Assam blasts: Several Bangladeshi Muslim groups involved in Assam blasts

Deadly cocktail, say intelligence agencies

Vijay Thakur
NEW DELHI, Oct. 31: Intelligence agencies have concluded that it was not HuJI alone but other Bangladesh-based terror outfits such as Islamic Chatra Sangh and Jamait-e-Islami that joined hands with Ulfa in planning and executing yesterday’s deadly serial blasts in Assam.

Central Intelligence agencies had noticed suspicious movements by Islamic Chatra Sangh and Jamait-e-Islami cadre in Dibrugarh and Guwahati nearly 15 days back. The information was passed on to local intelligence agencies in Assam. A week before this top brass of Ulfa had a meeting with HuJI leaders in Bangladesh where the blueprint of the terror attacks may have been finalised, intelligence officials claimed.

They said they had sufficient inputs to link a cocktail of Ulfa, HuJI, ICS and J-e-I with the serial blasts. “We strongly suspect that this time it is not only Harkat-ul-Jehad-e-Islami but also ICS and J-e-I which had planned the terror attack with the help of the Ulfa leadership. The close connections between HuJI and Ulfa are no secret to intelligence agencies. We also know that senior Ulfa leaders are getting support of HuJI in Bangladesh where top Ulfa leadership is hiding,” the official pointed out.

While there is no denying that top Ulfa leaders have given logistic and strategic support to these outfits in Assam, intelligence agencies are silent on whether the lower level Ulfa cadre is aware of this tie-up. “Ulfa top brass cannot survive in Bangladesh without the tacit support of HuJI, ICS and J-e-I, and we have reasons to believe that the Assam blasts were planned in the neighbouring country,” the official said. End

Assam’s dark day reflects siege within
Oct 31, 2008, The Statesman  (thestateman.net does not archive its articles)
Nirendra Dev
NEW DELHI, Oct 30: Amid allegations of Intelligence failure for the “worst” tragedy to hit the people of Assam, there’s no denying that emergence of Islamic fundamentalism, native Adivasi anguish and growing involvement of the foreign hand have brought in new twists to the security scenario in the state.

Even as the top brass gets involved in a foolproof post-mortem of the blasts that left at least 66 people dead and over 470 injured, Intelligence sources said such a complex scenario only helps “misguided persons” play the “lethal proxy war weapon of ISI”.
In addition to the Ulfa, Assam is host to organisations like the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) and the Bodo Liberation Tigers (BLT). “Moreover, at least 15 Islamic militant groups have surfaced threatening peace and more vitally the demographic pattern of the land,” sources said.

In 2004, the parochial movements took another twist when the All Adivasi National Liberation Army (AANLA) was formed in the hills of Karbi Anglong district claiming to cater to the interest of the tea plantation workers’ community. After making occasional noises, the fledgling outfit had shot into the limelight last year after it claimed responsibility for the 13 December 2007 bomb attack on the Delhi-bound Rajdhani Express train that killed five passengers and injured nine others.

The Union home ministry views this nascent outfit as a “shadowy Adivasi insurgent group” with definite links with northeastern separatist groups like Naga and Tripura-based groups and a “possible” nexus with the Maoists and ISI support base in Bangladesh. The group is also demanding ST status for the community and is believed to have a sizeable cadre strength in Karbi Anglong, Golaghat and Jorhat districts, and tea-growing areas of Sivasagar, Dibrugarh and Tinsukia.

Among the Islamic groups, outfits that have kept army and intelligence officials on their toes are Islamic Revolutionary Front (IRF), Islamic Liberation Army of Assam (ILAA, Sibsagar), Islamic United Liberation Army (Nagaon, founded in 1980s), Assam Minority Liberation Army (AMLA), Student Islamic Movement of India (active both in Assam and Manipur), Muslim United Liberation Front of Assam (MULFA), Muslim Liberation Tigers of Assam (MULTA, founded in 1993), Muslim Liberation Front of Assam, United Special Reforms of Assam (active in Dhubri district), Muslim Volunteers Force (active in Barpeta), Tigers Liberation Front of Assam (active in Hojai, founded in 1992 ~ a post Babri development), Islamic Revolutionary Army (Assam), Saddam Bahini (Assam, a post Gulf War development), Islamic Sevak Sangh (in Kamrup area, post Babri development aiming to counter RSS’s Hindu chauvinism) and Bharatiya Islam Sanskar Partibad Bahini). In fact, only last month the Central government got feedback from the state special branch confirmed by the IB that the ISI had managed to infiltrate into Assam a number of its agents in the guise of Imams. The Jamaat-e-Islami of both Pakistan and Bangladesh are maintaining close links with Muslim militant organisations, said the report though there was no specific alert about any such major serial explosions. Sources said while the local hands “could execute” the work, blasts of such ominous contours could take place only with foreign support. In fact, the sources said, the government needs to understand that such acts are not confined to Pakistan and Bangladesh, some tightrope walking is called for even while dealing with countries like Myanmar, Nepal and Bhutan besides China’s strong “ideological support” to various northeast militant groups. While during the Vajpayee regime in 2005, some success came in when Bhutanese forces were allowed joint operations with the Indian army in Bhutan, the government is yet to get any favourable response from Myanmar. Officials fear that ISI is back to its multi-pronged proxy war strategy like encouraging militant outfits on communal lines, supplying explosives and promoting communal strife between Hindus and Muslims.