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.

Since 2005, almost 400 Mumbaikars dead in Islamic terrorist strikes. Kasab is still alive

Many in Mumbai ask why Kasab is still alive

Yet another terror strike, yet another tragedy for the people of Mumbai.
Nineteen people died and 131 were injured in the deadly blasts that
struck Mumbai on Wednesday.

Following the blasts, the common man’s anger is directed at Ajmal Kasab,
the face of 26/11. The people want to know why the terrorist is fed,
looked after and protected at the expense of the nation.

“There is video evidence against Kasab, but still no action is being
taken against him,” says an angry Mumbaikar.

“Well, point, that it takes a long time is a fact. We need to expedite
that. I appreciate the point. That’s the way things stand today. It
takes time,” Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said.

Since 2005, almost 400 Mumbaikars have died in several terror strikes.
It’s a situation that’s almost as bad as terror-torn Karachi and Kabul.

Yet, for years, most terror cases are still stuck at the stage of the
trial.

Every accused is entitled to a free and fair trial. That’s how any
civilised democracy behaves. But can the legal process, which is
currently slow and tardy, be expedited?

“There is no problem with the law. The infrastructure has to improve
with technology and computerisation. In the 21st century we can’t still
have bullock-cart technology,” said senior advocate KTS Tulsi.

The Opposition, however, insists that the law is weak.

“Countries across the world have enacted tough laws against terror, but
India the law has been weakened and terrorists are almost invited,” said
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

And with a conviction rate that’s less than six per cent, for
terrorists, such attacks remain a low risk business.

Explosive Muslim population growth in Mumbai

Muslim population tripled in Mumbai
via link

“The birth-death rate ratio of Muslims is almost double that of Hindus, showing a much more robust population growth.”

Via Link

Islamic Terrorists Attack Mumbai: Triple bomb blasts kill 21 in Central Mumbai rush hour

Mumbai bomb blasts kill 21 during city’s rush hour Opera House district, Zaveri bazaar and Dadar area targeted in fourth major terror attack on India’s financial capital since 2003

Maseeh Rahman in Delhi guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 13 July 2011

Via Link

Mumbai Muslim criminal has 4 wives and 28 children

Maha man gives up crime for family
Mateen Hafeez, TNN, Dec 19, 2010

MUMBAI: Here’s a man really committed to family life! A total of 28 children from four wives, all of whom finally got fed up with man’s criminal ways and convinced him surrender to the cops in the hope it will mitigate his sentence.

Atique Shaikh (36) had been on the run for the last two years and his four wives along with the children, who live in the same Mumbai neighbourhood, put their heads together and decided to convince Shaikh to surrender.

Shaikh fell in love with all four women at different times and got married to them. They all stay in Govandi in separate houses. While his eldest son, a 17-year-old, is graduating in Arts, his 10 other children are studying in various schools in Govandi. His wives work as domestic helps and run their respective families.

According to police, it were his kids who implored him to quit crime. His children pleaded that if he continued, it would become difficult for them in school and during their weddings. “It really had an impact on his mind and he decided to heed them,” said a police officer.

“I want a chance to get rid of my criminal identity. I want to spend life with dignity,” Shaikh told the court on Wednesday after surrendering.

A resident of Baiganwadi in Shivaji Nagar, Shaikh has as many as 19 cases against him since 1991 and cops from at least six police stations were hunting for him. His crimes include eight cases of extortion, two of attempt to murder and nine of assault and robbery.

Assistant police inspector, Bhimrao Valatkar, who is probing the case, said, Shaikh, a habitual offender, stepped into crime in 1991. Though he has been arrested in most of the cases and trial is on, he was on the run and could not be arrested in two previous cases.

At the Kurla court, Shaikh pleaded that he wanted to spend his remaining life with dignity. He also told the court that he was worried about the future of his four wives and 28 kids, said an officer. The court remanded him to police custody till December 20. Currently, he is lodged at the Ghatkopar Central lock up

Burqa-clad woman kidnaps Two-month-old from Mumbai Hospital

Burqa-clad women will be checked at Mumbai civic hospitals
Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said women visiting civic hospitals in veils will be checked. The move comes after a burqa-clad woman kidnapped a two-month-old boy from the civic-run VN Desai hospital in Santa Cruz on Friday.

The BMC cited a Supreme Court (SC) order issued in January, which said women cannot be issued voter identity cards if they refuse to lift their veils to be photographed.

