Death sentence for lslamic terrorists in American Centre attack in Kolkota

Calcutta High Court upholds death sentence for two American Centre attackers

Raktima Bose

KOLKATA: The Calcutta High Court upheld on Friday the death sentence awarded by a lower court to two of the seven persons it had convicted in connection with the attack on the American Centre here in January 2002.

While three of the other five convicted by the lower court were sentenced to life, the High Court acquitted the remaining two persons on grounds of inadequate evidence against them.

Six policemen were killed and 14 injured in the terrorist attack on January 22, 2002, that was masterminded by the main accused Aftab Ansari, a Dubai-based don.

A Division Bench comprising Justices Ashim Banerjee and Kalidas Mukherjee upheld the death sentence pronounced by a city sessions court in April 2005 to Ansari and his close aide, Jamiluddin Nasir.

Sentence confirmed
Public prosecutor Ashimesh Goswami told journalists after the verdict: “The death sentence that was awarded by the court below [lower court] has been confirmed [by the High Court]. While three other persons [Musarat Hussain, Sakir Akhtar and Hasrat Alam] were given life sentence, the remaining two [Rehan Alam and Adil Hassan] got acquittal because of scant evidence.”

Ansari will have another three months to appeal before the Supreme Court against the verdict. Defence counsel was, however, unavailable for comments.

The police examined 123 witnesses in the case and charged the accused under Sections 121 (waging war against the state), 121A (conspiracy), 302 (murder) and 307 (attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 27(3) of the Arms Act.

“Rarest of rare case”
The Sessions Court had convicted seven persons and had awarded death sentence to all, observing it as the “rarest of rare case.” The convicts had then appealed against the judgment in the High Court in October last. The judgment was pronounced on Friday after a 77-day hearing by the Bench.

Early on January 22, 2002, two motorcycle-borne terrorists opened fire from their AK-47 and AK-56 assault rifles on policemen guarding the American Centre, killing five policemen on the spot and injuring 15 others. Another policeman succumbed to injuries at the hospital later.

While initially the police was confused about the identity of the attackers, the dying statements of two Lashkar-e-Taiba militants, following an encounter at Hazaribagh in Jharkhand by the Delhi and Bihar police on January 26, 2002, revealed the involvement of Ansari.

Arrested in Dubai
Ansari was arrested in Dubai soon after and was deported to India on February 9, 2002.

Calling him a “prince of darkness,” Mr. Goswami said though Ansari was not in India when the attack took place, he was “monitoring and directing” the attack with the help of terrorists in the city and that there was no doubt about his Lashkar-e-Taiba link.

He was already sentenced to life by a special court here last year, for his involvement in the high-profile case of the abduction of shoe-baron Partha Pratim Roy Burman.

The Statesman’s editor, publisher arrested for hurting Muslim feelings, out on bail

Let us hope the editor, publisher wake up from their pseudo-secular stupor and realize what is Islamofascism all about, now that they had to incur the full brunt of Islamofascist wrath!

The Statesman”s editor, publisher arrested for hurting Muslim feelings,
out on bail
Mohit Joshi on Thu, 02/12/2009

London, Feb. 12 : The editor and publisher of the Kolkata-based daily The
Statesman were arrested on Wednesday for “hurting the religious feelings” of
Muslims after they had reprinted an article from The Independent.
Ravindra Kumar, the editor of the paper, and Anand Sinha, the printer and
publisher of the paper, were arrested on a complaint by a resident of Eliot
Lane, Kolkata, and charged under Sections 295A (deliberate act with
malicious intent to outrage religious feelings) and Section 34 (acts done by
several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal
Code.

They were produced before Chief Metropolitan Magistrate S. S. Anand, who
granted them bail.

The arrests were in connection with the publication of an article by Johann
Hari of The Independent of London by The Statesman in its issue of February
5.

Upon learning that Kolkata Police had registered a case, The Statesman
contacted senior officers and offered to assist its investigation, and to
aid efforts to defuse tensions in the city.

The city had been rocked by protests and violence over the paper’s remarks
since February 7. The protesters had demanded the immediate arrest of Kumar.
Sections of central Kolkata have been paralyzed by protests for much of the
past week.

Hari’s report Titled “Why should I respect oppressive religions?”
was originally printed in The Independent on January 28. In it, Hari said he
believed the right to criticize any religion was being eroded around the
world.

The Statesman, a highly respected liberal English-language daily, reprinted
the article, causing a major backlash among a small group of Muslims who
felt that the piece slighted Prophet Mohamed and insulted their religion.

