Criminal Profiler Predicted India Would Be Hit

December 01, 2008

A series of coordinated terrorist attacks took place in Mumbai, India, last month, claiming the lives of at least 172 people. Another 293 people have been reported injured. Eight of the attacks took place in South Mumbai, with the other two occurring at Vile Parle and in the Mumbai port area. According to an email sent to the press, a group identifying itself as Deccan Mujahideen is responsible for the attacks; however, a terrorist who was captured alive claims to be a member of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba Islamist group. Others place the blame on Indian domestic terrorism.

Two weeks prior to the attacks, expert criminal profiler Dr. Deborah Schurman-Kauflin released her new book, Disturbed: Terrorist Behavioral Profiles, in which she predicted India would be the next big terror target.

According to a weekend interview with Dr. Schurman-Kauflin, the citizens of India remain in danger of further terrorist attacks.

"India is in really big trouble, and tensions have been rising for a long time," Dr. Schurman-Kauflin told Investigation Discovery. "Various disaffected groups have grown increasingly bold and vicious in their attacks. Terror groups have been continually springing up in India, but the government response has been lackluster. Some groups are Hindu; others are Muslim. And the fighting has been horrific. One group attacks, and then the other strikes back."

According to Dr. Schurman-Kauflin, the terrorists have set their sights on the financial sector and entertainment districts "due to the value of targeting wealthy Westerners."

Many Muslims believe they are facing discrimination, and others are concerned with the increasing Hindu ties to the West.

"Radical Hindu groups have been extremely vicious and have worked to strengthen alliance with Israel," Dr. Schurman-Kauflin said. "The idea is that Israel has Washington's ear, and Israel does not look kindly upon any violent Muslim population. To Hindu extremists, this would hopefully lead to Israel and the U.S. being sympathetic and, thus, helping them attain weapons and training. Add the fact that many Muslim radicals believe that Hindus are descendants of a Jewish tribe, and this stirs hatred. Then, with the troubles of Kashmir, growing Western influence, and the lack of communication between enforcement agencies, there was no doubt India would be hit."

When Dr. Schurman-Kauflin examined terrorist behaviors, she noticed there was a steady and deadly increase in the types of violence that groups were using in India. She also noted that the existing infrastructure was unprepared to deal with it.

"There is no concerted effort to approach such threats, and sects are sternly set against cooperating lest they lose power," Dr. Schurman-Kauflin said. "Many in India are overly cautious about communicating worrisome information. There is a tendency to keep quiet and attempt to solve problems secretively and internally. This lack of communication makes tracking terror groups terribly difficult. In other words, one Intelligence agency would track an individual group, but then another Intelligence agency would watch a separate terror group. There would be little to no coordination."

Dr. Schurman-Kauflin believes the terrorists will continue to take hostages in order to attract international media attention and generate a greater sense of fear in the world.

"Hostage taking is the way of the future for terrorists," Dr. Schurman-Kauflin said. "The Russian Beslan school attack was so devastating that this is a model that terrorists are going to use. When they can draw out an attack for several days, the impact is greater."

In regard to future terrorist attacks, Dr. Schurman-Kauflin warns that India will not be the only target.

"India will see more of this, and countries such as the U.S. and Canada can look forward to such attacks as well," Dr. Schurman-Kauflin said. "Schools and hospitals are overly vulnerable.  Victims are less able to fight back, and the psychological ramifications are unlimited. Though groups like al-Qaeda would be loathe to use such attacks due to obvious backlash, cells have no such inhibitions. They want the power and the impact, and with a psychopathic, deviant mentality, nothing is off the table."

Related Link:
Terrorist Bull's Eye on India: A Threat to the West

[Dr. Deborah Schurman-Kauflin is an expert criminal profiler who has studied and investigated serial killers for over 20 years. At the request of police agencies around the world, Dr. Schurman-Kauflin has profiled hundreds of serial murders, aberrant sex crimes, sadistic murders, serial rapes, stalkings, abductions, and other unusual cases. Visit Dr. Deborah Schurman-Kauflin's Web site at: www.drdsk.com]

Photo Credits: Dr. Deborah Schurman-Kauflin: Violent Crimes Institute, LLC; All others: Getty Images

Comments

[myagirl]

I remember the beslan on tv. If they do that here we have to fight them. I saw that man on tv in India smiling with his gun. I have a two year old, she is my life, if I think about them killing children I can't undersatnd. If the terrorists are as bad as this doctor says, I don't know what to say. There must be enough evidence to show they would do that. I'm speechless.

[dave young]

Why are they hiding the fact that these monsters tortured the Jews, taking the women first and having the others watch? What is really going on here.

[cb]

Since it's so difficult to trace the connections or individuals from this radical group (and others), and also once a (radical) belief structure is firmly in place, it would seem impossible to revise it , how can the Indian government and/or world leaders gain the hearts of Muslims who feel disenfranchised or oppressed before they are drawn into the desperate fold of the extremists groups and organizations?

