Islamic terrorists kill cop in Hyderabad

14/05/2010
Cop dies in Hyderabad shootout, high alert in city

Hyderabad: A policeman was killed and two others were injured when two people on a motorcycle opened fire on a police picket in the old city of Hyderabad on Friday. A high alert has been sounded across the city.

The incident took place this evening near Volga Hotel in Shahali Banda area, about a km from the historic Charminar and Mecca Masjid.

Eye witnesses said two people on a motor cycle opened fire on a police picket deployed as part of the security arrangements ahead of the third anniversary of the blast at the historic Mecca Masjid (May 18). The assailants fled after attacking the policemen.

Constable Ramesh, of the Andhra Pradesh Special Police (APSP), died while being shifted to Osmania Hospital while two other policemen were being treated for their injuries.

Police have put up barricades at several points in the city and started checking vehicles and frisking people.

The incident sent shock waves as it came despite the continuing search operations by police for over a fortnight amid intelligence warnings of possible terror attacks and close on the heels of the arrest of a terror suspect.

Last year, on the second anniversary of the blast, a policeman was killed and another injured in a similar attack when assailants opened fire on police at Falaknuma area of the old city.

Police believed Viqaruddin, an alleged terror operative, was involved. Two policemen were injured Dec 3, 2008 in the attempt to arrest Viqaruddin, when one of the two people accompanying him opened fire at the policemen. The trio managed to escape.

The bomb blast during on Friday prayers in the 17th century mosque May 18, 2007 killed nine people. Five people died in the subsequent police firing on protestors outside the mosque.

Police on May 3 arrested an alleged terror suspect belonging to the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). Police said 34-year-old Mohammed Zia-ul-Haq was planning to cause explosions in busy areas of the city.

Source: IANS

Suspect in Hyderabad shootout identified
IANS/Hyderabad

Viqar Ahmed, a suspected terrorist, has been identified as one of the attackers in Friday’s shootout in Hyderabad in which one policeman was killed, police said yesterday.
Ahmed was identified as the assailant after investigators recorded statements of witnesses and analysed a CD left behind by the attackers. Considered tech-savvy, Ahmed typed a letter contained in the CD.

Tehreek Galba-e-Islam, an outfit allegedly floated by Ahmed, owned responsibility saying the attack was carried out in retaliation for the police firing after a blast at the Mecca Masjid on May 18, 2007.

A constable was shot dead by two gunmen on Friday although the police were on high alert ahead of the third anniversary of the bomb blast at the historic mosque.
Ahmed and his accomplice came on a motorcycle wearing helmets.

Some suspects have been detained in the old city.

Police Commissioner A K Khan said a red alert has been sounded across the city in view of the blast anniversary. He advised the police to remain vigilant.

Ahmed, said to be a former member of the banned Students’ Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), was also blamed for gunning down a policeman in a similar attack on May 18 last year.

The last rites of slain constable U Ramesh were conducted in his native Chittoor district with full state honours. Senior police officials paid tributes to the policeman whose wife is also a police official.

Muslims, Hindus mobilize in Old Hyderabad

Between saffron and green, Hyderabad sees red flags
Sreenivas Janyala
Posted: Apr 28, 2010

Hyderabad It’s been almost a month since Andhra Pradesh government moved to clear the city of all religious flags and buntings that were at the root of the recent communal riots which hit the state capital. But a tug-of-war has again started in the old city areas between Muslim and Hindu groups with green and saffron flags becoming the symbols of clout.
Since several days, small green flags put up by the MIM (Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen) or Muslim religious organisations are being replaced overnight by saffron flags, only to be replaced again the next night by green flags. This flag contest has heightened tensions between the two communities with one accusing the other of trying to “usurp” areas which were traditionally dominated by them.

The trouble started a day before Eid Milad-un-Nabi when green flags with Islamic symbols and slogans came up all over the old city.

“Placing those flags was unnecessary and an act of disrespect towards the religion. It is for the first time in Hyderabad that thousands of green flags were found tied all around the streets. It is an insult because the flags had photographs of Mecca and Madina and when the they fell on the street, people walked over them. Even if they were tied for the festival, they should have been removed after the celebrations. It was not done and this encouraged the other community to put up saffron flags ahead of Ram Navami. The saffron flags were put up after removing the green flags and that is when the competition started,” says a religious leader, Hamid Mohammed Khan.

At the Shiva temple and goushala, caretaker K Tewari, who is living here since 40 years, says he has never witnessed such mobilisation of Hindu youths who went about replacing green flags with saffron ones with Om written on them.

