Pune German Bakery blast case solve with arrest of two Islamic terrorists

Bomb was fabricated at Baig’s cyber café and taken to Pune: ATS

via The  Hindu
Rahi Gaikwad
Vinaya Deshpande

CASE SOLVED: Maharashtra ATS chief Rakesh Maria with his team members at a press conferene in Mumbai to announce the cracking of the Pune German Bakery blast case.
Chief Minister Ashok Chavan on Wednesday announced an award of Rs. 5 lakh for the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad team which cracked the German Bakery blast case by arresting Mirza Himayat Baig (29) from Pune and Sheikh Lalbaba Mohammad Hussain Farid alias Bilal in Nashik.

Declaring the case “solved,” Home Minister R.R. Patil said: “I congratulate the Maharashtra ATS and other national agencies involved in the investigation. The Chief Minister will soon felicitate the ATS team.”

Narrating the sequence of events before the February 13 blast, ATS chief Rakesh Maria told presspersons here that the conspirators Mohsin Chaudhary, Mohammad Ahmed Zarar Siddibappa alias Yasin alias Shah Rukh and Baig brought the explosives to Global Internet Café, run by Baig at Udgir in Latur district, between 1 and 5 a.m. on February 7 and fabricated the bomb there. On February 13, Yasin and Baig, carrying the bomb, travelled to Pune by bus, and planted the bomb in the bakery. However, the CCTV in the bakery did not capture Baig. Mr. Maria said the person in the footage was Yasin as he entered the bakery, while Baig waited outside.

The ATS chief said the accused used a Nokia mobile alarm to set off the bomb, which went off around 7.30 p.m.

Baig was previously involved in two cases — one a 2008 UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act) case of the ATS in Pune and the other under the Arms Act. He had gone to Bhatkal for training. Iqbal and Riyaz Shahbandari — known as the Bhatkal brothers — sheltered him when he was on the run for his involvement in the two cases, Mr. Maria said.

“He is from the original Fayyaz Qazi and Zabiuddin Ansari module, which was involved in a May 2006 arms haul case [in Aurangabad]. He was part of that group,” the ATS chief said.

Originally a resident of Beed district in Maharashtra, Baig settled in Udgir. He failed in the B.A. second year examination. He was close to Fayyaz Qazi and Zabiuddin Ansari.

Reconnaissance

Bilal (27) was arrested at 8.45 p.m. on Tuesday from Ashoknagar, Satpur in Nashik, for doing a recce of vital government installations there. He was a resident of Hotgi in Solapur district. He set up an Indian Mujahideen sleeper cell in Nashik and was trained by the Lashkar-e-Taiba in Pakistan from January 2008 to early 2010.

“In these two years, he did not officially come back to India. But according to our information, he crossed the border thrice — twice via Bangladesh and once via Nepal. He has failed in B.Sc. first year examination,” Mr. Maria said.

The ATS seized from Bilal two kg of RDX, LeT literature, soldering wires, cutters, booklets on bomb-making, SIM cards, fake documents used for getting SIM cards, mobile phones, pen drives and $1,300 and Rs. 10,500 in cash. “He has got the U.S. dollars from Pakistan,” ATS officer Sukhwinder Singh said.

According to the ATS’ preliminary information, Bilal was not directly involved in planning or executing the bakery blast. “His prime objective was to recce government buildings. He carried many fake documents. He also possessed a driving licence, a residential certificate and other documents all under fake identities,” Mr. Maria said.

Police custody

Baig was produced before a court in Pune on Wednesday afternoon and was remanded to 14-day police custody till September 20. A Nashik court remanded Bilal to police custody till September 14.

The ATS is on the lookout for Mohsin and Yasin. The probe took ATS teams to Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Daman and Diu, Tamil Nadu and New Delhi.

Indian Muslim arrested for man plotting 9/11-type aerial attack on educational institution in Uttar Pradesh

Cops arrest man plotting 9/11-type attack in UP

Deepak Gidwani / DNA

Mumbai: Shahzad Ahmad, the Indian Mujahideen (IM) terrorist arrested in Uttar Pradesh’s Azamgarh district on Monday, was planning a 9/11-type attack with a small chartered aircraft.

The Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) of the UP police said Shahzad alias Pappu had targeted an educational institution in the state for the aerial attack. The assault was scheduled for May, when the place is normally crowded with students attending counselling sessions.