Two-month-old kidnapped from VN Desai Hospital in Mumbai
Published: Friday, Oct 15, 2010, 20:36 IST | Updated: Saturday, Oct 16, 2010, 0:36 IST
By Sunchika Pandey | Place: Mumbai | Agency: DNA

Civic hospitals in the city just do not seem to care for the safety of their patients. On Friday, a woman in burqa kidnapped a two-month-old boy from VN Desai Hospital in Santa Cruz (East).

Police said the boy, Ayushman, is the son of 19-year-old Pooja Mishra, a resident of Santa Cruz (East). Pooja had got doubly lucky on August 14 when she delivered him and a daughter, Kumkum.

Around 11.30 am on Friday, Pooja and her mother-in-law, Shyama, took the twins to the hospital for polio vaccination. But the two drops of life cost them all their happiness. The police said Pooja took Kumkum to the second floor of the hospital for vaccination, and left her son with his grandmother on the ground floor.

A police officer said: “Shyama noticed a burqa-clad woman roaming around and talking to everyone, giving an impression that she knew them well. This woman came to her and said Pooja had called for Ayushman for the polio drop.”

Shyama said she did not suspect her and gave her the baby.

“The horror unfolded when Pooja returned and her mother-in-law narrated the story. A shocked Pooja revealed she had not sent anyone to get the boy,” the officer added.

DCP Satyanarayan Chaudhary said both the women frantically searched the entire hospital for the child. “Subsequently, they informed the hospital authorities and the police,” Chaudhary added.

The family has registered a case at the Vakola police station and police are investigating. “I did not see the woman’s face, but I can definitely identify her by her voice,” Shyama told DNA.

The unidentified woman was captured by the CCTV camera while she was walking out of the hospital, but because her face was covered, her identity remains a mystery.The police said she was not seen with the child, but it is clear she was in haste and she had something in her hand.

Pooja was taken ill and was admitted to the same hospital.

Shashikant Wadekar, dean of the hospital, said: “The family informed us very late. We immediately closed the gates and searched for the woman. But CCTV footage showed she had left the premises already.”

Islamic terrorist David Headley revelations will further dent FBI’s credibility in India

Headley revelations will further dent FBI’s credibility in India
October 18, 2010

The FBI moved against Headley seriously only after coming to know of his role in the planned attack in Copenhagen. It did not show the same seriousness in respect of his role in the Mumbai attack, writes B Raman

The latest round of disclosures relating to David Coleman Headley, which have embarrassed the Federal Bureau of Investigation, were brought out in two detailed investigative reports by Sebastian Rotella of ProPublica, a website which specialises in investigative reporting.

These two reports — titled FBI Was Warned Years in Advance of Mumbai Attacker’s Terror Ties and Feds Confirm Mumbai Plotter Trained With Terrorists While Working for DEA — which were published on the web site, have also been used by the Washington Post, thereby adding to their credibility.

A large part of these reports are based on a study of the court documents filed by the prosecution against Headley. The remaining is fresh information gathered from Headley’s ex-wives and serving and retired officials of the FBI and other agencies.

The salient points in the investigative reports are:

In three interviews with federal agents, Headley’s wife said he was an active member of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba, had trained extensively in its Pakistani camps, and had shopped for night vision goggles and other equipment, according to officials. The wife also told agents that Headley had bragged about working as a paid US informant while he trained with the terrorists in Pakistan.

The FBI “looked into” the tip, but they declined to say what, if any, action was taken. Headley was jailed briefly in New York on charges of domestic assault, but was not prosecuted. He wasn’t captured until 11 months after the Mumbai attack, when British intelligence alerted American authorities that he was in contact with Al Qaeda operatives in Europe.

The New York Times reported that another of Headley’s wives — he apparently was married to three women at the same time — had also warned US officials about his terror links. In December 2007, the Moroccan woman met with officials at the US embassy in Pakistan and told them about Headley’s friendship with Lashkar members, his hatred of India and her trips with him to the Taj Mahal Hotel, a prime target of the Mumbai attacks. On Saturday, federal officials said the women’s tips lacked specificity. “US authorities took seriously what Headley’s former wives said. Their information was of a general nature and did not suggest any particular terrorist plot,” a senior administration official said.

Headley’s relationship with the US government is especially delicate because the investigation has shown that he also had contact with suspected Pakistani intelligence officials and a Pakistani militant named Ilyas Kashmiri, who has emerged as a top operational leader of the Al Qaeda.