“Thousands of flags came up overnight everywhere. I have never seen such a thing before. I do not know what prompted some people to attack the goushala and burn three animals alive. I believe it was in retaliation for the trouble that erupted elsewhere,” he says.

The presence of flags has slowly become an indicator as to who ‘controls’ a particular lane or area and this is causing tension between the two communities. After police and religious leaders intervened, the flags tied on government buildings were taken off, but they remain in other places.

Lateef Mohammed Khan, Secretary of Civil Liberties Monitoring Committee, says since the Muslims insisted that the flags put up for Eid Milad-un-Nabi will remain there till the next festival, the Hindu groups retaliated by wanting to keep their flags till Hanuman Jayanti. “Since then this is going on and all the main roads, streets and lanes are covered with flags,” he says.

Processions were never taken out in Hyderabad on Hanuman Jayanti, but this time Hindu groups took out a motorcycle rally and to promote this more saffron flags were put up.

Sources in the local Intelligence Bureau say the huge quantity and good printing quality of the green and saffron flags indicate that huge amounts are being spent on them. “None of the local people or even the businessmen has the kind of money spent on flags. Elements on both sides probably received enormous funds from those who wanted to start this trouble. The Muslims even organised biryani dawats on the main roads and it was free for all. Where did the money come from?” a source asks.

The areas which witnessed riots and where the flag contest is still going on have a strong presence of the MIM, Hindu Vahini and the RSS. Though the overall population of Hindus is 30 per cent and Muslims 70 per cent in the old city areas, there are many pockets where the population is in balance. Officials say religious groups are using flags to demarcate borders and a power struggle has started to retain control over particular areas.

Hyderabad Riots – Shocking Visuals of Shiv Mandir Cow Shelter Set On Fire By Islamic Terrorists

 

Link to video here

The forgotten Jihad in Andhra Pradesh

Click link

 

Muslims attack Hindus in Old City, Hyderabad

“Goshala burnt :
They also burnt a goshala killing 4 cows at Shamshergunj, Aliabad. Two temples in the goshala were also burnt. ”

Click link

Report on Modules of SIMI/IM Islamic Terrorists in 8 Indian States

Indian Mujahideen strikes deep

Mon, Feb 22 06:08 AM

Uttar Pradesh

SIMI was formed in Aligarh in 1977 and had thousands of members and offices in almost every district of the state before it was banned by the Centre in 2002. The group came under the radar of intelligence agencies after 1998 and the then SIMI president Dr Shahid Badr Falahi was arrested in Bahraich for an alleged provocative speech days after 9/11.

More than 1,200 SIMI members were arrested from the state after the ban. Police say they have evidence to prove that the SIMI was involved in the February 2005 blasts in Varanasi, the Shramjeevi Express blast in July 2005, the Varanasi blasts of March 2006, and serial blasts in courts in Lucknow, Faizabad and Varanasi in 2007.

Among the prominent members arrested in the state are Abu Bashar of Azamgarh, who is said to have first revealed the existence of IM and its role in blasts across the country, and Shahbaz Ahmed of Lucknow, allegedly involved in the Jaipur blasts. State anti-terrorism squad officials say they are still looking for seven key IM operatives belonging to Azamgarh: Dr Shahnawaz, Ariz Khan alias Junaid, Mohammad Sajid alias Bada Sajid, Mirza Shadab Beig, Mohammad Khalid, Asadullah Akhtar and Salman.

Maharashtra

Mumbai and Pune were the main IM hubs with an extensive network of operatives capable of providing resources for an attack anywhere in the country. The arrests made in 2008 in these two cities laid bare the backbone of the IM. The outfit grew out of the seamy underbelly of Mumbai’s gangland, with Riyaz Bhatkal dabbling in underworld activities before becoming involved in SIMI operations in the Muslim dominated areas of Kurla and Cheetah Camp.

In fact, Riyaz was a suspect in the bomb blasts in Mumbai in 2002 and 2003 and a manhunt was launched for him then. In Pune, IM had set up base in the Kondhwa area, with a control room in an apartment in an upmarket housing society. Mumbai police arrested 21 IM members, including IT engineer Mansoor Peerbhoy, and charged them of forming an organised crime syndicate for terrorist activities and hacking into WiFi accounts to send e-mails claiming credit for bomb blasts.

Among the key missing operatives from the state are Abdus Subhan Qureshi alias Tauqeer, the face of IM in 2008, Amin alias Raja Ayub Shaikh, Abdul Shakoor Khan alias Irfan, Abu Rashid.