Shahzad, 21, had learnt flying at a private aviation academy in Bangalore for the purpose. Sources, however, said his aerial terror module could be aiming at more sensitive targets like the disputed Ayodhya structure, the Taj or the Narora atomic plant in west UP. The ATS is probing Shahzad’s links with Pakistani-born American terrorist David Coleman Headley. The National Investigation Agency had shared inputs on these lines with the stateagencies.

“Shahzad was wanted in connection with the September 2008 Delhi serial blasts. He is also an accused in the killing of Delhi police inspector Mohan Chand Sharma, who was killed during the Batla House encounter,’’ ADG Brij Lal told reporters.

Cops look out for 21 Muslim students after LeT suspect’s arrest

Cops look out for 21 Lucknow students after LeT suspect’s arrest

Lucknow, Aug 30 : The Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) of the Uttar Pradesh police is looking for 21 students of Lucknow University who studied with suspected Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operative Mohammad Aslam alias Salim arrested in Delhi Tuesday.

Salim was a student of Arabic studies from 2003 to 2005 and the ATS is now trying to trace 21 students of Arabic, Persian and Urdu Departments who studied during the same period in Lucknow University, an ATS source said.

“Besides Salim, most of these students belong to Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir and had used the address of the same ‘religious society’ located near Lucknow University to get admission. Some of them also belong to Poorvanchal district of the state from where many terror suspects were arrested or killed in encounters in recent past. All of them are untraceable as of now,” the source said.

“Mohammad Aslam alias Salim was a student of M.A. Arabic Studies from 2003 to 2005. A native of Rajouri in Kashmir, his ‘operational name’ in Lucknow was Mohammad Salim,” Additional Director General of police Brijlal had earlier told reporters.

The university has started taking stringent steps in the verification process of students and has put this data online to assist security agencies.

“The data of all such students will be instantly made available to the deputy inspector general of the police and the district magistrate. We have also sent the details of 12 students to the ATS and are assisting them in their probe,” an official of the university vice chancellor’s office told IANS on condition of anonymity.

Meanwhile, an ATS team of the state is camping in New Delhi to interrogate Salim.

“The team is in New Delhi and the Delhi police has yet not given us time for interrogation,” Additional Director General of police A.K. Jain told reporters.

A Pakistani passport, a Jammu and Kashmir voter identity card and some explosives were recovered from Salim.

He had apparently been sent to Lucknow to take charge of the “sleeper modules” of the LeT in the eastern region of the state.

“An expert in computers, Salim is a trained militant of the LeT. He had also received rigorous training in Pakistan. His admission to Lucknow University was a well-planned strategy of the LeT,” an ATS official said.

According to Maharashtra police records, Salim’s name surfaced after the arrest of three LeT terrorists, Mohammad Zubair, Mohammad Tanvir and Mohammad Amir, in 2006 from Aurangabad district.

Nearly 30 kg of RDX explosives and 10 AK-47 rifles were recovered from them. During interrogation, they revealed Salim’s name. He was in Lucknow at that time.

“However, Salim managed to escape to Pakistan via Nepal. A few days ago, he again slipped into India through Jammu and Kashmir and was caught in New Delhi,” the ATS source added.

–IANS

LeT Islamic terrorist reveals names of financiers and hawala operators: Cops

Suspected LeT terrorist sings, names financiers
Rahul Tripathi , TNN 30 August 2009

NEW DELHI: The recent arrest of a 27-year-old Lashkar-e-Taiba militant has provided important links to the alleged activities of the banned terror outfit. Questioning of Mohammad Aslam, who cops claim has been a `prized catch’,  has revealed names of several financiers and hawala operators of the outfit and efforts are on to nab them. The Mumbai police and Gujarat Anti Terror Squad have also joined in the probe with the special cell of Delhi Police, which arrested Aslam from New Delhi railway station on Tuesday.

While officials of the special cell were tightlipped about the names of the financiers, sources said besides handling logistics of LeT, Aslam had recruited several youths from Maharashtra and Gujarat and sent them for arms training to PoK. “He has revealed the names of eight persons who he had picked for training in Pakistan. Many of these were in touch with Aslam and some have even been arrested by the security forces in J&K. He was supposed to hand over explosives to two men in Aurangabad, but we have not been able to zero in on them so far,” said a senior police officer.

Uttar Pradesh Anti Terror Squad (ATS) is also looking into Aslam’s case, as according to cops, Aslam stayed in Lucknow and was enrolled in MA (Arabic) at Lucknow University from 2003 to 2005. “He was staying with two more persons. We have already seized the records from the university and are hunting for them,” said a UP police officer. Speaking to Times City, additional director general of police A K Jain said, “Our teams are in touch with special cell but we are yet to question Aslam. He was studying at Lucknow University from 2003 to 2005 and we need to question him about his other associates.”