Peaceful protests turned violent, as angry crowds began blocking roads,
attacking police and calling for the arrest of the article”s author and the
newspaper”s publisher and editor.

On Monday and Tuesday police used baton charges to try to disperse crowds
and more than 70 protesters were arrested. Staff members of The Statesman
were forced to barricade the front entrance to their building and were
escorted into their offices through a side door by police.

The office is opposite the Tipu Sultan Masjid, Kolkata”s largest mosque.

Hari has defended his article.

“I wrote in defence of the right to criticize religion – all religion – and
it is vitally important to keep that right alive in the world”s largest,
and in many ways most admirable, democracy,” he said.

On two separate occasions, Kumar issued statements standing by his decision
to publish the article. But he also said he had not meant to cause offence
to any religion. (ANI)

Kolkata Statesman newspaper apologizes as Muslim mob goes on a rampage over article

“Demonstrators threw stones, soda bottles and shoes injuring four cops. Some agitators later took shelter in a nearby mosque and threw stones, empty bottles and shoes targeting policemen.”

Once again Muslim bullies win. Free speech loses.  And pseudo secular Indian media has once again demonstrated how pusillanimous it really is. Moral: It pays to be violent and intolerant

The article in question is:

Why should I respect these oppressive religions? Johann Hari:
Whenever a religious belief is criticised, its adherents say they’re victims of ‘prejudice’

You can also read it all here

BBC report : Pair held for ‘offending Islam’
By Subir Bhaumik, BBC News, Calcutta
Wednesday, 11 February 2009

The editor and publisher of a top English-language Indian daily have been arrested on charges of “hurting the religious feelings” of Muslims.

The Statesman’s editor Ravindra Kumar and publisher Anand Sinha were detained in Calcutta after complaints.

Muslims said they were upset with the Statesman for reproducing an article from the UK’s Independent daily in its 5 February edition.

The article was entitled: “Why should I respect these oppressive religions?”

It concerns the erosion of the right to criticise religions.

In it, the author, Johann Hari, writes: “I don’t respect the idea that we should follow a ‘Prophet’ who at the age of 53 had sex with a nine-year old girl, and ordered the murder of whole villages of Jews because they wouldn’t follow him.”

Mr Kumar and Mr Sinha appeared in court on Wednesday and were granted bail.

Apology
Angry Muslims have been demonstrating in front of the offices of the Statesman since its republication of the article.

Police have broken up the demonstrations using baton charges several times this week.

Some Muslims close to the Jamiat-e-Ulema e Hind (The Organisation of Indian Scholars, a leading Islamic group in India) later filed a complaint with police alleging that the publication had “outraged their religious feelings”, which is an offence under Section 295 A of the Indian Penal Code.

Mr Kumar has said he has already issued a public apology for reproducing the article.

“I admit it was an editorial misjudgement but it was never intentional,” Mr Kumar told the BBC in an interview.

20 HURT as protestors clash with police

Statesman News Service

KOLKATA, Feb. 9: More than 20 people, including four policemen, were injured in a clash that broke out when police tried to clear Lenin Sarani where Muslim agitators had put up a road block for four hours in protest against an article published in The Statesman a few days ago. Forty-four people were later arrested in connection with the attack on police and blocking traffic, said Mr Pradip Chattopadhyay, joint CP (administration).

According to police, trouble broke out around noon when the agitators tried to block CR Avenue in protest against an article ~ a comment piece ~ from The Independent that was published in The Statesman in its 5 February edition. Police chased away the mob and arrested seven people.

The agitators regrouped and blocked Lenin Sarani throwing traffic out of gear. They demonstrated in front of Statesman House and damaged a taxi, two private buses, and a tram. Commuters complained of being severely inconvenienced due to the roadblock. Some protestors forced local traders to shut down their shops and join the agitation. Long queues of vehicles were seen on either side of CR Avenue, Dorina Crossing, SN Banerjee Road due to suspension of traffic on Lenin Sarani.

Senior police officers, led by additional commissioner (I) Mr Ranjit Kumar Pachnanda, rushed to the spot and appealed to the agitators time and again to withdraw the blockade.

After agitators refused to call off the blockade, additional forces were deployed in the area. Later DC DD (I), Mr Jawed Shamim, DC (Central) Mrs Damayanti Sen, DC (Traffic) Mr Dilip Banerjee, Joint CP (Traffic) Mr Ranvir Kumar reached the spot and urged agitators to call off the blockade.