Gujarat

The state has been more a target for SIMI-IM than a hub for the groups, with most men blamed for the 2008 blasts belonging to other states. The blasts were allegedly carried out under the direction, guidance and assistance of Harkat-ul-Jehadi-Islam (HuJI) operative Amir Raza Khan from Pakistan.

Gujarat Police took custody of senior SIMI leaders Safdar Nagori and Abdul Sibli from Madhya Pradesh and others were taken into custody from jails elsewhere. So far, 57 people have been arrested for the blasts and 38 named in the conspiracy are at large.

Madhya Pradesh

The strong SIMI network in the state helped IM recruit and train members the way it did in UP. In 2008, 13 SIMI leaders, including the outfit’s general secretary Safdar Nagori and his brother Kamruddin, were arrested following raids in Indore. The police described the arrested as active members from Kerala, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.

The arrested also included SIMI’s Karnataka unit chief Hafiz Hussain and Shibli, the mainstay of the group in Kerala. In April 2008, the police neutralised a SIMI training camp in Choral, a popular holiday spot, 35 km from Bhopal. Qayamuddin Kapadia, suspected to be one of the main conspirators of the Ahmedabad serial blasts, was arrested from the state in November 2008. Last April, IM operative Saif-ur-Rahman was arrested from a train in Jabalpur. The Azamgarh resident is accused of planting bombs in Jaipur and Ahmedabad.

Kerala

Although Kerala has not been an IM target, the state is home to some of its key members and several places hosted secret indoctrination, arms training camps after 2005. According to Gujarat police, 37 hardcore SIMI activists had participated in a bomb-making and tough-terrain training camp in Vagamon in 2007. Aluva, Paravoor and Perumbavoor in Ernakulam district, Erattupetta in Kottayam and old Kannur city are known to have been used by the IM while half-a-dozen men arrested for being linked to Lashkar are from Kannur city.

Prominent among the key SIMI-IM operators from Kerala are C A M Basheer, an aeronautical engineer from Aluva and the former national president of SIMI. Other SIMI leaders from Kerala are Peediyekkal Shibili, his brother Shaduli and Ansar Maulavi. They were arrested in Indore in March 2008. Sarfraz Nawaz, secretary at the SIMI Delhi office, was picked up by the RAW from Muscat last year.

The police had found that Nawaz financed the Bangalore blasts and knew Basheer. Sainudheen alias Satharbhai of Malappuram designed the explosives for Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Surat in 2008. Tadiyantavide Nazeer, who had played a key role in recruiting youth for training at Lashkar camps, was nabbed last November and is suspected to have been with the IM in 2008. Key players absconding from Kerala are C A M Basheer, Ayoob, Ummer Farook and Subaih.

Karnataka

While the Bhatkal brothers, Riyaz Shahbandari and Iqbal Shahbandari, used their coastal hometown of Bhatkal as an IM hub, the activities of the group elsewhere in the state were restricted largely to the northern districts of Bijapur, Bidar and Gulbarga. A spurt in SIMI activities occurred in 2007 when various senior members from Karnataka and Kerala tried to reorganise a hardline version.

While the core group had 25-30 members, the effort to revive the SIMI in 2007 saw training camps being held on the Karnataka-Goa border, in the Hubli-Dharwad region and at Ernakulam in Kerala through 2006-07. Much of the network that emerged during this period was busted by Karnataka police through 2008. The IM members blamed for the Hyderabad and Ahmedabad blasts were trained in a remote village in Chikamagalur district.

Although the IM is not held directly responsible for the July 2008 blasts in Bangalore, Riyaz Bhatkal and the perpetrators of the attack a small group of men from Kerala led by former Kerala SIMI activists obtained integrated chip timers for bombs from a common source. The Bhatkal brothers and the Bangalore bombers used a Hyderabad house as a hideout. Besides the Bhatkal brothers, key IM members from the state on the loose are bomb expert Yasin Bhatkal and Mudassar.

Andhra Pradesh

Mufti Abu Bashir, arrested for the Gujarat blasts, Maulana Abdul Aleem Islahi, a SIMI sympathiser who runs a madrasa in Hyderabad, Raziuddin Nasir and Safdar Nagori were involved in setting up the SIMI-IM network in the state. The SIMI set up several religious institutions to continue its activities after it was banned and police suspect Darsgah-e-Jihad-o-Shahadat and Tehrik Tahfuz-e-Shair-e-Islam were two among them.

