Tamil Muslim Arrested in France for Islamic Terror Connection

Indian Mohammed Niaz Arrested in France SIMI Acitivist – Chidu

New Delhi, May 23: Home minister P Chidambaram said that, Indian national arrested in France on May 10, 2011 is identified as banned SIMI acitivist.

Earlier : India was in touch with French authorities over the arrest of an Indian national, Mohammed Niaz, for suspected al-Qaida links but has so far not sought any consular access. Niaz was among the seven held by French authorities earlier this month for terror links even though the French government refrained from linking them with any specific plant to carry out attacks.

As widely reported earlier, Niaz, an engineer, was arrested from Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris on May 10 on arrival from Algeria, a day after the other six were held from different areas in Paris. “We made enquiries and French authorities told us that they have an Indian national in their custody. We are in touch with them over the issue,” said Namrata Kumar, counselor with the Indian embassy in France.

After his arrest, French interior minister Claude Gueant had described Niaz as a man with high level of technical training. He was working as a software professional in France and was the main target of the raids which resulted in the arrest of the seven men. Niaz belongs to Madurai. While his mother is said to live in south India, his father shifted to West Asia many years ago.

French authorities are tight-lipped about the charges being pressed against Niaz but it is learnt that his extensive network among the highly radicalized local Muslim community and his frequent trips to Pakistan from Algeria made France’s domestic intelligence agency, DCRI, sit up and take notice. Al-Qaida in Islamic Maghreb, one of the top al-Qaida franchises, is a very potent force in Algeria and has time and again vowed to carry out attacks against France and other western nations. Since the enhanced threat perception in France, the DCRI has been tracking jihadist networks looking to recruit potential bombers in France and send them to Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Niaz is also accused of sending two Frenchmen to Pakistan who were arrested in Lahore in January this year.

Wikileaks: LeT planned to kill Narendra Modi, establish bases in Kerala, Tamil Nadu

LeT planned to kill Narendra Modi, establish bases in Kerala, Tamil Nadu
Sunday, Dec 5, 2010
Place: Washington, DC | Agency: PTI

Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba had planned to assassinate Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi and use Kerala and Tamil Nadu as base for carrying out strikes in southern India, according to a secret US diplomatic cable.

Information coming out of a secret state department cable dated June 19, 2009, released by WikiLeaks indicates that LeT has established a facilitation centre in Sri Lanka and was looking at setting up a base of operations in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

It also reveals the dangerously expanding Lashkar network in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal.

The United States, which has charged the Wikileaks of indulging in a criminal act by stealing and releasing these cables, has neither confirmed nor denied the authenticity of these documents.

The secret state department cable is based on various intelligence inputs received by it, the source of which is not mentioned in the cable.

The cable notes that the network of Shafiq Khafa – a Lashkar leader – is “striving to stand up two teams in southern India that rely on the support of LeT members based in India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and Nepal”.

Although specific details of planned LeT attacks remain unknown, late-May 2009 intelligence indicates that Khafa’s cells were engaged in surveillance activities of potential targets, likely in southern India.

“Early-May reporting further suggests Kerala or Tamil Nadu may be used as a base of operations following the establishment of a facilitation team in Sri Lanka, with the estimated time of completion for setting up the facilitation route and camps to be two to three months,” the cable said.

It is understood that the specific intelligence information was passed on to India.

“Separate tearline indicates, & Pakistan-based Shafiq Khafa prepared in mid-June with India-based associate S J for possible operations in India.

“Khafa was looking for information on possible training sites in the Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Kerala,” the cable said.

The cable says that LeT’s Shafiq Khafa was preparing for operations in India including the assassination of Modi.

“Tearline reports, & Hussein, an India-based Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LT) member, continued operational planning on three tasks in early June.

“The tasks were associated with a possible operation against Gujarat chief minister Narendar Modi, the establishment of a training camp, and unspecified work involving a car.

“Hussein would coordinate his activities with an India-based colleague identified as Sameer,” the cable said.

