Six Islamic Terrorists Arrested Over Pune, Delhi, Bangalore Attacks

Six men arrested by Delhi police over India attacks
1 December 2011

Police in the Indian capital Delhi say they have arrested six people in connection with a series of countrywide attacks last year.

The men belong to the Indian Mujahideen group which has been blamed for dozens of bomb attacks throughout India, the police said.

A Pakistani man, suspected to have links to the outlawed radical group Jaish-e-Muhammad, is also being held.

Police say they are seeking another man in connection with the blasts.

The six men, who were detained in Delhi, Bihar and Chennai, are “all members of the Indian Mujahideen terror modules”, a statement issued by the Delhi police said.

The men were suspected of involvement in the attacks last year on a bakery in the western city of Pune, a stadium in the southern city of Bangalore and a shooting incident near Delhi’s Jama Masjid mosque, the statement said.

Rifles, cartridges, pistols and explosive material had been seized, it added.

The blast at the German bakery in Pune in February 2010 killed 17 people and injured 56. It was the first major bombing in India after the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

At least eight people were injured when a bomb exploded outside a cricket stadium in Bangalore in April last year.

And two foreign tourists were injured after gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire on a bus near the Jama Masjid mosque, a popular tourist site, in Delhi last September.

The United States has put the Indian Mujahideen on its list of foreign terrorist organisations, saying that the group was responsible for dozens of bomb attacks throughout India in the last six years.

Hindus Flee Pakistan, make Delhi their home

Pak Hindus want to remain in India, make Delhi their home
Nov 23 2011
Perpetual fear of being targetted in their country has led a group of 140 visiting Pakistani Hindus to remain in India and seek shelter wanting to make Delhi their new home.

The group from Sindh province came to India on a tourist visa, which has since expired, and does not want to return to their birthplace as they feel their future there will be in jeopardy.

Living in penury and with their visas having expired two months ago, the 27 families from a village in Matiari district near Hyderabad feel they will be secure in India.

Currently living in tents put up by an organisation in Majnu Ka Tilla in north Delhi, the old, the young and the children have only one appeal to the Indian government – extend visas and give them proper accommodation in the city.

Having got tourist visas after waiting for several years, the group of 140 people crossed over to the Indian side from Pakistan by foot on September 2 and reached the Capital two days later.

Ganga Ram, who is coordinating with the NGO, says they had written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi in this regard, but are yet to get a reply.

Making rotis in an open space surrounded by her family and friends at the camp, 20-year-old Jamuna said her decision to leave Pakistan would at least give her children a better life and education in a peaceful environment.

“There is no religious freedom in Pakistan. We (Hindus) were never allowed to study. We have always been targetted. We were waiting for the Indian visa so that we could come here and settle in Hindustan. We just don’t want to go back,” she told PTI as she served rotis to her family.

The 27 families have been provided with separate tents, blankets and groceries by Dera Baba Dhunni Dass to make both ends meet. Some youths in the group have started working too in nearby shops.

Jamuna, who went in and out of school, said the families have left their home, land, cattle and other articles behind with just a prayer in their mind that “Indian people would help us.”

40-year-old Chanderma summed up why they fled Pakistan.

“Children went to school but they were asked to sit separately. They were not even given water there,” she claimed, adding, “We did not want to live in an environment of fear. That is why we came here through a tourist visa.”

She says the community can take care of their expenses, but they want their visas to be extended and accommodation provided so that their children can resume their education.

The tale of 13-year-old Aarti would move anyone. She has never studied but learned Hindu mantras from her grand-parents and she teaches other kids in the camp when she finishes cooking meals for her family.

“I learnt the mantras and now I want even my young friends to know them. I bust my stress by teaching them whatever I learned from my grand-parents,” she said as her brother joined in.

He would not reveal his name, but asks why can’t they, despite being Hindus, can’t live in India. “There are thousands of Bangladeshis, Nepalis and Tibetans living in India. Why can’t we live here. The Government should make arrangements for us to carry on our life here,” he said.

“How can we live peacefully when every single day someone comes and asks us to get converted to Islam?” Aarti’s brother asks.