Maulana Naseeruddin of Tehrik was arrested by Gujarat Police in 2004 for his involvement in the murder of former minister of state for home Haren Pandya. Scores of SIMI-IM members were picked up during the crackdown after the twin-blasts of August 2007 and the Mecca Masjid blasts. They included Raziuddin Nasir, Mohtasin Billa, Mohammed Nissar, Mohammed Muqeemuddin Yaser, Mohammed Sohail, Maulana Naseeruddin and Jaber Naseeruddin.

Police claim that they have managed to “finish off” SIMI-IM in the state after “tightening the noose around a few madrasas whose activities were suspect”. Vikar Ahmed, who shot at two policemen in Hyderabad last August, is the only one absconding, besides a few sympathisers against whom police say they do not have evidence.

Delhi

The Delhi module of IM was led by Atif Ameen and is blamed for the serial blasts of 2008 in the Capital. After the blasts, the Delhi Police cracked Ameen’s module in Batla House and killed two Atif and Mohammad Sajid. Five IM members were also arrested from Delhi: Mohammad Saif, Zeeshan Ahmed, Mohammad Shakeel, Zia-Ur-Rehman and Saqib Nisar. Two others, Shahzad Ahmed and Ariz Khan alias Pappu managed to flee but Shahzad was arrested from Azamgarh this month. The Delhi Police continues to look for 12 SIMI-IM members, including Amir Raza Khan, Riyaz and Iqbal Bhatkal, Mohammad Khaild, Salman, Asadullah Akhtar, Dr Shahnawaz, Mohammad Sajid and Ariz Khan.

With inputs from Bhupendra Pandey, Johnson T A, Sreenivas Janyala, Shaju Philip and Neeraj Chauhan

HuJI’s South India top dog arrested in Chennai

HuJI’s  South India top commander nabbed
January 18, 2010
Zeenews Bureau

Chennai: In a major breakthrough, Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami’s top commander in South India Amjad was on Monday nabbed from Chennai on Monday.

Amjad alias- Shaikh Abdul Khwaja, who is thought to be Bangladesh based HuJI’s second-in-command, is alleged to be the mastermind behind the 2007 Hyderabad twin blasts that went off at the crowded Gokul Chat and Lumbini Park in Hyderabad leaving 42 people dead.

He was also wanted in the sensational 2005 Task force office suicide bomb attack case, in which a home guard was killed. Amjad is a native of Hyderabad.

As per reports, Khwaja, who was hiding in Karachi since 2003, had come back to India to target Republic day function in one of the South Indian cities.

He is now being brought to Hyderabad for further investigations.

TRS President KCR vows to fight for 12% reservations for Mussalmans in Telangana

KCR vows rightful share for Muslims

February 8th, 2010, By DC Correspondent

The Telangana Rashtra Samithi president, Mr K. Chandrasekhar Rao, on Sunday said he supported providing reservation to Muslims in proportion to their population in Telangana. “The reservations will be on the lines of those in Tamil Nadu,” he said.

Addressing a public meeting “Telangana Garajna” organised by the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind at Nizam College grounds here, Mr Rao said, “The sea of Muslims here should clear all doubts in the minds of the Union home minister and others. This meeting is crucial: it upsets the claims of Andhra leaders that Muslims were against Telangana and sends a clear message to the Centre.”

Starting his speech with a sher-o-shayari in Urdu, Mr Rao jeered at the Andhra leaders’ inability to speak Urdu properly. “I have seen our Chief Ministers from Andhra wishing ‘Ood Mubarak’ instead of Id Mubarak,” he said.

Mr Rao pointed out that Muslim percentage in government jobs has dipped from 36 per cent to one.

“Not even one per cent of the state budget is given to the minority welfare department. Don’t Muslims pay taxes?” he asked.

Mr Rao said he will fight for at least 12 per cent reservation for Muslims in employment and education sectors, and the Assembly apart from local bodies.

Professor Kancha Ilaiah and Balladeer Gaddar demanded that the first Chief Minister of Telangana should either be from the SC, ST, BC, or Muslim community. “The T leaders should make their stand clear on this issue,” they said.

21 Dangerous Islamic Terrorists Hail From Hyderabad

More faces of terror are emerging from Hyderabad
February 06, 2010

A recent meeting in Andhra Pradesh involving an official of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation and CID officials from across the country, aimed at better cooperation, has brought up some startling facts relating to terrorism in India [ Images ], especially in Hyderabad.

