Spurred by the realisation that young minds are being radicalised online, the Delhi Police's Special Cell is in the process of constituting a "social media monitoring cell" to keep tabs on impressionable youth in the capital. A brainchild of the police commissioner, it will operate within the Special Cell and include cyber experts hired from outside to assist the anti-terror cops in keeping a keen eye on online activities.
Sources say that the focus of the cell will be on "sentiment analysis", that is, using a program that can filter comments and posts on social networking sites and chat rooms to identity those that are filled with hatred or indicate the person posting them could be vulnerable to radicalisation. The plan will come through in the coming months as special commissioner Arvind Deep and joint commissioner V Renganathan are finalising the finer details of the scheme.

A senior cop explained to TOI that the idea to have a dedicated cell came from the recent crackdown on modules of Islamic State and al-Qaida in Indian Subcontinent. The cops suddenly saw the danger to national security inherent in the misuse of social media. A majority of youths detained in recent times were found to have been brainwashed and provoked to carry out terror strikes on Facebook, Whatsapp and other similar platforms.

The Roorkee-based IS operative, Akhlaq Ur Rehman, for example, was tapped by an IS recruiter after he expressed anguish over the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition on Facebook two years ago.