At the time of Aslam’s arrest, cops had seized identity cards bearing the name Mohammad Salim from his possession. The police said Aslam is also trained in computers and handling of arms. “He was one of the several members of a sleeper module of LeT and was also incharge of recruitment and logistics,” said a cop from special cell.

The cops from Mumbai are expected to question Aslam in connection with the Aurangabad arms haul in which 32kg of explosives and 10 AK-47 rifles were recovered. He had been on the radar of intelligence agencies for the past two years. “Aslam revealed his involvement in many cases and we are in the process of verifying his role in any major terrorist activity,” said a senior police officer.

Antulay becomes a hero in Pakistan

Minister Antulay: hero in Pakistan
By: Neel Shah

Union Minority Affairs Minister Abdul Rehman Antulay has turn out to be a hero in Pakistan, for his strange remarks on the assassination of one of the top officer of Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) in the 26/11 attack.

On December 17, Antulay had raised doubts about the killing of the ATS chief Hemant Karkare and suggested a link with the Malegaon blast accused that the officer and his team were investigating.

On the other hand the Pakistani media, T.V as well as print started exploiting Antulay’s efforts to link Karkare’s death to his earlier investigations into the Hindu groups.

Similarly, private news channels like Geo, Express News, Duniya News, AAJ TV and ARY One World, —– the channels to which Pakistani viewers are hooked have been airing Antulay’s remarks persistently.

These are obvious attempts to dent India’s claims of   a Pakistani hand in the 26/11 attacks on Mumbai by pointing a finger at India’s own internal fissures.

The Pakistani electronic media also flashed Wednesday’s rowdy scenes from the parliament, where some Indian MP’s were seen involved in heated arguments with Antulay.

The footage was aired on an hourly basis with every news bulletin. Not only this but the channels were also airing reaction stories about the news twist given to the Mumbai attacks and also maintained that before blaming Pakistan, the Indian government should listen to what is being said by its own parliamentarians.

The same was in the case of the print media where most Urdu newspapers, like Daily Jang, Nawa-e-Waqt, Express and Khabrain, gave front page displays to Antulay’s remarks.

Especially the Urdu daily newspaper Nawa-e-Waqt’s editorial drew maximum attention. In its editorial to the Jamaat-ul-Dawa chief, Hafiz Mohammad Saeed’s first interview after the Mumbai’s 26/11, he claimed that the attacks were masterminded by the BJP and Shiv-Sena linked Hindu terrorists.

According to Sayeed, the idea of the BJP-Sena was to make the lives of Indian Muslims more miserable.

Islamic millitants take over Mumbai as Indian intelligentsia goes Hindu witchhunts

Pity the Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS), for missing the forest for the trees. It seems to have spent a disproportionate amount of energy on the Malegaon blasts. which allowed to the real enemies to walk in, and take over Mumbai.

As far as terror goes Hindu organizations are at the bottom of the pile. The less said about the media the better Media frenzy over phony Hindu terrorism

In all, the indian intelligentsia and establishment is terribly guilty of misleading the gullible public by attempting to dilute Islamic terrorism and equating it with phony Hindu terror. The truth is quite the opposite. Hindu scriptures and ethics do not sanction killing of innocents, whereas Islam glorifies jihad against kafirs which is a sacred duty of every good Muslim, carrying the highest of rewards.

TERROR TAKES OVER MUMBAI

Statesman News Service
MUMBAI, Nov. 26: At least 80 people, including at least one foreign tourist, were killed and some 200 injured as terrorists struck in yet another series of planned and synchronised attacks in the heart of India’s financial capital around midnight Wednesday.
Terrorists sprayed bullets from automatic weapons and hurled hand grenades at multiple near-simultaneous strikes at over a dozen spots across the metropolis, including at the five-star Taj Mahal and Oberoi hotels, Victoria Terminus, Vile Parle, Santa Cruz, Worli and Leopold Cafe in Colaba.

Till well past midnight, terrorists holed up in the Taj and Oberoi hotels exchanged fire with security forces. Reports said the terrorists holed up at both hotels have taken several guests including some American and Western nationals hostage and have gathered them on one floor.

Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad chief Hemant Karkare, additional police commissioner Ashok Kamte and Mumbai Police “encounter specialist” Vijay Salaskar died while taking on the terrorists.

A little known outfit ~ “Deccan Mujahideen” ~ claimed reponsibility for the attacks.
An NSG team has been rushed to Mumbai from the Capital, and Army commando teams have entered the Oberoi hotel. At least two terrorists are reported to be holed up at the Oberoi.
The Navy, police and security teams were also trying to flush out an unknown number of terrorists at the Taj Mahal hotel.