TN govt frees 9 Muslim terrorists of extremist Al Umma organisation

9 Al Umma prisoners released
Radha Venkatesan, TNN 16 September 2009,

COIMBATORE: He was a teenage `human bomb’ that failed to explode during the serial blasts that rocked the industrial hub of Coimbatore in February  1998. On Tuesday, a smiling Fakrudeen Ali Ahmed and eight other Al Umma prisoners, who were convicted for harbouring, planting and distributing explosives, walked free from Coimbatore Central Prison after the DMK government remitted their 13-year sentences on the occasion of the birth centenary of party founder C N Annadurai.

All nine prisoners were released from jail early Tuesday. Another fellow convict, Yousuf Abdul Wahab, who was also granted a pardon, was not freed because he faces two more criminal cases for harbouring explosives and intimidation of jail staff.

The nine prisoners who walked free are aged between 27 and 45; they were due for release in 2011. Taking into consideration provisions for `good conduct in jail’, they could have been let off either in December 2009 or sometime next year, say prison officials.

The state government’s decision to release them as a humanitarian gesture has raised legal questions because last year it had said it would not commute the sentences of prisoners convicted for serious crimes involving explosives, arms, drugs, and violence against women. The DMK government released more than 1,400 prisoners to mark the commencement of Anna’s birth centenary celebrations in September 2008, including some serving life sentences. A petition challenging the release is pending in Supreme Court.

This year, all nine convicts freed are members of a banned Islamic extremist group, who were jailed for carrying or harbouring explosives. They escaped life sentences because the bombs they planted did not go off.

Now, 42 Al Umma convicts, including the outlawed outfit’s leader S A Basha, who were all sentenced to life by a special court in 2007, remain in the Coimbatore prison. The explosions which rocked Coimbatore minutes before the arrival of BJP leader L K Advani during the 1998 Parliamentary election campaign had killed over 50 people and left several maimed.

The government’s decision to free the nine prisoners has drawn sharp criticism from both Muslim groups and the BJP, which was the prime target of the explosions. “How can the government pardon the functionaries of a banned terrorist organisation? It is condemnable and will lead to a spurt in terrorism once again in Tamil Nadu and help the Al Umma, which is lying low now, to rear its head once again,” said BJP’s state vice president, H Raja.

Some Muslim groups dismissed the releases as an “eyewash”. They pointed to the government’s decision last year to release life convicts who have completed seven years but not the Al Umma prisoners. “Even if the government had not remitted their sentences, these prisoners would have been let off in a couple of months because of their good conduct. It is just an eyewash by the government, which claims to be a saviour of the minorities,” said Abu Thahir, vice chairman of the Minorities Trust, which is offering legal assistance to the Al Umma convicts.

However, the `human bomb’ Fakrudeen, who was a 17-year-old lathe worker when he was arrested for allegedly carrying explosives in his shoulder bag, said, “I have lost my youth in jail despite having no role in the blasts. The government has to help me rebuild my shattered life.” The Class III dropout wrote his Class VIII exams and completed an automobile mechanics course in the prison. “No one will give me a job because I am branded a terrorist,” he sighed, sitting in his house in a crowded bylane in Pon Vizha Nagar near Ukkadam.

Tamil Nadu Muslims attack Ganesh Chaturthi processions at Ooty, Kalpakkam, Tirupur, Palani, Muthupet, Marthal, Thiruvidamcode

Savage attack by Muslims on Vinayaka Chaturthi processions  in different parts of Tamil Nadu.

Click this link for full report with photos.

A typical pseudo secular report read like this

Pak based Islamic terrorist organisations targeting major South Indian cities

30 August 2009
South India on terrorist radar

Pramod Kumar, New Delhi

Aug. 29: The latest inputs with the Central intelligence agencies reveal that big cities in South India are the next targets of Pakistan-based militant organisations.

According to the new intelligence, the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba and Jaish-e-Mohammad have been assigned the job of setting up the maximum number of sleeper cells in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala.