After all their pleas fell on deaf ears, leaders from some Muslim organisations and even imams of Shahi Tipu Sultan Mosque came to the spot and tried to pacify the mob. Meanwhile, Rapid Action Force and Armed Police jawans were deployed to prevent any further violence.

After several requests of police officers and religious leaders to call off the blockade went unheeded, police chased away the mob and resorted to a mild lathi-charge to clear Lenin Sarani. Demonstrators threw stones, soda bottles and shoes injuring four cops. Some agitators later took shelter in a nearby mosque and threw stones, empty bottles and shoes targeting policemen. These people later left the mosque.

The situation came under control around 5 p.m. A police picket was posted near the mosque. Later in the evening, a group of people belonging to some Muslim outfits blocked AJC Bose Road near Rajabazar for one-and-a-half hours on the same issue. The blockade was later withdrawn. In a Press release, the Indian Union Muslim Leage (West Bengal) condemned the lathi-charge on protestors and accused The Statesman of “obstinacy” with regard to issuing an apology for carrying the comment piece by Johann Hari. (In fact, The Statesman has, already expressed its deep regret if the publication of the article had caused hurt to any community or religion.)

Pamphlets call for agitation
Later in the evening, unsigned pamphlets and posters were being distributed in the Esplanade area urging members of a particular community to “continue the agitation” and stating that the “protests were not against the state government or police administration”. The pamphlets also demanded that The Statesman be “banned” and that its editor be “arrested”.

Kolkata on the hitlist of ISI

ISI planning to bomb Kolkata

25 Dec 2008

NEW DELHI: After wreaking havoc in Mumbai, major towns of West Bengal, including Kolkata, are next on the hit list of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence.

Top sources in the Union Home Ministry confirmed that a group of Harkat-ul-Jihad-al- Islami (HuJI) terrorists has made repeated attempts to enter India recently from Bangladesh through the ‘chicken neck’ corridor.

“There is a possibility that some HuJI terrorists have already crossed over with arms and ammunition and are heading to team up with Kamtapur Liberation Organisation (KLO), Indian insurgent group, to carry out lethal terror strikes in West Bengal during end-December and early January,” sources said.

Another intelligence report on Wednesday stated that ULFA militants in Bangladesh are likely to enter through the Karimganj district of Assam, a temporary departure from their established routes of transit in Meghalaya.

Both the states have been alerted by the Centre. The alerts come close on the heels of the arrest in Jammu of three Pakistanis, one of them allegedly an army regular. The trio had come from Dhaka and apparently lived in Kolkata before proceeding to Jammu and Kashmir.

Working in cahoots with Bangladesh’s espionage agency Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI), the ISI, with its sinister plan of ‘bleeding India through thousand wounds’, has made contacts with several Indian insurgent groups.

The recently carried out blasts in Assam that killed 89 were part of this design where the handlers in Bangladesh had roped in ULFA and National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB).

KLO that came into existence in 1995 with the help of ULFA is active in six districts of West Bengal _ South Dinajpur, North Dinajpur, Coochbehar, Jalpaiguri, Malda and Darjeeling _ and four districts of lower Assam _ Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon, Dhubri and Goalpara.

Intelligence agenciesclaim that both ISI and DGFI have made KLO an active partner with HuJI and are constantly helping it to upgrade its strike power by supplying arms, ammunitions and explosives.

“KLO chief Jeevan Singh is sheltered in Bangladesh, and is a protégé of the ULFA,” a senior official said. He hangs around in northern Bangladesh, close to his home constituency. Singh, along with Ranjan Daimary of the NDFB and Paresh Baruah of ULFA are said to be paying off the debt of protection from the HuJI-ISI nexus through “disturbing” eastern India. “Keeping them there cannot be a charitable deed, they would have to pay a price,” said a senior official.

Evidence of Indian Muslim involvement in Mumbai terror attack, two Muslims arrested

Mumbai attacks: First evidence of home-grown terror link
The first evidence of a home-grown terrorist link to the Mumbai attacks emerged today as police revealed an Indian suspect arrested earlier this year may have been involved in the planning.

By Damien McElroy in Mumbai
GMT 05 Dec 2008

Officers said they had maps seized from a man picked up in February suggesting intelligence gathering had begun more than a year ago.

Police apparently failed to recognise the importance of the nine maps, which included detailed floor plans of the Taj Mahal Palace hotel and marked the position of Mumbai’s main railway terminus, after arresting Faheem Ansari.