The following conclusions emerge from the two reports:

Headley was initially an informant for the Drug Enforcement Agency. He was being used to collect intelligence about the activities of the LeT in Pakistan. For this purpose, he used to visit Pakistan.

In August 2005, his US-based ex-wife had alerted an FBI task force about Headley’s links with the LeT and helping them procure equipment like night-vision glasses. She had also told the FBI about his e-mail and other contacts in Pakistan. She had also complained that he was ill-treating her. The FBI questioned him about her allegations of ill-treatment, but did not seriously follow up her tips about his ties with the Lashkar.

The FBI probably did not question him about his links with the Lashkar because it was already aware of the details since he was a DEA informant. In December 2007, his Moroccan ex-wife complained to the US embassy in Islamabad about his links with the LeT. It is not clear what action the embassy took on her complaint

In 2008, the FBI came to know about the Lashkar’s plans to launch a sea-borne terrorist strike on certain targets on the Mumbai sea-front, including the Taj Mahal Hotel. It promptly passed on the information to the Indian agencies. The FBI could not have been expected to tell the Indian agencies that the information came from Headley. This was a specific piece of information complete in many respects except the date of the planned attacks. No intelligence or investigation agency would reveal the name of a source giving such specific information.

Headley had visited India five times to collect operational intelligence and to help the Lashkar select targets and the landing point for the boat. Before starting his visits to India, Headley had taken a new passport under the name of David Coleman Headley in place of his previous passport under the name Daood Gilani in order to conceal his Pakistani origin from the Indian consular and immigration authorities. The FBI would have been expected to share this information with the Indian authorities, but it did not do so. Had the FBI done so, the Indian authorities might have been able to establish the details of his Indian network, arrest and question him and pre-empt the attack.

The FBI did not alert the Indian authorities, even when Headley visited India again after the 26/11 terrorist strikes.

The FBI seems to have arrested Headley only after it intercepted messages about his being used by the LeT and Ilyas Kashmiri of the 313 Brigade to plan a terrorist strike in Copenhagen against a newspaper which had published cartoons of Prophet Mohammed in 2005. The arrest was made actually after British intelligence came to know of his contacts with some associates of Kashmiri in Europe, while planning the Copenhagen attack. The FBI moved against him seriously only after coming to know of his role in the planned attack in Copenhagen. It did not show the same seriousness in respect of his role in the Mumbai attack.

How helpful was the FBI in helping the Indian agencies in this case? It would be difficult to answer this question unless one knows the following details:

When did the FBI first take the initiative in informing the Indian agencies about Headley’s arrest and the information obtained from him?
Why did the FBI delay its response to the Indian request for permission to interrogate him?

Why did the FBI insist on Headley being interrogated in US custody in the presence of FBI officers and did not allow Indian officers to question him independently?

During the visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Washington, DC, in November 2009 for talks with President Barack Obama, the two countries had reached what was described as a joint counter-terrorism initiative to promote counter-terrorism co-operation between the agencies of the two countries. The FBI’s suspicious conduct, in keeping the Indian agencies in the dark about all relevant aspects of Headley’s involvement with the LeT, adds to the suspicions that the JCTI was an eye-wash sold to India to cover up the FBI’s sins of commission and omission and to conceal from the American families whose members were killed in the 26/11 attack, the extent of the FBI’s knowledge which could have been used to prevent the strikes.

While this issue may not have any major impact on President Obama’s visit to India next month, it will definitely add to the traditional distrust nursed by the Indian agencies about their American counterparts.

B Raman

Mumbai-style Islamic terror plot targeting Europe foiled: Report

Mumbai-style terror plot targeting Europe foiled: Report
Wed, Sep 29

An Al-Qaeda-linked plot to launch a Mumbai-style terror attack simultaneously on London and major cities in France and Germany was disrupted by intelligence agencies, a report has said.

The plan for suicidal onslaughts similar to the 2008 atrocity in Mumbai, where 166 people were killed in a series of gun and grenade assaults was uncovered after a combined operation involving US, UK, France and German intelligence agencies, ‘The Guardian’ reported today quoting officials.

British security and intelligence sources, who have been concerned for some time about the possibility of a Mumbai-style attack in Europe, confirmed that they believed a plot was being hatched by militants based in Pakistan.

The increased rate of US coordinated drone raids along the border with Afghanistan is believed to be a response to intelligence gathered about the plot.