I know that this wouldn't bring immediacy to the resolve of the threats and terroristic acts at hand, but wouldn't it help to lessen the effect and potential increase of these groups over time?

What can be done now, for the future, to stop recruitment into this extreme mind-set that condones the killing of innocents, which is contrary to the Muslim faith, (at least what I know of it)?

[Mike King]

Dave Young: Now they say there was no torture! Can you say cover up?

[Mike King]

cb:

How do you win the minds of those so full of hate?I am disenfranchised but I do not blow up anyone. I know of many who have suffered we do not use it as excuse to kill.

[dave young]

CB seems to be rationalizing the acts of these freaks of nature terrorists. Many of us were brought up in horrible homes and saw things we shouldn't see. Right now today I have lost over 65% of my retirement due to the crooks in Washington who let the criminal people at the top take all my money invested and tell me'too bad for you'. And since the companies are gone, I will not be getting this money back. This would in no way justify me going to a public place and start shooting everyone I see to 'get even'. These primitive animals are just that, animals. CB, you wonder what we should do with these animals? Do what you do with rabid dogs. Put them down now before they can kill others.

No mercy for these inbred mongrels. If the so called moderate Muslims will not do the job, we should do it for them. New mantra: Kill, baby, kill.

[cb]

I am not rationalizing anything and believe that people should be held accountable for their actions. Anyone planning attacks should be stopped, anyone caught should be punished.

I just want to know what can be done, outside of more violence, to ease the situation in the future. The doctor who wrote the article believes that their feelings of being oppressed escalated the radicalism. I'm looking outside of having more wars and terror attacks forever, ever escalating with more attacks and then retaliation , and so on, and so on. I'm not looking for a way to give the perpetrators a pass. I'm looking to stop the spread of the radicalism by discussing with more moderate Muslims (before they might join the extremist club, if you will), what can be done for them so that they won't pass over into believing the doctrine of killing the innocent.
What makes a person so frustrated, angry and feeling impotent that they cross over the line?

This increase in terrorism is a different scenario than WWII where you could go and bomb a country into submission, as was done with Japan, (although some might have considered that act overkill, as well.) Terrorist groups are forming all over the world, in pockets. You can't obliterate the guilty in one fell swoop. You are no better if you want to destroy all Muslims , including the innocent, in order to stop the scourge. The "kill baby kill" mantra does not sound all that different from the terrorists mantra.

I , personally would like to find a way, even if it only benefits future generations of human beings, to lessen the killing , not advance it. I hope that the Dr can make some suggestions rather than only pointing out what the problems are. That was my point, even though it was missed.

[Mike King]

cb:

Never in my life have I seen waht I see now. No place is safe. The Jews have been persecuted and murdered, all I see is hate. Why i8s it the media ignores that the terrorists killed the child? I emailed Doctor about article, assistant said book tells more.I bought book and will read it. If it is like the articles, should be good.

[Mike King]

dave Young:

I know your anger. Why why why? that is all we ask, but never an answer. I ask, is possible to be moderate in Islam? You express anger in words, nd cb says you sound not different than terrorist. Terrorists kill innocent Jews, I say all is lost when people can't see murderes for what they are.

[dave young]

Exactly,Mike. I feel termendous anger against these terrorists, spraying machine guns and killing everyone in sight. Many of us feel oppressed and downtrodden. We simply cannot continue to say the terrorists are cry babies who need to be understood. TO CB. I think you like to intellectualize away the brutality and that will not work with sub humans who are not operating on an intellectual level, but rather on a primitive one. These people must be rooted out and if we are supplying money to places like Pakistan, for example, they should get nothing if they do not execute these terrorists in public. I do not like this Jewish torture matter. None of the others were tortured, but killed. I'm afraid we have become very weak in the US, sort of sissies who are trembling on the sidelines, trying appeasement with these monsters. We just don't have the intestinal fortitude to make sure they are finished off so all of us can live in peace once more.

[Paul]

Hi, just watched the the Discovery documentary on the siege at the school in Beslan, found this page.

Dave Young, not everyone becomes a terrorist from even the same wound. OK, that's true. Some who were hurt worse have incredible strength to make a forgiveness, to 'let grief be a fallen leaf',

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/on-raglan-road/

But a community is a community, and each innocent child of a killed terrorist will have to make a choice about grief also. Lead by example.

I wonder at the lack of leadership and co-ordination at that siege. The country leaders and their sharp-shooters lost sight of their objective: saving lives, and instead made several horrific mistakes. Their mistake was 'kill baby kill'. The terrorists then detonated the bombs in the school.

An eye for an eye blinds the whole world. Consider humans are too often cloistered away from the effects of their opinions.

To quote a line from Pink Floyd, 'and when you lose control, that's when you reap the harvest you have sewn.'