Talking to this newspaper, a high-ranking official of a Central intelligence agency said, “The inputs reveal that sensitive installations and big cities of South India are the next targets. Pakistani agencies, including the ISI, have assigned this job to the LeT and JeM. There are confirmed reports that they have asked for a large number of sleeper cells in cities like Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Thiruvan-anthapuram and other important places in South India.” “There are several sensitive installations located in South India. The state police forces have been alerted in this regard. Besides, Central security agencies guarding sensitive installations have been alerted. They are already on high alert after the Mumbai terror attacks of 2008,” said the official.

The official added, “Some people from Kerala have been spotted near Poonch and Rajouri districts of Jammu and Kashmir. These two districts are close to the international border. The state police is keeping a close vigil on their activities. Despite repeated efforts by state security forces, the people from Kerala failed to provide satisfactory reasons for their presence in these two border districts of J&K.” Further, the interrogation of some militants in J&K has revealed that their next targets are big cities in South India, said the official.

There are reports that LeT and JeM have started recruiting agents for sleeper cells in South India. While in Kerala and Andhra Pradesh they have already started the process, in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu they are looking for trained hands, said the official.

Why Lashkar’s Islamic terrorism plans for Chennai were called off

http://news.rediff.com/report/2009/jun/29/why-lets-terror-plans-for-chennai-were-called-off.htm

June 29, 2009

Revealed: Why Lashkar’s terror plans for Chennai were called off

Chennai would have seen a spate of terror attacks had the Lashkar-e-Tayiba [ Images ] not called off their plans at the last minute, revealed Sarfaraz Nawaz, the Gulf operative of the LeT, who is currently in the custody of the Bangalore police and is being interrogated for his role in the various blasts that rocked the country.

The reasons to postpone or rather call off the Chennai operation was three fold, he revealed.

A senior police officer in Bengaluru [ Images ] told rediff.com that Nawaz explained that when the blasts in Bengaluru were being planned, the LeT had decided that they would also undertake blasts in Chennai simultaneously.

The entire operation was planned by the Lashkar and later executed by the Indian Mujahideen [ Images ].

Nawaz said that while the Bengaluru operation was planned in detail, there was not much planning that went into the Chennai operation. The main reason for the cancellation of the operation was due to the lack of planning.

The second reason was due to the want of logistic support in Chennai. The capital of Tamil Nadu and its surrounding areas have never been LeT friendly and the outfit is still setting up bases in those areas.

This meant that the Lashkar was most of the time operating on borrowed logistics rather than a dedicated logistic cell of their own.

Nawaz said that a day before the Bengaluru blast, a call was made from the Gulf by an operative by the name Wali directing them to call off the operation.

During the call he explained that they sensed that the Chennai operation would fail and they did not want to waste any money on a failed operation, since the costs for the operations at Bengaluru, Ahmedabad [ Images ] and Delhi [ Images ] were already surging.

The Lashkar also realised that Chennai was the only part of southern India where the heat on the outfit was less. Hence, they decided to keep the Chennai plans on hold.

As part of its larger plan, the Lashkar had planned on setting up a base and several sleeper cells in the city from where it could launch terror strikes, Nawaz said.

Vicky Nanjappa

June 29, 2009

Revealed: Why Lashkar’s terror plans for Chennai were called off

Chennai would have seen a spate of terror attacks had the Lashkar-e-Tayiba [ Images ] not called off their plans at the last minute, revealed Sarfaraz Nawaz, the Gulf operative of the LeT, who is currently in the custody of the Bangalore police and is being interrogated for his role in the various blasts that rocked the country.

The reasons to postpone or rather call off the Chennai operation was three fold, he revealed.

A senior police officer in Bengaluru  told rediff.com that Nawaz explained that when the blasts in Bengaluru were being planned, the LeT had decided that they would also undertake blasts in Chennai simultaneously.

The entire operation was planned by the Lashkar and later executed by the Indian Mujahideen.