Sagar, who was a mechanic in his village in Pakistan, echoed his neighbour’s sentiments and says the tourist visa was the only way to get out of Pakistan.

“Some people in our village used to come and beat us up. They used to ransack our homes and take away things. Things never improved and would never. We now want a place to live. We can take care of ourselves. There is no problem in that,” he said.

The children, most of whom either dropped out of school or never went to one, have made open space outside their camps and spend their free time playing cricket and other games.

“We don’t want to go back. I am scared of going back. I want to be here only,” Amar, 12, says as he asks his friend to bowl.

Indian Islamic Terrorists Could be Behind Delhi Blasts: Chidambaram

Home grown militants could be behind Delhi blast: PC
Press Trust Of India
London, September 13, 2011

Home minister P Chidambaram has indicated that the blast in the Delhi High Court could have been carried out by home grown militants groups. “We can no longer point to cross-border terrorism as a source of terror attacks in India,” Chidambaram told the BBC in an interview. He said the authorities were still trying to verify emails allegedly sent by two groups claiming responsibility for Wednesday’s attack.

The two groups who have purportedly said they carried out the attack are Harkat-ul Jihad al-Islami (HuJI), which has Pakistani origins and is accused of links to al Qaeda, and the Indian Mujahideen.

The home minister said even though HuJI had claimed responsibility for the blast, the group had not been active in India for a while.

“There have been three major attacks in India recently -in Pune, Mumbai (Bombay) and Delhi. In respect of the Mumbai and Pune attacks, we are fairly certain they were carried out by Indian modules or India-based modules,” he said.

In the past, India has often blamed Pakistan-based groups for carrying out attacks on its soil.

“That threat remains – but we must also look at Indian modules or India-based modules which are capable of carrying out terror attacks,” he said.

Chidambaram said the country’s proximity to Pakistan and Afghanistan was a cause for worry and India was concerned about how to prevent the “radicalisation” of its youth.

“The government can build capacity and extend the intelligence network, but policing is a very complex task and there will be cases where the terrorist is able to slip through the cracks,” he said.

Delhi Court Bombing: Islamic Terrorists Dress Rehearsal on May

After May 25, the police had said the incident could be a rehearsal for a much bigger and lethal attack, and submitted a proposal before the registrar of the high court for installing CCTV cameras at all the nine entry and exit gates and in the parking lots. Via link

Low-intensity explosion outside Delhi HC; none injured

May 25, 2011

NEW DELHI: A minor explosion outside Delhi high court on Wednesday shattered the lull in the capital for over eight months when a low intensity explosive went off without causing any damage.

The explosion prompted Delhi Police to sound an alert in the city and strengthen security by deploying more personnel on streets and crowded places like markets and to intensify checking of vehicles.

The explosive kept in a white polythene bag near a lawyer’s car parked at Gate No 7 on Service Road went off at around 1.25 pm causing panic and three minutes later, police received the call regarding the blast.

Police was groping for clues in the blast and were hesitant to hazard a guess about who was behind it.

“It was not an accident. There was a minor explosion. A packet containing explosives kept in a plastic bag near the car’s right side exploded. There were minor damages to the car. There was no casualty or injuries,” Dharmendra Kumar, Special Commissioner (Law and Order), told reporters.

Today’s blast was the second in the last eight months, the previous one being a blast in car on September 19 last year near Jama Masjid for which terror outfit Indian Mujahideen took responsibility. That blast took place after two unidentified men opened fire at a Taiwanese media crew ahead of the Commonwealth Games.

Noting that the nature of the explosives is yet to be ascertained, he said the car owner has nothing to do with the incident. He said lawyer Rajat Jain had parked his car and had gone to the canteen to have food.

“There was a sudden blast in the parking lot. We rushed to the spot and found a black bag burning beside the car,” said parking attendant Dharamvir.

Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice GS Sistani as also Delhi Police chief BK Gupta visited the spot.

Lawyers having refreshment in a canteen inside the court complex and near the parking lot rushed outside after they heard a loud explosion.

“I was in canteen having a soft drink. At around 1:25 pm I heard a loud explosion outside gate no 7. I rushed outside and saw a burning plastic bag near a car. It was just below the bonnet,” a lawyer Safroz said.