Quoting sources, ‘Sky News’ reported that “militants based in Pakistan were planning simultaneous strikes on London and major cities in France and Germany.”

The plan was in an advanced but not imminent stage and the plotters had been tracked by spy agencies “for some time”.

Intelligence sources told Sky the planned attacks would have been similar to the commando-style raids carried out in Mumbai.

The report said the European plot had been “severely disrupted” following intelligence sharing between Britain, France, Germany and the US. It is not known whether the attackers are already in Europe.

News of the planned strikes came as the Eiffel tower in Paris was evacuated because of a bomb scare for the second time in two weeks.

“It doesn’t necessarily mean it was a target, but it shows how nervous the French are,” the report said.

When the terror plan came to light, US military began helping its European allies by trying to kill the leaders behind the plot in Pakistan’s Waziristan region.

There have been a record 20 missile attacks using drone aircraft there in the past 30 days.

“I am led to believe a number of these attacks were designed against the leadership of this particular plot, which had an al Qaeda and possibly some sort of Taliban connection projecting into Europe,” Sky News foreign editor Tim Marshall said.

Britain’s terror threat level remains at “severe” following the underpants bomber’s attempted attack on Detroit airport last Christmas.

In the aftermath of the attack western intelligence agencies gained access to computers seized from the Islamist group which listed other potential targets outside the Indian subcontinent for commando-style terror strikes.

Nine of the gunmen were killed — but a lone survivor gave Indian investigators a full confession that the assault was planned in Pakistan by Lashkar-e-Toiba, a militant group that originally began an armed campaign against the Indian army in Jammu and Kashmir.

US military briefings suggested the latest missile attacks in Pakistan had been coordinated by the CIA and were an unusual example of using drones to pre-empt possible terror plots.

US plan to bomb 150 terror camps in Pakistan

US ready to bomb 150 Pak terror camps?
Chidanand Rajghatta, TNN, Sep 28, 2010

WASHINGTON: The United States has a secret “retribution” plan to bomb more than 150 terror camps in Pakistan in the event of another major terrorist attack originating from that country.

This startling disclosure about Washington’s “all bets off” policy towards an ostensibly dubious ally in the war on terror is contained in Bob Woodward’s opus ” Obama’s War,” which details an evolving US approach in the region.

The plan pre-dates the Obama presidency, going back to the Bush White House, but elements of policy, aimed at wiping out terrorist sanctuaries in Pakistan, is evident in the current administration’s ruthless bombing by unmanned drones of terrorist targets inside Pakistan, which far surpasses the Bush approach in terms of frequency and intensity.

The US threat also places in context secretary of state Hillary Clinton’s dire warning to Islamabad earlier this year that there would be severe consequences for Pakistan if another 9/11-type attack were traced back to that country.

According to Woodward, then President Bush did not see much difference between 9/11 and 26/11; a foundation of his presidency was zero tolerance for terrorists and their enablers and he was extremely proud of the hard-line doctrine.

Although plans for punitive strikes against Pakistan was initially linked to another 9/11 type attack on US, it evidently evolved after the 26/11 Mumbai carnage, when Bush asked his aides for contingency plans for dealing with Pakistan.

He called his national security team into the Oval Office and told his advisers, “You guys get planning and do what you have to do to prevent a war between Pakistan and India.” The order suggests that the US would undertake the bombing to prevent India from retaliating against Pakistan leading possibly to an all-out war.

“This is like 9/11, he (Bush) said,” Woodward writes. “The United States military did not have “war” plans for an invasion of Pakistan. Instead, it had and continues to have one of the most sensitive and secret of all military contingencies, what military officials call a “retribution” plan in the event of another 9/11-like attack.”

In fact, such is the anger within the US administration about Pakistan’s double-faced approach that the plan calls for a no-holds-barred approach. “Some locations might be outdated, but there would be no concern, under the plan, for who might be living there now. The retribution plan called for a brutal punishing attack on at least 150 or more associated camps,” Woodward writes.

So how did Pakistan escape the wrath of US’ “zero tolerance” policy? According to Woodward, CIA intelligence with 48 hours of the attack showed no direct ISI link. Bush himself called Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to tell him that the new Pakistani government was not involved in the attack.

But the CIA later received reliable intelligence that the ISI was directly involved in the training for Mumbai, Woodward writes in a footnote. ISI chief Ahmed Shuja Pasha flew to Washington later to admit that at least two retired Pakistani army officers who planned the Mumbai attack had ISI links “but this had not been an authorized ISI operation. It was rogue.”