Nawaz said that while the Bengaluru operation was planned in detail, there was not much planning that went into the Chennai operation. The main reason for the cancellation of the operation was due to the lack of planning.

The second reason was due to the want of logistic support in Chennai. The capital of Tamil Nadu and its surrounding areas have never been LeT friendly and the outfit is still setting up bases in those areas.

This meant that the Lashkar was most of the time operating on borrowed logistics rather than a dedicated logistic cell of their own.

Nawaz said that a day before the Bengaluru blast, a call was made from the Gulf by an operative by the name Wali directing them to call off the operation.

During the call he explained that they sensed that the Chennai operation would fail and they did not want to waste any money on a failed operation, since the costs for the operations at Bengaluru, Ahmedabad and Delhi were already surging.

The Lashkar also realised that Chennai was the only part of southern India where the heat on the outfit was less. Hence, they decided to keep the Chennai plans on hold.

As part of its larger plan, the Lashkar had planned on setting up a base and several sleeper cells in the city from where it could launch terror strikes, Nawaz said.

Vicky Nanjappa

1998 Coimbatore blasts suspected Islamic terrorist nabbed in New Delhi by police

The 1998 Coimbatore bombings occurred on Saturday, February 14 1998, in the city of Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India. 46 persons – 35 men, 10 women and one child – were killed and over 200 injured in 13 bomb attacks in 11 places , all of them within a 12km radius, 4 bombs were planted at R S Puram area, two near Bus Stand, 1 near Coimbatore Medical College Hospital and at Ukkadam area. These car bombs was the work of Muslim fundamentalist group “Al Umma” which had a strong presence in Coimbatore. link

1998 Coimbatore blasts suspect nabbed in New Delhi by police
Zeenews Bureau

New Delhi, Dec 26: In a major success in unwinding the terror network in the country, a top militant linked with the Indian Mujahideen was nabbed by the Kerala Police team in the national capital on Friday.

The arrested militant, who was identified as Hamid, is also believed to be one of the main masterminds of the 1998 Coimbatore bomb blasts and was on the most wanted list of Kerala Police since long.

Hamid is said to be the south zone commander of Indian Mujahideen and is believed to be an expert in making explosive devices and timer bombs.

The intelligence inputs gathered about him also suggests that he is connection with dreaded militant outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba.

Hamid has been taken for interrogation by the Kerala Police.

According to reports, the intelligence officials will also try to establish his role in the recent bomb blasts in several cities.

He is expected to reveal crucial information regarding Indian Mujahideen’s future activities and its main operatives in various cities.

The arrest is being hailed as a big achievement of the country’s intelligence agencies since Hamid was on the run for several years.

The Kerala Police team picked up Hamid from Yamuna Vihar locality in New Delhi following a tip off from the intelligence agencies about his possible hideout.

The Kerala Police laid a trap to nab him, after it was confirmed that Hamid was living in disguise for several years in the area.

At least 33 people — including eight women and one child –were killed and 153 others were injured in a series of 12 bomb blasts that took place in Coimbatore on Feb 14 in 1998.

The blast occurred shortly before Bharatiya Janata Party president L K Advani arrived for a campaign meeting.

From rediff.com 1998 — Feb 14

33 killed in Coimbatore blasts

At least 33 people — including eight women and one child — died and 153 others were injured in a series of 12 bomb blasts in Coimbatore on Saturday, shortly before Bharatiya Janata Party president L K Advani arrived for a campaign meeting.

Advani, whose flight from Thiruvanathapuram was delayed by three hours, was not present at the rally site when the blasts occurred.

In a related incident, Advani claimed later that a ‘human bomb,’ who was chased by the police from the rally site, blew himself up.

A curfew has been imposed in the textile city, and the army deployed to contain the widespread riots which followed the blasts. Tension reigns, the telecommunication system is down and vehicles are off the roads. People are staying indoors. Shoot-at-sight orders have been issued to quell the violence.