While five blasts were reported from the Taj Mahal hotel, another took place at the Oberoi. The lobby of the latter and the roof of the former were on fire.

Karkare (54), who was probing the Malegaon blast case, was shot when leading the operation at the Taj. He was hit by three bullets in his chest. Kamte, a 1989 batch IPS officer, was killed while fighting terrorists at Metro Cinema along with Salaskar.

Three MPs and 200 people were stranded in the Taj Mahal hotel. The body of a foreign woman guest has been recovered from the hotel. The terrorists were reportedly hurling grenades and firing from the hotel’s roof.

Two terrorists were killed in a shootout near Chowpatty beach, hours after the initial attacks.

Several suspected terrorists have also been arrested, police said.
The terror strikes began at the Cafe Leopold in Colaba area about 9.30 p.m. At 10.33 p.m. a couple of terrorists entered the passenger hall at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST), formerly known as the Victoria Terminus, armed with AK-47 rifles and grenades, and opened fire and threw grenades, Mumbai General Railway Police Commissioner Mr AK Sharma said.
At least 10 people died in the station premises, police said

Three persons were killed in a bomb explosion in a taxi on Mazgaon Dockyard Road and an equal number were gunned down at Taj Mahal Hotel.
Gunmen also fired indiscriminately at Colaba’s posh Café Leopold, popular with foreign tourists, where it all started.

Random firing also took place at the Ramada Hotel at Juhu, at Nariman Point, and at Cama Hospital in south Mumbai. A blast was reported in a taxi under a flyover in suburban Vile Parle. A petrol pump was blown up in south Mumbai, the epicentre of the attacks.
Firing also took place near Metro cinema, barely a kilometre away from CST. An eyewitness said the attackers hijacked a police vehicle after opening fire at two policemen in the vehicle.
Reports said the terrorists sprayed gunfire from inside vans, and from atop trees and the roofs of buildings.
Eyewitnesses said some people suspected to be terrorists entered the CST building from outside the reservation counter and opened fire indiscriminately.
Two explosions also went off outside CST and eyewitnesses reported they heard gunshots outside the railway station building. A police officer said he saw two people armed with automatic weapons at CST.

“They opened indiscriminate fire and fled inside. They are reported to be holed up between platform seven and eight,” he said.

Police evacuated the CST station completely and halted all incoming trains as terrorists were sporadically firing from inside the grand old Victorian terminal of Central Railway.

Here a grenade was lobbed at the police in a bid to deter them from entering the station premises. Some policemen were reported injured.

Two armed terrorists reportedly reached the nearest GT Hospital near CST station to prevent entry of the wounded victims of their attack. The hospital has been cordoned by security forces.

Huge confusion prevailed as initial reports ascribed the firing to gang war but the picture soon became clear given the professional vehemence of the attacks.
Far from south Mumbai, a well-to-do suburb of Vile Parle also reported a car bomb blast which killed at least five people. Reports of car blasts were reported from Mazgaon and neighbouring localities. Firing was also reported from the north Mumbai locality of Borivali and near the Maharashtra state Assembly building.

Sixty bodies and over 200 persons injured were brought at St George’s Hospital, hospital sources said. Seven bodies were brought to GT hospital while two bodies were brought to Cooper hospital. Four bodies were brought to Mumbai hospital.

Police commissioner Mr Hasan Gafoor has asked Mumbai citizens to “stay inside wherever they are” and not to venture out as the entire city and suburbs along with rest of the state has been put on the highest ever alert sounded.

In New Delhi, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh assured the Maharashtra government of all assistance. The Opposition leader, Mr LK Advani, spoke to the PM who confirmed the terror strikes. The Centre decided to immediately dispatch National Security Guard commandos to supplement the efforts being made by local police and the CRPF.
Maharashtra chief minister Mr Vilasrao Deshmukh, who cancelled his Kerala trip and returned to Mumbai, strongly condemned the terror attacks and said stringent action will be taken against culprits involved in the incidents. He asked the people to stay indoors for their own safety and maintain calm.

A nationwide alert was sounded and all airports in the country put on high-security surveillance following the attacks that came less than a month after over 50 people died in serial terror bombings in Assam. All 5-star hotels in Delhi were put on alert.