“There may have been people associated with my organization who were associated with this,” Pasha argued. “That’s different from authority, direction and control.” This argument, long attributed to Islamabad’s practice of “plausible deniability” which practicing a policy of state terrorism, saved Pakistan’s bacon.

Woodward’s 417-page book provides a fly-on-the-wall view of the Obama Presidency’s evolving AfPak policy that is more Pak than Af. In an ABC interview, Woodward described how Obama was told of deep problems in the US relationship with Pakistan at his very first intelligence briefing, likening it to a “cold shower” for the President coming just two days after his 2008 presidential victory.

“Imagine the high of being elected on that Tuesday and they come in two days later and say, by the way, here are the secrets, and one of the secrets is Pakistan,” Woodward writes. “We’re attacking with a top-secret, covert operation, the safe havens in Pakistan, but Pakistan is living a lie. And this is a theme throughout the whole Obama presidency: ‘How do you get control of Pakistan?’ ”

Soon after, in an Oval Office meeting with Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari, Obama bluntly tells him his country has to get over its obsession with India. “We do not begrudge you being concerned about India,” Obama tells Zardari, but “we do not want to be part of arming you (Pakistan) against India, so let me be very clear about that.”

Zardari’s response: “We are trying to change our world view but it’s not going to happen overnight.”

From all accounts, Zardari’s attempt to change Pakistan’s chronic pathology towards India has been thwarted by the country’s military, described as a rapacious, over-fed force which fattens itself on an anti-India posture at the expense of the people who pay for it. From exchanges detailed in Woodward’s book, Washington is all too aware of it, but has failed to effect a change in Pakistan’s behaviour despite billions of dollars in aid and a vague threat of retribution.

Salman Khan says Pakistan not to be blamed for 26/11 Mumbai attack

Update:  I am really sorry: Salman Khan  Link

What did Salman say:

In an interview to Pakistani channel Express TV Salman said, “It was the elite that were targeted this time. Five star hotels and all. So they panicked. Then they got up and spoke about it. My question is why not before. Attacks have happened in trains and small towns too, but no one talked about it so much,” the 44-year-old actor had said during an interview to Express 24/7 channel.”Everybody took this up because the Taj and Oberoi hotels were involved. The attacks happened because our security failed.””The attacks happened because our security failed. Everybody knows that the Pakistan government was not behind it and it was a terrorist attack,”

Salman Khan puts his foot in his mouth

via Bollywood Hungama News Network, September 14, 2010

Salman Khan is my favorite actor right from his MPK, his first movie. His handsome features are enhanced by his stage presence and charisma and he has single handedly steered the movies he starred to unprecedented successes. (No offence meant to his other supporting casts who also are important for production of a good movie) .

Just day before yesterday Salman had the whole world eating out of his hands with his spectacular box office hit ‘Dabangg’. Came the news of the interview he gave to a Pakistani TV channel and the hell broke loose. And before long he had expressed unconditional apology for his comments on 26/11. He does not seem to be particularly attempting any damage control but yet was persuaded to go through with his apology bit, with all the political parties except Raj Thakre’s MNS, pulling him up in most unkind words.

Salman has got away with murders (literally). But he has not reckoned that 26/11 is altogether a different cup of tea. For a consummate actor that he is, his knowledge and views about 26/11 are coarse and shallow.

He is right when he implies in his badly worded comment that in India only the elite get the goodies.

The TV host was seen clearly prompting word ‘elite’ in his mouth. And it is correct to say that after the blasts that took place earlier , the victims were soon forgotten. Also consider the fact that compensation for an air crash victim is many fold than that given to an rail crash victim.

He is also right when he said that Indian Intelligence faltered. There was a clear warning before 26/11 sent by the USA but was lost in the labyrinth of intelligence maze just the way all signals were missed by the US about 9/11 and also about attack on Pearl Harbor in 1939.

But he is horribly wrong when says that Pakistan Government was not involved. Even a school child has understood how Pakistani ISI and the Army systematically planned the 26/11, starting from recruitment and hard hard training for more than a year. To a select few with all the state of the art weaponry and electronic gadgets. A regular military operation would be planned so carefully. The smoke screen that the Pakistani handlers threw for communicating with terrorists was not missed at all. They obtained satellite phones, one accidentally was dropped in the hijacked boat. The purchases were done through many fronts and layers in Italy to mask the real purchaser. Everything was confirmed by Hadley’s statements given to Indian team.