Both locations were targeted by gunmen last week, alongside a hotel complex, a restaurant and a Jewish resident.

Ansari, who was born in India, has been accused of joining the terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) after emigrating to Dubai five years ago.

Officials said that he subsequently travelled to Pakistan where he was trained by LeT leader Yusuf Muzammil at the same camp where the lone survivor of the Mumbai attacks, Amir Azam Qasab was allegedly trained.

Ansari was arrested in February in northern India carrying hand-drawn sketches of hotels, the train terminal and other sites that were later attacked in Mumbai, said Amitabh Yash, director of the Special Task Force of the Uttar Pradesh police.

Mr Ansari also had up-to-date blueprints of the Taj Mahal Palace hotel that were better than those available to the security services, Mr Yash said.

The revelation amounted to a double blow for the government and security forces, which have suffered a public backlash as anger grows over security lapses that led up to the deaths of 171.

Indian terror suspects linked to Mumbai plot

The Times, December 6, 2008

Police arrested four Indian Muslims for alleged involvement in a planned
attack on Mumbai as early as February, a senior police officer who
handled the case told The Times yesterday.

One of them, Faheem Ahmed Ansari, was carrying a fake Pakistani passport
and a list and maps of nine targets in southern Mumbai, including the
Taj Mahal hotel and other sites attacked last week, the officer said.

The revelation appears to undermine India’s assertion that the attack on
Mumbai last week, in which 171 people were killed, was planned and
executed only by Pakistani members of the militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba
(LeT), which has links to Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency.

Security officials and experts have told the Indian Government that it
faces a growing threat from home-grown Islamic militants recruited from
the country’s 150 million-strong Muslim population. The officer’s claim
also raises questions about Indian authorities’ failure to respond to
warnings of an attack on Mumbai.

Ansari and his alleged accomplices were arrested on February 10 in the
cities of Rampur and Lucknow in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh,
according to Amitabh Yash, director of the Special Task Force of the
state police. They were charged with involvement in a gun and grenade
attack on a Central Reserve Police Force camp in Rampur that killed at
least seven officers and one civilian in the early hours of December 31.

Also arrested were three Indian Muslims and two Pakistani nationals –
all of them members of LeT – as they attempted to transfer weapons used
in the Rampur attack by train to Mumbai, he said. “We can’t be sure of
their intentions, but all of them were moving to Mumbai with weapons
when they were captured,” Mr Yash said. “It clearly reveals the mindset
of Lashkar-e-Taiba.”

The weapons they were carrying included two AK47s, a Chinese pistol and
five grenades, he added.

Ansari was found with a list, maps and even sketches of nine Mumbai
sites, including the Taj and Chhattrapati Shivaji Terminus, Mumbai’s
main railway station, which was also attacked last week, Mr Yash said.
Ansari told police interrogators that he had come to collect the weapons
from Uttar Pradesh having carried out a recce of potential targets in
Mumbai.

Ansari was born in a slum in Mumbai and was recruited by LeT when he
took a job as a mechanic at a printing press in Dubai in December 2005,
Mr Yash said. He was taken by boat to the Pakistani port of Karachi a
year later and then on to an LeT training camp in Muzaffarabad, the
capital of Pakistan-controlled Kashmir.

There he met Yusuf Muzammil, an LeT operative named by Indian officials
as one of those who master-minded the Mumbai attacks, Mr Yash said.
Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, the only gunman to be captured alive, has said
that he was trained in the same camp, according to police interrogators.

Ansari was given a fake Pakistani passport and used it to go first to
Nepal, and then to India, where he resumed his Indian identity and
travelled to Mumbai, Mr Yash said.

He rented an apartment, did a computer course and qualified for a driver’s
licence, all the time checking out potential targets, before travelling
to Uttar Pradesh in February. “His instructions were to find a safe
house, get weapons and carry out a recce,” he said. “He had done that
recce and come to collect the weapons from Uttar Pradesh.” Ansari was
first interrogated in Uttar Pradesh and then handed to Mumbai police in
February, while the other five remained in custody there.

Mumbai police also questioned Ansari before placing him in judicial
custody, where he remains, Mr Yash said, adding that he had passed all
the information his team gleaned to the Intelligence Bureau, which
handles India’s domestic security.

Indian investigators are now understood to be questioning Ansari again
to cross reference his testimony with that of Kasab.
Two more arrested for Mumbai terror attacks
6 Dec, 2008, 1044 hrs IST, TIMESOFINDIA.COM

NEW DELHI: Two more men, Tausif Rehman and Mukhtar Ahmed, have been arrested in connection with the deadly terror attacks that rocked Mumbai killing more than 180 people.

