Page 11 - The Indian EYE 112125

OPINION NOVEMBER 21, 2025 | The Indian Eye 11

appearance in terror plots highlights
its psychological appeal, symbolic
power, and accessibility, rather than
its practical effectiveness as a weap-
on of mass destruction. Its continued
presence triggers public fear and pol-
icy focus, demonstrating the blurry
line between fear-driven bioterror-
ism and actual biochemical warfare
potential.
It first gained notoriety during
the Cold War when, in 1978, Bul-
garian dissident journalist Georgi
Markov was assassinated in London
with a ricin-laced pellet fired from a
modified umbrella. Another Bulgar-
ian dissident survived in a separate
ricin incident that year in Paris. Both
operations are widely attributed to
Russia’s KGB and the Bulgarian Se-
cret Service. In the 1980s, the ricin
toxin allegedly appeared in Iraq’s
biological weapons programme, as
UNSCOM inspections later con-
firmed, including missile shells filled
with ricin.
The 1990s saw renewed fears af-
ter extremist and ‘survivalist’ groups Ricin’s appeal isn’t based on its actual power but on its symbolic meaning, which can be called a ‘bioterror fetish’ created through
in the US experimented with crude online manuals and Cold War myths (File photo)
ricin extraction, including members
of the Minnesota Patriots Council, State-directed bio-chemical plot in especially in Gujarat, Rajasthan, CONCLUSION
who were the first to be tried and Europe. However, the toxin was not Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, makes The recent ricin terror plot
convicted in 1995 under the United purified enough to cause any deaths raw materials easily accessible. Is- shows how ideological zeal and pseu-
States Anti-Terrorism Act (1989), for or large-scale disruption. In 2023, au- lamic terror groups see it as an ac- do-scientific ambitions continue to
acquiring ricin as part of an alleged thorities in Germany again stopped a cessible route to ‘bioterror’, even if drive jihadist experiments in India,
plot to kill law enforcement officials. ricin and cyanide poisoning plan by only symbolically powerful. India’s even when the results are predictably
In 2003, ricin re-emerged as a bioter- an Iranian man suspected of IS ties, vulnerability to ricin-inspired plots ineffective. Ricin’s appeal isn’t based
ror threat in Europe and the United confirming the ongoing interest of does not stem from jihadist groups on its actual power but on its sym-
States. In January 2003, British po- jihadists in ricin biotoxins. In 2025, like IS or AQIS easily mastering the bolic meaning, which can be called
lice uncovered a plot involving ricin, also in Germany’s Saxony, a teen complex biochemistry needed to a ‘bioterror fetish’ created through
botulinum toxin, and cyanide aimed reported manufacturing and storing produce and disperse a lethal agent, online manuals and Cold War myths.
at causing harm and disruption in the several vials of a mixture of ricin and but from their ability to exploit the However, with India’s advanced
London underground. This conspira- aconitine in his home lab. toxin’s symbolic significance. Ricin’s surveillance, forensic detection and
cy was linked to a terror cell affiliated real utility for them lies in targeted inter-agency cooperation, the leap
with Al Qaeda/Ansar al-Islam in Iraq violence and disruption, such as as- from simple toxin to a usable bio-
and Alegria. That same year, letters INDIA’S VULNERABILITY sassination attempts on high-profile weapon remains an uphill task for any
containing ricin were mailed to the icin-related terror plots have individuals, deliberate contamina- non-state actor. No terrorist group
White House and a US postal facility never occurred in India be- tion of key urban supply points, or in the region, whether ISKP, Lash-
in South Carolina. In 2008, the so- Rfore. The recent discovery by staged discoveries designed to incite kar-e-Taiba, AQIS or Khalistani cells,
called Las Vegas ricin scare occurred the Gujarat police marks India’s first widespread panic. can turn crude ricin into an effective
when vials of the toxin were found confirmed seizure of the Ricin tox- Unlike an attack that can be weapon for mass fatality. Ultimately,
in a motel room belonging to Roger in intended for subversive activities. scaled rapidly, ricin-based operations Ricin functions less as a weapon of
Bergendorff, with no terror motive Islamic State-linked groups such as mass destruction and more as a tool
confirmed. ISKP and its Indian sub-unit, Islamic create a political and media specta- to generate psychological impact, ex-
The 2013 US ricin letters case State–Hind Province (ISHP), have cle. A small amount placed visibly or
involved two people, Shannon Rich- long sought chemical or biological widely publicized can send a strategic posing the dangerous mix of extrem-
ist ideology, scientific opportunism
ardson and James Everett Dutschke, terror narratives to showcase oper- message (fear, prestige, disruption) and propaganda-driven terrorism.
who sent ricin-laced letters to ational sophistication. The ricin plot more effectively than the nearly im-
then-President Barack Obama and uncovered in Gujarat was detected possible task of producing a stable, Views expressed are of the author and
other officials, with no casualties re- at the procurement or chemical-pro- weapon-grade aerosol for mass ca- do not necessarily reflect the views of
ported. A major jihadist-linked in- cessing stages. Persistent surveil- sualties. Therefore, India’s risk as- the Manohar Parrikar IDSA or of the
cident occurred in June 2018, when lance can detect such efforts and flag sessment should focus on detecting, Government of India.
German police arrested a Tunisian through forensic monitoring of cas- protecting and building resilience
Islamic State supporter in Cologne tor bean purchases or online orders around symbolic targets and vital lo- This article first appeared in the
after he produced more than 80 mg of laboratory solvents. gistics hubs, along with public com- Comments section of the website (www.
of crude ricin and bought 3,000 cas- In India, the widespread avail- munication strategies that prevent idsa.in) of Manohar Parrikar Institute
tor beans online. This was considered ability of the castor plant for vari- terror groups from amplifying their for Defense Studies and Analyses, New
the first confirmed case of an Islamic ous industrial and commercial uses, messages. Delhi, on November 13, 2025

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