Islamic Terrorists Strike Delhi Court: 11 Killed, 66 Injured

SEPTEMBER 7, 2011
Eleven Killed, 66 Injured in Delhi Terror Attack

via link

Delhi Muslims take over roads, block traffic for Friday Prayers

“The problem of namazis spilling over on to the roads is not limited to Madni Mosque. We face this problem all over Delhi.

Row over namaz on road

Rahul Tripathi & Abhinav Garg, TNN, Apr 21, 2010

NEW DELHI: Residents of Aravali Apartment in Alaknanda in south Delhi and people offering namaz at a local mosque are locked in a dispute over the devout occupying road space and blocking traffic in the area. The residents had filed a contempt petition against Delhi Police after the Delhi high court passed an order in January last year asking the cops to ensure that the prayers were offered within the walls of the mosque.

However, on Tuesday the HC dismissed the contempt petition after getting an assurance from the police that the area beyond the mosque boundary will be kept free of the namazis. The Madni mosque is located at Gate no. 10 of Aravali Apartment and more than 600 people offer prayers every Friday, forcing closure of the road. Recently, more than 300 cops were deployed to prevent the namazis from coming to the road but they have pleaded that it’s not possible for them to make this arrangement every Friday.

“The problem of namazis spilling over on to the roads is not limited to Madni Mosque. We face this problem all over Delhi. The mosques do not have the capacity to accommodate so many people due to which they are forced to offer prayers on the road. We have to close down one carriageway near Mata Anandmai Marg every Friday. A lot of our manpower is being wasted on these arrangements,” said a senior police officer.

He claimed they have been making efforts to comply with the high court order. “Between February and March 2010, we have detained 113 people for encroaching on the road while offering prayers. They were booked under section 65 of Delhi Police Act,” the officer added.

The cops had also called a meeting with 23 representatives of the Muslim community after which notices were put up around the mosque about the high court order. Meanwhile, representatives of the mosque too had filed a contempt petition against Delhi Police and the residents for not allowing them to offer prayers. A complaint has also been sent to the ministry of home affairs. Speaking to TOI, the Imam of the mosque, Mufti Nasimuddin Qasmi, said, “We have been forced to go on to the road to offer prayers. The place where we used to offer prayers has been taken up by the residents for parking. It is the courtyard of the mosque and namazis have the right to offer prayers there. We have been cooperating with Delhi Police.”

RWA vice-president R G Gupta said, “When the allotments of the flats were made, the mosque did not exist. It came up during the construction of the apartments and has been made in connivance with the contractor.” After receiving an assurance from the police, Justice G S Sistani made it clear in his order on Tuesday that they would be bound in future by the assurance given in court that the HC’s orders will be complied with.

3 Islamic terrorists get death sentence for 1996 Lajpat Nagar blasts which killed 13 injured 39

Gallows for Lajpat Nagar bombers
23 Apr 2010

NEW DELHI/SRINAGAR: Three members of the Jammu and Kashmir Front — Mirza Nissar Hussain, Mohammad Naushad and Mohammad Ali Bhatt — found guilty in 
the Lajpat Nagar bomb blast of 1996, have been sentenced to death. 

Giving his verdict, district and sessions judge S P Garg termed the bomb blast as a “well planned operation” and a crime against society and added that the convicted deserved no leniency. 

“The apparent motive of the convicts was to inflict maximum casualties. It was not mere a desperate act of a small group of persons…convicts took an active part in series of steps taken to pursue the object of the conspiracy.” 

Thirteen persons were killed and 39 injured in the blast that took place on the evening of May 2, 1996, in the busy central market area of Lajpat Nagar. 

Awarding life imprisonment to another convict and jail terms of seven years and 50 months, respectively, to two other convicts, the court said: “The gravity of the crime conceived by the convicts with potential for causing enormous casualties as well as disrupting normal life of the people is something which cannot be described in words.” 

The court handed down life imprisonment to Javed Ahmed Khan, the fourth convict held guilty for murder. A fine of Rs.35,000 was also imposed on him. Separatists in Srinagar called for a strike and protests after hearing the verdict. Mirza Nissar Hussain and Mohammad Ali Bhatt are from the state. 

Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umer Farooq termed the verdict as “revenge” and called for a Kashmir wide strike on Friday. It also called for peaceful protests after the Friday prayers. Syed Ali Shah Geelani and many other separatists said they would chalk out the course of action on Friday. 

Terming the verdict as “most unfortunate”, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti said, “Kashmir is an unresolved political problem and such tragedies flow out of the inability of India and Pakistan to resolve this six decade old tragedy.” 

She said that Lajpat Nagar case is not the first in the long story of bloodshed associated with Kashmir problem but looking at this problem purely on technical and legal level would only add to the ‘trouble’.  

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

IIT Delhi, BJP, Cong hqs were on Indian Mujahideen’s hit list

IIT Delhi, BJP, Cong hqs were on IM’s hit list

Monday, February 8, 2010

New Delhi, Feb 8: In a startling revelation, police on Sunday, Feb 7 said that the headquarters of Congress and BJP, including IIT Delhi were on the hit list of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) aided terror outfit Indian Mujahideen (IM) after the serial blasts in Sep 2008.

The plans of the Indian Mujahideen was revealed during the interrogation of the Shahzad, who was arrested by UP’s Anti-Terror Squad, in Azamgarh, sources said.

Delhi police said that Shahzad had confessed to shooting at inspector MC Sharma during Batla House encounter on Sep 19, 2008.

They added that after fleeing from Batla House, Shahzad was in touch with the four members of the terror outfit over internet.

Sources said that Shahzad had named a UP politician, a former MLA, stating that he had fled to his Shaheenbagh house after the encounter and had taken some money from the former MLA.

Both Shahzad and Junaid then went to Aligarh from Shaheenbagh and move on to Bulandshahr.

According to sources, he traveled towards Lucknow and from there he went to his village in Azamgarh before heading to Jaipur.

“From Jaipur, he went to Mumbai and later returned to his village where he was hiding,” the official said.

Sources added that the .32 revolver with which Shahzad had fired at Sharma could not be retrieved by the police, despite taking him to the canal where he had thrown it.

Following the revelation, the police conducted raid at several places which Shahzad had mentioned, sources said.

Besides, the former MLA, the names of a local leader, who is also said to be a councillor and another leader who assisted him in escaping from Delhi, have come up during the interrogation, according to sources.

20 million illegal Bangladesh migrants form 2 per cent of India’s population

Two crore illegal Bangla migrants, 600 deported last year: states report
Amitabh Sinha 
 Oct 04, 2009

New Delhi: Estimates sent by the state governments have given an official number to
what has been known informally for a very long time – that illegal
migrants from Bangladesh now comprise at least two per cent of India’s
population.

According to “very conservative estimates” of the state governments, the
total number of Bangladeshi citizens residing in India without proper
documents or permits would be in excess of 2 crore, government sources
have told The Sunday Express.

The state governments had been asked to send estimates of the number of
Bangladeshi migrants living in their states and also the number of such
people who had been deported back to their country. Most states have now
responded.

According to these figures, not more than 600 Bangladeshi migrants had
been deported to their country in the last one year and the possibility
of many of them finding their way back isn’t being ruled out.

Migrants from Bangladesh now live in every part of the country. Besides
West Bengal, Bihar, Assam and other North-Eastern states – the known
places where these illegal migrants have been able to settle down –
Maharashtra, Delhi, Haryana, western Uttar Pradesh, and Karnataka are
new regions having large concentrations of Bangladeshi citizens. Sources
said these were also areas witnessing rapid urbanization and
development, and therefore, offering job opportunities to these
migrants.

Though it had asked for the data from the states, the Centre was still
undecided on what use to put this data to.

“This was mostly an academic exercise, not aimed at any particular
objective. The figures that have come out are only estimates, but they
are reliable estimates,” a senior government official said. He said as
of now there was no clarity on how to deal with this migrant population.

“That is something that the political leadership will have to take a
call on, probably after obtaining a consensus on the issue. Migration
from Bangladesh has huge social and economic aspects apart from having
security implications. There is no easy way to tackle this issue,” he
said.