Tausif was arrested from West Bengal, while Mukhtar — a Jammu and Kashmir police constable, was hand picked up by the Kolkata police, according to a Times Now report.

The duo were arrested by the special task force of the Kolkata police. Both Tausif and Mukhtar are believed to be associated with the SIM cards used by the Mumbai terrorists.

Earlier, intelligence sources said they had intercepted conversations between Muzammil, Muzaffarabad chief of LeT operations, and a certain Yahya in Bangladesh.

Yahya reportedly arranged SIM cards, fake id-cards primarily from western countries like Mauritius, UK, US, Australia. A Mauritian identity card was found on one of the terrorists shot down.

Mumbai terror attack shows strong local Muslim support network

Probe suggests extensive local support network
Josy Joseph
Friday, December 05, 2008

Links seen between Mumbai attack and raid on IISC in 2005

NEW DELHI: Investigators have fanned out across India to check out several leads available from the Mumbai attacks. The information gathered so far indicates the existence of a massive secretive network with tentacles in Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore,
Dhaka, and elsewhere.

In Delhi and Kolkata, investigators are trying to find out who bought the SIM cards that were later recovered from the slain terrorists in Mumbai. Sources said the Kolkata police have identified at least two youths who may have bought SIM cards in West Bengal. They are believed to have bought the cards from three different places using a fake voter’s identity card in the name of Hossain Ur Rahman. In Delhi, investigators are looking at shops in Karol Bagh from where the SIM cards were bought.

The jigsaw being put together suggests the terror attacks mounted by Pakistan-based youths had strong support from a homegrown network. The same network may have been involved in recent strikes. Though it is not a cohesive group, the network
comprises several former Simi (Students Islamic Movement of India) members with a strong base in Hyderabad and other parts of South India. The group has deep linkages with the Lashkar-e-Taiba, which has since denied involvement in the attacks. This group is influenced by Taliban and al-Qaeda ideology.

Suspicions about this group, which for some time has been calling itself Indian Mujahideen, have been firmed up by links emerging between the latest Mumbai attacks and the 2005 attack on the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.

The networks of Shahid Bilal, a Hyderabad resident who was killed in Pakistan some time ago, and Riazuddin Nasir, his close associate who was arrested in Karnataka, had joined hands with a faction of Simi and other like-minded youths to create a network of India’s most formidable terror supporters. This group is believed to have carried out several bombings in Indian cities and assisted in the attacks on the IISc, mostly under the banner of Indian Mujahideen. The Mumbai attacks were carried out under the banner of Deccan Mujahideen.

Sources said Abu Hamza, who escaped after the December 28, 2005, attack on the IISc, was a key motivator for the 10-member terror group that attacked Mumbai. They were convinced by Hamza that it was easy to fool the Indian police and escape back to Pakistan, according to arrested terrorist Ajmal Kasab, now in the custody of the Mumbai Police.

Investigators believe that the Lashkar-e-Taiba’s Dhaka-based operatives obtained the Indian SIM cards and supplied them for use during the attacks. The terrorists were also provided with SIM cards from Austria and the US. Besides, several GPS systems and a Thuraya satellite phone were in the possession of the terrorists, according to a source.

The investigators are also combing through several leads pointing to the possible involvement of the underworld, especially smuggling gangs, in organising logistical support for the terror group. The customs department has for the past few months been investigating the massive smuggling of diesel and other items by a group of Dawood Ibrahim henchmen, especially one led by a Colaba-based customs clearing agent. His son and the son’s employees are being investigated.

As of now, the most noticeable challenge for the investigators is to find out the extent of local support made available to the terrorists. “We still haven’t made a breakthrough,” said a senior official. He said unless the local contacts are unearthed, it would be difficult to get at the full truth behind the conspiracy.

Also click

SIM cards used in Mumbai attack bought from Kolkata

“The SIM cards were purchased from Park Street and 24 Parganas (South) including Maheshtala in the name of Hossain-ur-Rahman and smuggled out of the country through Indo-Bangladesh border and then to Pakistan, official sources said.

The buyer of the pre-paid SIM cards had submitted forged election identity card as proof of residence bearing address as Bashirhat, near the Indo-Bangla border, they said, adding the agencies were trying to locate remaining seven SIM cards.”

Is West Bengal the next terror target of Islamic terrorists?

Is West Bengal the next terror target?

