The recent shockwaves caused by the Red Fort bomb blast have exposed the unsettling vulnerabilities of densely populated urban centres. One of the most worrying developments is the emergence of educated, professionally trained individuals such as doctors, engineers, and scientists being radicalised and recruited by extremist networks. The radicalisation and involvement of doctors, engineers, researchers and such intellectuals in extremist activities represents a deeply troubling evolution. These are people with exceptional knowledge, social respectability, and access to specialised environments which makes them uniquely dangerous when radicalised. Unlike conventional terror operatives, they blend effortlessly into the cityscape with ability to cause large-scale harm while being shielded by their professional identities. In such cases, conventional profiling fails, and traditional surveillance struggles while their credibility allows them to move through institutions and communities unnoticed. And this is precisely what extremist networks capitalise upon.
Compounding this alarming trend is the easy availability of hazardous chemicals, biological materials, and laboratory-grade substances, many of which have legitimate industrial or medical uses. In the instant case, the terror module had accumulated 2,900 kg of explosive making material like ammonium nitrate to be used as bombs and was extracting ricin, a highly toxic protein found in castor bean. Ricin is highly lethal in small amounts if inhaled, injected, or ingested (if the beans are chewed or crushed). It has no antidote and the treatment for ricin poisoning is currently limited to supportive medical care only. Imagine the catastrophe if these bombs and ricin attacks were triggered concurrently in densely populated areas across the country.
History is filled with examples of how ordinary, benign objects can be transformed into tools of devastation. The 9/11 attacks used commercial airliners, multiple vehicle-ramming attacks in Europe, North America, and Asia demonstrated how everyday transportation can be turned into instruments of mass casualties. Improvised attacks using household items such as kitchen pressure cookers (used in the Boston Marathon bombing), commercial vehicles carrying chemicals (chlorine gas attacks in Iraq), and even the postal system (2001 anthrax attacks) have been repurposed as effective lethal weapons. These incidents highlight the adaptability of perpetrators to use everyday materials to cause significant loss of life and extensive property damage. These incidents underline a sobering truth that terrorism thrives on creativity using systems/items not designed with security concerns in mind.
India’s major cities are densely populated and highly connected providing an ideal environment which will amplify the consequences of even small-scale attacks. A single event can cause mass casualties, trigger widespread panic affecting millions, disrupt essential services, from hospitals to transport nodes and create cascading economic and social instability. Given these characteristics, the possibility of coordinated or multiple simultaneous attacks by tech-savvy extremist groups cannot be dismissed.
Complicating matters further is the role of social and mainstream media. This digital universe has opened floodgates for extremist narratives, identity-based grievances, and conspiracy-driven propaganda. Online spaces offer ideological justification, emotional reinforcement, or glorification of violence, often drawing in individuals searching for meaning or belonging. Mainstream media, too, must reflect on its role. Sensationalist coverage, dramatic visuals, and wall-to-wall commentary often turn violent actors into household names, inadvertently amplifying their cause and offering them exactly what they seek – attention, fear, and a fractured public consciousness. In the process, terror becomes not only a physical act but a psychological warfare, spreading panic far beyond the incident itself.
Addressing this evolving menace requires a multi-layered proactive strategy. We need to strengthen our intelligence and surveillance network without targeting legitimate professionals. Cities need neighbourhood-level awareness programmes that encourage reporting of genuinely suspicious activity without encouraging paranoia or discrimination. Enhanced monitoring of suspicious patterns such as financial, digital, or behavioural must be paired with safeguards that avoid stigmatising entire professions. Tightening controls over hazardous materials to include tracking and auditing systems, reporting of suspicious purchase and strict inventory management are some measures which can be instituted. Proactive measures on digital platforms must include stronger action against extremist propaganda, rapid takedown of radicalisation content and close collaboration with tech companies for early threat detection. Capacity building in urban security infrastructure must cater for frequent multi-agency drills, upgraded emergency response systems and integration of health, transport, and law enforcement networks for faster coordination.
Urban terrorism is constantly evolving, shifting from traditional structures to fragmented, sophisticated networks of individuals who can exploit modern society’s openness, technology, and access to specialised knowledge, a dangerous combination that our current systems are ill-equipped to handle. The new face of terror is not lurking in distant mountains or across borders but may be sitting across us in a hospital, an office, or a library. If we continue living in silos with our heads down, ear buds in, wrapped in our individual struggles then we will continue missing the signs that matter. However, with robust intelligence, tighter regulatory frameworks, responsible digital governance, and community vigilance, we can arrest this trend before it escalates further. The lessons from history and the recent shock of the Red Fort blast reminds us that preparedness, awareness, and collective responsibility are the strongest shields against such emerging invisible threats.
(Brigadier (Retd) Anil John Alfred Pereira is a veteran from Goa, who served the nation with distinction for 32 years.)