The situation, one reporter from Coimbatore told Star News, is now under control and no fresh incidents of violence have occurred after 1900 hours.

Sources said the blasts occurred in 12 places, including R S Puram Kaliyarange, the meeting venue, near the railway station, the central bus stand, a commercial complex and the medical college hospital.

The first blast occurred at 1550 hours. For the next hour, sources said, the explosions continued across the city and suburban Sundarpuram where four people died. Three more explosions were heard near the dais from where Advani was supposed to address a meeting at 1600 hours. The BJP leader’s flight from Thiruvanthapuram was delayed by three hours and he did not arrive at R S Puram as scheduled. At least nine people, including three nurses, died on the spot at R S Puram.

One blast occurred in a shop named Rajendra Textiles, a source in Coimbatore said, killing three women on the spot.

At west Sambandapuram junction, four blasts occurred simultaneously. Six bodies were found at the venue. Four bodies were recovered from near the Thiruvalluvar bus stand. The bombs were reportedly placed in two wheelers and cars parked near the blast sites.

The blasts occurred despite the elaborate security measures, including the deployment of paramilitary forces, which Advani’s presence had invited in the city.

The blasts came four years and 11 months after the serial blasts in Bombay which killed over 300 people. The modus operandi appeared identical to the March 12, 1993 explosions, with bombs detonating all over Coimbatore.

Though no one has taken responsibility for the blasts, a home ministry official in Delhi, speaking on condition of anonymity, indicated that the explosions may have been the handiwork of Islamic fundamentalists who have become active in the prosperous textile town after the Babri Masjid demolition. He said the Intelligence Bureau had warned the Union home ministry and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam ministry of such a possibility in a report in late January.

Sources in Coimbatore said mobs ran amuck soon after the blasts, looting and burning Muslim shops in scenes reminiscent of last December’s riots. Muslim establishments — including the wellknown Shobha shopping centre — across the city were then attacked by maurading mobs, angered by the slaying of a traffic policemen, allegedly by activists of the Al-Umma group.

Some Muslims injured in those incidents were killed when they were recuperating at the medical centre hospital, minutes after the local DMK MP was attacked there. The Tamil Nadu government deployed the army — reportedly for the first time in the state’s history — to control the situation. Twenty people died in the December disturbances.

Two army companies were been deployed once again in Coimbatore on Saturday. The Tamil Nadu government also banned the Al-Umma and All India Al-Jihad Committee. Al-Umma has, however, denied responsibilty for the blasts. Chief Minister M Karunanidhi was addressing a meeting in Chintadripet when Coimbatore was reeling under the blasts and the rioting. Karunanidhi appeared not to have been briefed by the officials during the rally and was seen relaxed. He spoke till 1654 hours.

Advani, who arrived in Coimbatore three hours behind schedule, could not address the meeting despite his insistence as the crowds had fled in panic following the blasts.

The BJP leader then drove to the medical college hospital, one of the blast sites, and called on the victims, before leaving for Tirichirapalli, where he was scheduled to address a joint rally along with AIADMK general secretary J Jayalalitha.

Security in and around Tiruchirapalli town was tightened immediately after the Coimbatore blasts. A special team of police commandos flew in from Madras to provide security at the airport at the time of Advani’s arrival and departure. No one was allowed inside the airport, which is located 12 kms from the meeting venue. Tight security was also evident at Marakkadai, the rally site.

In Madurai, which was reported tense, 500 police personnel were pressed into service for a round the clock vigil in the city. Police Commissioner P C Viswanathan said 16 police stations were assigned with eight assistant commissioners. All important places in the town, including its many temples, have been provided with security. Security in Tirunelveli besides the sensitive Kadayanallur and Tenkasi areas has been enhanced, the police said.

Dindigul Deputy Inspector General of Police Subramaniam said two companies of Tamil Nadu special police and Central Reserve Police Force were deployed in Cumbum and Uthamapalayam. Armed police have been pressed into service in the Palani and Dindugul towns.