I don’t know if he is patriotic, but he appeared to be in an appeasing mood towards Pakistan, Why else he would make a silly statement like that ? But LK Advaniji too made a statement on Jinnah in Pakistan that invoked passions from his own party men.

All I can say, Salman needs to educate himself on the facts.

Too much hype around 26/11 as the elite were targetted: Salman
Indo-Asian News Service
Sunday, September 12, 2010 (New Delhi)

Salman Khan’s much awaited Dabangg opened to full houses across the country cashing in on the festive weekend.

Bollywood actor Salman Khan has triggered a controversy by claiming that “too much hype” was created around the 26/11 attack as “elite people were targetted” and that the Pakistani government was not behind it.

In an interview to a Pakistani channel, Salman said: “Too much hype has been created around the 26/11 attacks because elite people were targetted. Attacks have happened in trains and small towns too, but no one talked about it so much.”

“Everybody took this up because the Taj and Oberoi hotels were involved. The attacks happened because our security failed,” he added.

“Everybody knows that the Pakistani government was not behind it and it was a terrorist attack. Our security had failed. We have had lot of attacks earlier, and all of them were not from Pakistan. They were from within also.”

His comments have drawn strong reactions. Public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam told a news channel: “Salman’s comments are illogical and an actor shouldn’t have commented on terror attacks in this manner.”

Salman invites flak for ‘unwarranted’ 26/11 comments
Indo-Asian News Service
Sunday, September 12, 2010 (Mumbai)

Salman Khan’s comments on the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks have triggered strong protests and condemnation with political leaders saying the Bollywood star’s remarks were “unwarranted and irresponsible” and made “no sense”.

In an interview to Pakistani channel Express TV, Salman Khan was reported as saying the 26/11 attacks were widely publicised and noticed only because two major hotels in Mumbai were targetted and claimed the lives of rich and influential people.

Reacting to the actor’s statement, Public Prosecutor Ujjawal Nikam said: “If Salman is making such a statement without knowing the details of the case, it is foolish. Terrorists do not strike after differentiating rich from the poor nor do they differentiate a village from a city. The attack has wide ramifications as it killed many people and because the conspiracy was allegedly hatched in Pakistan.”

Maharashtra Congress spokesperson Anant Gadgil dismissed Salman’s comments as baseless. “This statement is not right. It is not about taking note of the attack because rich people were killed. It is about loss of lives,” he said.

Agreed Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) general secretary Atul Bhatalkar. “Most political parties have always taken note of attacks, be it the terror attacks in 2008 or the 1993 blasts or the Malegaon bomb blasts. What Salman has said is totally out of context,” Bhatalkar said.

Abu Azmi, state president of Samajwadi Party, urged Salman to help the victims of terror attacks instead of making irrelevant statements. “The attack first happened at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST), where common men and women were killed and injured. What sense does such a statement make?,” questioned Azmi.

Azmi also mentioned that a woman named Sabira was badly in need of funds for herself and her son. Sabira lost both her legs in the attack and was still waiting for some financial aid. “Salman should extend support to her instead of making such statements,” Azmi added.

Despite repeated efforts, Salman or his family members were not available for comment.

In New Delhi, BJP spokesperson Syed Shahnawaz Hussain condemned Salman’s remarks and demanded the Bollywood actor apologise for his “unwarranted comments”.

“We strongly condemn Salman Khan’s unwarranted and irresponsible comments and that too to a Pakistani channel. How can he say only the elite were targeted? Is he not aware of the common people killed at the railway station and also the security forces? Moreover he has no right to give the ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence) and the Pakistani government a clean chit… He should immediately apologise,” Hussain told IANS.

Salman Khan in an interview to Pakistan’s Express TV said the Pakistani government is not to be blamed and that it was a security failure on India’s part.

“Salman’s comment at this point when all the evidence is pointing a finger at the ISI and Pakistan, is totally uncalled for. This will weaken India’s case and strengthen Pakistan’s. He is an Indian celebrity and he has disappointed many Indian fans. If there was POTA today he would be behind bars,” Hussain said.

“Salman should concentrate on films and not make such comments,” Hussain added.

The Nov 26-29, 2008 attack left 166 people dead as 10 terrorists who sailed in from Karachi let loose coordinated shooting and bombing attacks largely across south Mumbai.