'No need to worry about IS in India'

Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday assured that there is no need for Indians to be concerned about Islamic State (IS) as the terror group has little penetration in the country.

"There is no need for Indians to be worried about IS (penetration) in India. If a few youth get radicalised by them, we also have counter-radicalisation programmes," Rajnath told the Rajya Sabha. In response to a question by a member whether unemployment and poor socio-economic background - and not just religious fundamentalism - were responsible for Indian youths' radicalisation, Rajnath ruled out the possibility.

"We are running several programmes for socio-economic uplift of minorities, including for the Muslims. These include skill development programmes, easy bank loans for business etc," Singh said. Congress leader Digvijaya Singh asked the Home Minister if Saifullah, killed in a police encounter in Lucknow on March 8, had links with the IS.

He said an American intelligence website said as much.

To this, Rajnath Singh said that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) was probing the matter. He said that "because of things found on Saifullah, some people concluded he had links with IS". The Uttar Pradesh police had called Saifullah a "self-radicalised terrorist", though Madhya Pradesh police said he was part of an IS module.