During the course of the meeting, it was revealed that 21 very dangerous terrorists, who had fled the country and were operating in big positions in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, hailed from Hyderabad.

Indian Intelligence Bureau officials told rediff.com that Hyderabad had become a big worry in the security set up and as the days passed, the number of such elements was on the rise.

Although city police officials refused to comment on this issue, security experts say that Hyderabad has surpassed places like Azamgarh and Kerala [ Images ] in the list.

Another interesting revelation was that Hyderabad comes second only to the Kashmir Valley, which has the most number of terrorists in the country.

The number of terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir [ Images ] is easily over 500, but the number of persons occupying key positions in terror groups is around 60, sources point out.

The terrorists that Hyderabad has produced operate more on the planning and organising level. There are no fidayeen fighters (suicide bombers) from the city.

Shahid Bilal was the main face of terror from Hyderabad and held the position of commander in the Harkat-ul-Jihadi before he was killed in an encounter in Pakistan.

Today, the most important face of terror from the city is Abu Jundal, the accent trainer who trained the 26/11 gunmen to speak in Hyderabadi accent. The IB says that operatives from Hyderabad were also chosen to set up the Gulf module with the help of cadres from Kerala.

Intelligence Bureau officials say that the two main groups that operate in Hyderabad are the Lashkar-e-Tayiba [ Images ] and the Harkat-ul-Jihadi. In fact, it was the Lashkar that first showed interest in Hyderabad and focussed its operations in the old city.

The Lashkar basically took complete advantage of two aspects. The youth in Hyderabad were most angered with the ban on the Students Islamic Movement of India and also with the Babri Masjid [ Images ] demolition. The SIMI [ Images ] had a large presence in Hyderabad and with the ban on the organization several members came under the scanner.

There were many arrests and the youth felt that they were being targetted. It was at this time that the Lashkar swooped in and took advantage of the situation.

Prior to making inroads into Hyderabad, the Lashkar held a very important meeting in Murdike (in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir) in which they resolved that they would give anything it takes to ensure that the city is liberated from the Indian government and the rule of the Nizam is restored.

This resolution swayed several youth in Hyderabad, who were already upset with the Indian government. This was the turning point for Hyderabad. The Godhra riots were another strong reason for youths like Riazzuddin Nasir and Amjad Khwaja to take to jihad.

Indian Islamic terrorist Mujeeb Ahmed, gets life sentence in Hyderabad on charges of waging war against India

Hizbul Mujahideen man gets life term for sedition
August 28th, 2009

Hyderabad, Aug 28 (IANS) A city court Friday sentenced Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Mujeeb Ahmed to life imprisonment and six others to 10 years on charges of sedition and collecting arms with intention of waging war against the country.

The first additional metropolitan sessions judge pronounced the quantum of sentence for the accused who were held guilty Thursday.

Mujeeb, the self-styled commander of Hizbul Mujahideen, and his associates were planning to carry out subversive activities in Hyderabad with the arms and ammunition smuggled from Kashmir, the prosecution said.

In December 2005, Rajasthan police had seized a cache of arms including Kalashnikov assault rifles, 229 cartridges and 15 detonators hidden in a truck carrying marble to Hyderabad.

Mujeeb, a resident of Hyderabad and a life convict in the killing of a police officer, pleaded not guilty.

All the accused including Mujeeb’s female companion Zohra Nishat and brother-in-law Jahangir Khan were found guilty under sections 122 and 124 (A) of the Indian Penal Code and 23 (ii) of Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.

Considered to be a close follower of Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin, Mujeeb was also convicted under section 6 of the Indian Wireless Telegraph Act for possessing a satellite phone, which he allegedly received from the Hizbul Mujahideen leader.

The court also imposed Rs.10,000 fine on Mujeeb alias Ahmed Bhai.

Truck driver Shabbir Ahmed, cleaner Ravindera Kumar, Mohammed Yasin and Shaikh Awadh were the other accused sentenced to 10 years imprisonment. The court imposed a fine of Rs.2,000 on each of the six accused.

Seven accused including Mujeeb were arrested in the case while nine others still remained at large. The trial began in 2007.

Mujeeb, known as Amer-e-Deccan among Hizbul Mujahideen circles, was earlier sentenced to life imprisonment for gunning down additional superintendent of police Krishna Prasad here in 1992. The Andhra Pradesh government released him on remission on Independence Day in 2004.

After release from prison, he allegedly reactivated his links with Hizbul Mujahideen and other terror groups. Police claimed that he also produced several CDs in which he appealed for funds for his terror operations.