Karunanidhi, who spoke to Prime Minister I K Gujral on Saturday evening, said the blasts were the handiwork of fundamentalist forces, which were out to scuttle the peaceful conduct of the election in the state.

Gujral, Karunanidhi said, had assured him that the Centre would take all steps to “defeat the conspiracy, hatched by a foreign hand, to disrupt democracy in the country.”

Karunanidhi reviewed the situation with top government officials including Chief Secretary K A Nambiar and Director General of Police F C Sharma at the state secretariat. Both Karunanidhi and Nambiar will visit Coimbatore on Sunday morning.

In a statement released late on Saturday night, Advani said he was the target of the serial blasts in Coimbatore. The BJP president said anti-national forces had targetted the electoral process and he and his party were the clear targets.

The first blast occurred about 200 feet from the stage at the scheduled time of his arrival and there were blasts on all four sides of the venue subsequently. Had the meeting started on time, he said, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

Shobha Warrier, Chindu Sreedharan, A Ganesh Nadar, George Iype, P Rajendran. Additional reportage:UNI

Tamil Nadu’s 12 most wanted Muslim extremists on the loose

TN’s most dangerous ultras still at large
6 Dec 2008, K Praveen Kumar, TNN

CHENNAI: When security agencies across the country are in a state of high alert following the Mumbai terror attacks, 12 most wanted fundamentalists,
including three persons trained in Afghanistan and Pakistan, are on the loose after being involved in bomb attacks in Tamil Nadu. The government has announced a reward of Rs 2 lakh for five of them. Neither the special investigation team, which probed terrorism-related cases in Tamil Nadu, nor the state intelligence unit, has any inputs on their whereabouts or activities.

The absconding fundamentalists are: Abubacker Siddique alias Kakka (7 cases), Ayub alias Ashraf Ali (9 cases), Ibrahim (Coimbatore blast case), Mohammed Ali alias Yunus alias Mansoor (3 cases), Ashraf Ali (Coimbatore blast case), Mujibur Rahman alias Muji (5 cases), Mushtaq Ahmed (Chennai RSS headquarters blast case), Rasool Mydeen (2 cases), Jaguar Sadiq alias Tailor Raja alias Valarntha Raja (5 cases), Toufeeque (2 cases), Noohi N P alias Mankave Rasheed (Coimbatore blast case) and Kunju Mohammed alias Gani (Coimbatore blast case).

“We do not have specific information on them, though occasionally we get vague inputs. We had formed special parties to hunt down these accused. We have also passed on the look-out notice for these persons to the Intelligence Bureau, which has in turn intimated the immigration authorities,” Narendra Pal Singh, additional director general of police, SIT, CB-CID, told TOI.

Three of the fundamentalists — Kakka, Ayub and Thoufeeque — were trained in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and are experts in making explosives, police sources said. Kakka, a hardcore Al Umma activist, has seven cases against him under the Explosive Substances Act. He has been absconding since 1997. “Many of their companions have been convicted. But we could not get hold of them. There should be a concentrated effort to track these men,” a senior police official said.

The state intelligence agencies maintain that unless they have an input regarding involvement of any of these absconding accused in a criminal plot in Tamil Nadu, they are not worried.

Ayub alias Ashraf Ali, a core member of Islamic Defence Force, has been more dangerous and was the key operative behind the three train blasts in Tamil Nadu in 1997, which killed 10 persons and injured another 72. In a bid to blast the US consulate in Chennai, Ashraf Ali along with his associates had allegedly planted bombs on Anna Flyover in Chennai. He was also accused of sending parcel bombs to director Mani Ratnam for allegedly portraying Muslims in bad light in his film ‘Bombay’.

Mushtaq Ahmed, who joined hands with Imam Ali, one of the founders of Al Umma, had planted powerful explosives at the RSS headquarters in Chennai in 1993, killing 11 RSS workers. “What worries them is that these are all seasoned militants who cannot be sitting idle. As per the information we had earlier, they all had left Tamil Nadu and many of them are in the Gulf countries. We also had inputs regarding their visits to the country. But they have always managed to escape,” the police official said.

