earlier planned to bomb Goa in December 2014, the month when tourist inflow from Europe, US and Russia is the highest. However, they were intercepted by the intelligence agencies.
Recently, Indian agencies have picked up at least 23 IS suspects from various states, including a gang of five from Roorkee who planned to bomb Haridwar.
There are at least 30 Indian recruits fighting in Syria and Iraq for Islamic State. An unconfirmed report also claims that six of them have been killed.
Intelligence agencies of India have assessed a strong possibility of IS engineering some action in India as the pan-Islamic jihadi group is under pressure in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. They also feel that the Brussels attack this week was part of an IS attempt to lift the morale of its fighters.