IM Muslim terrorists spared of MCOCA but Hindu Abhinav Bharat held under MCOCA

UAPA for IM, MCOCA for Abhinav Bharat

22 Nov 2008, 0348 hrs IST, ET Bureau

NEW DELHI: The contrast between the treatment of terror accused in Delhi and Malegaon blasts could not have been starker. Abhinav Bharat activists, accused in the Malegaon blasts, have been charged under MCOCA, but the Indian Mujahideen cadre linked to the blasts in Delhi, Ahmedabad and Jaipur have been spared MCOCA, which can be applied in Delhi, given its special status to use laws prevalent in other states.

MCOCA has been sparingly used by the Delhi Police. Even in 6-7 cases where it has been invoked were related to organised crime and not terror. IM activists, picked up by the Delhi Police for the September 13 blasts after the Batla House encounter, have been charged under IPC, Explosives Substances Act and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

The UAPA is watered-down version of MCOCA, as it allows detention without bail only up to 3 months, unlike MCOCA, where an accused cannot apply for bail before 6 months.

This differential treatment of terror accused by the Delhi Police special cell and Maharashtra ATS comes despite a fairly strong case against the arrested members of Simi-IM module who were involved not only in the plotting and executing the Delhi explosions on September 13 but also the blasts in Jaipur on May 13 and Ahmedabad on July 26 and planting bombs at Surat.

While the case against Simi-IM module behind the Delhi blasts does not stand on confessions alone and is backed by circumstantial evidence, the case against Lt Col Srikant Prasad Purohit and Sadhvi Pragya Singh is built on confessions made by the accused to the police.

The Centre, which handles law and order in Delhi, had recently advised President Pratibha Patil to return Gujcoc bill to the Gujarat assembly, after nearly four years of examination, on the grounds that it could not approve a law as draconian as the repealed Pota.

In its observations, MHA is also said to have described MCOCA as draconian but expressed its helplessness in blocking it saying that the Centre could not scrap an Act legislated by the state assembly. Though MCOCA was introduced by the BJP-Shiv Sena government, it’s a Congress-led state government in power at the moment in Maharashtra, which could consider repealing the law if it so desired.

ATS chief Hemant Karkare had on Thursday confirmed charging all Malegaon blast accused under MCOCA. ATS has arrested 10 people so far and has also taken custody of another accused, Sudhakar Chaturvedi, who was nabbed by the city police with a fake Army identity card in his possession.

The accused include Swami Dayanand Purohit, Sadhvi Pragya and Lt Col Prasad Purohit. Eight of the accused are currently in judicial custody but further police custody can be sought to interrogate them under MCOCA, ATS officials said.

The ATS has invoked Section 3 of MCOCA pertaining to organised crime against the accused.

The Sections applied are 3(1)(i), which provides for a death penalty if the crime had led to death of an individual, 3(2) for life imprisonment for conspirators or abettors and 3(4) which provides for a minimum sentence of five years for anyone who is a member of the organised crime syndicate.

MCOCA gives investigating agency plenty of room to continue its probe as the accused will not be able to seek bail for 6 months. It can also seek extension to the time required for filing a chargesheet.

Mumbai finds links between mafia and Indian Muslim terrorists

Mumbai ATS finds terror links with mafia
BY DIPPY VANKANI
Mumbai

Aug. 17: A definite link of the mafia with terror outfits has emerged with the arrests of two persons from Pune by the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS). The duo, both law students, are believed to be members of a sleeper cell of the Students’ Islamic Movement of India (Simi). Interestingly, one of the two is the brother of a Chhota Shakeel aide who was killed in an encounter by the crime branch in March this year.

Nadeem Sheikh and Ayaz Khan, both former students of Pune Law College, were arrested by the ATS last week in a fake currency case. The duo was found in possession of counterfeit notes. “Ayaz Khan is the brother of Feroze Totla, who was killed in an encounter by the anti-extortion cell of the crime branch in Mumbai on March 10 this year. Totla was a close aide of Chhota Shakeel and Bunty Pandey,” said Mr Rakesh Maria, joint commissioner of police, crime.

According to a senior IPS officer, who did not wish to be named, the two are part of a Simi sleeper cell in Pune. “The Pune Law College is the place where these people got indoctrinated into terrorism after which they took it up full time,” said the officer.

While the duo has been booked for possessing counterfeit currency, senior IPS officers believe the two can spill the beans on other members of their cell. “Polygraph and brain-mapping tests shall be conducted. If need be, permission of the court will also be sought to conduct narco-analysis tests of the duo,” said the officer. According to the officer, the police is also probing whether the Simi activities are being funded by the mafia. “From this connection, it seems apparent that the mafia is hand-in-glove with the terror outfits,” he said.