Over 7000 Islamofascists arrested in Tamil Nadu on Babri Mosque demolition

Over 7000 Muslims arrested in South India on Babri Mosque demolition anniversary
NEW DELHI, Dec. 6 APP: Over 7,000 Muslims were arrested in Tamil Nadu state in India for protesting against demolition of Babri Mosque in 1992.

They were demonstrating on the 16th anniversary of demolition of the Mosque.

Media reports from Chennai said the authorities had tightened security ahead of the demonstrations in the communally sensitive Coimbatore district of the state by deploying additional force at airports and places of worship.

The authorities arrested activists of Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam (TMMK) and Tamil Nadu Towheed Jamaat (TNTJ) when they tried to stage “rail rook” and demonstration in many places, including Chennai, Coimbatore and Tirupur, demanding rebuilding of Babri Masjid.

In Chennai alone, around 1,500 members of TNTJ were arrested near Raj Bhavan while about 800 members of TMMK were held at the Central and Egmore Railway Stations, the police said.

In Coimbatore over 2,000 activists of TMMK and TNTJ were detained.

Similar protests were also staged in other cities and towns of Tamil Nadu.  Meanwhile, Muslim organisations in India have demanded President Pratibha Patil to re-build the mosque at its original site.

The All India Babri Masjid Re-Building Committee and All India Muslim Unity Front in a joint memorandum to Patil also demanded referral of all disputes relating to it and Ram temple to the Supreme Court for a final time-bound and binding decision.

The verdict of the court will be acceptable to the Muslim community, the memorandum said.

Mohammed Younus Siddique, President of  Babri Masjid Re-Building demanded arrest of opposition leader L K Advani, BJP’s senior leader Murli Manohar Joshi, Bharitya Jan Shakti leader Uma Bharti and others in connection with demolition of Babri Masjid.

Meanwhile, Hindu Mahasabha activists tried to stage March towards Babri Mosque site in Ayodhya on Saturday.

Fifty of them were arrested, police said.

“Youm-e-gham” and ‘Black Day’ was observed by Muslim organisations in Ayodhya to protest the demolition of the mosque.

Black flags were hoisted o houses and a memorandum addressed to the Congress Government demanding reconstruction of the mosque was handed over to the district magistrate in the city.

Muslim terror threat to Tamil Nadu temples

Terror alert in major Tamil Nadu temples
Security has been stepped up in five major temples in Tamil Nadu following an intelligence alert of terror attacks.

The Meenakshi Temple in Madurai , Ramanathaswamy Temple in Rameswaram, Murugan temple in Palani, Kapaleeswarar Temple in Chennai and Sri Ranganathar Temple in Srirangam in Tiruchirappalli have come under a heightened security, following intelligence inputs that they could be the target of some banned organisations, waiting to expand their trail across the country after the Delhi blasts.

Highly-placed officials told PTI that the move was taken at a review meeting held in Chennai on Wednesday, headed by Chief Minister M Karunanidhi.

Security had also been beefed up at the office of Tamil daily Dinamalar following intelligence reports that the newspaper might also be one of the terror targets, they said.

The daily faced protests from Muslim groups recently after it carried a cartoon of Prophet Mohammed.

Besides these temples, commercial hubs in Chennai and elsewhere have also been placed under surveillance.

However, officials are wary about security arrangements in the temples, as they want the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments department that administers temples, to be more proactive and forthcoming in ensuring fool-proof security.

The state police headquarters had ordered the district administrations to tighten up the security arrangements.

The police was keeping a close watch across the state to look for sleeper cells of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India or the Indian Mujahideen [Images], a senior police official said.

“There is no specific information as regards sleeper cells,” Rajendran said, adding that the police were still going ahead with security drills and other preventive measures.