Thursday, Dec 4, 2008. The Pioneer, Saugar Sengupta | Kolkata

A panicky West Bengal Government has gone on a search overdrive at important locations all across the State following intelligence reports that a group of 17 terrorists had entered India from Bangladesh to trigger serial blasts in a number of cities.

The bombs are to go off before December 20, and the cities under threat are: Kolkata, Nadia (Iskon), Siliguri, Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling, a top police official said. What seems to have sent shiver down the administration’s spine is that a depleted Kamtapuri Liberation Organisation has joined hands with the Islamic militants to provide logistic support to the terrorists.

According to intelligence inputs received from the Centre, these are HuJI militants trained at various places in Pakistan and Bangladesh. Sources said a few days ago, HuJI commander Tajuddin, the ISI chief of operations, Bangladesh anti-India committee chief and fugitive KLO boss Jiban Singh had held a secret meeting at Gajipur near Dhaka following which the group of militants have been sent to carry out blasts in parts of West Bengal.

The reason why KLO has joined the group is it wants announce its arrival once again before its anniversary on December 28. The terrorists have entered India through Assam and could enter West Bengal — “or perhaps already entered this State” — any time to set off blasts. Possible targets are high-profile Delhi-bound trains and public places, sources said. The police have been searching frantically in trains for the terrorists. The search in fact yielded one arrest from Malda on Wednesday, sources said.

The terrorists who have been divided in groups of four have been given the freedom to adjust their strategies according to the situation, police sources said.

West Bengal has till now not seen any major terror attack barring the one on USIS and some blasts in trains in North Bengal. But “we are leaving nothing to chances particularly after the Mumbai strike,” IG North Bengal KL Tamta said.

Calcutta police on high alert, brace for Islamic terror attacks

Terror alert in Calcutta
Sunday , November 16 , 2008 |  telegraphindia.com

A STAFF REPORTER
Calcutta, Nov. 15: Police officers fanned out across roads, stations and popular haunts as the city was put on high alert today — “higher” than during the pujas — after a warning from Delhi that militants were planning to strike.

The alert came on a day the Assam government shared an intelligence feed with Bengal about a possible blast in a passenger train from Guwahati to New Delhi. Any train on this route has to pass through north Bengal.

The warning from Delhi said “six to 10” Indian Mujahideen rebels were set to enter Calcutta from Bangladesh one by one and then regroup before carrying out attacks anytime between November 15 and 30. “We are on a higher alert than we were during the pujas,” said special commissioner of police S.N. Sarkar.

“Senior officers are out on the roads and all vital installations have been brought under the security net. Entry and exit points are being manned,” the acting police chief added.

During the pujas, nearly 80 per cent of the city’s police force of around 10,000 was on the streets.

Sources said officers of all 48 police stations in Calcutta had been asked to step up vigil while patrolling was intensified at Howrah, Sealdah and other key railway stations.

“These Indian Mujahideen activists, actually representatives of the (Bangladesh-based) Harkat-ul Jihadi Islami (Huji), are set to enter with a definite plan,” said an officer.

Today’s alert followed a similar input two days before from the Subsidiary Intelligence Bureau, which said associates of Huji activist Mohammed Abdul Shaheed alias Bilal, wanted in connection with last year’s Samjhauta Express blasts, could enter the city from Bangladesh.

The city’s police brass went into a huddle. After the meeting, officers were asked to step out and intensify vigil at malls and parking lots.

In north Bengal, state and railway police launched search operations across the region. “The state has received an alert from the Assam government about a possible explosion in a passenger train to New Delhi from Guwahati via north Bengal,” IG (law and order) Raj Kanojia said.

“Our men, in association with the GRP, are checking trains coming from Assam to New Jalpaiguri,” Darjeeling police chief Rahul Srivastava said.

The police are also watching bus terminuses and shopping complexes in Siliguri.

Indian Mujahideen operative held for serial bombs, 2002 attack on Kolkata American Center

‘Indian Mujahideen had attacked Kolkata American Center’
Mon, Nov 10 08:33 PM

Mumbai/Kolkata, Nov 10 (IANS) The Mumbai police said Monday an Indian Mujahideen operative, held for his alleged role in the serial bomb blasts in various Indian cities earlier this year, was one of the two gunmen who had attacked the American Center in Kolkata Jan 22, 2002.

Joint Police Commissioner (Crime) Rakesh Maria told mediapersons that Mohammed Saddik Israr Ahmed Shaikh, hailing from Azamgarh district of Uttar Pradesh, had opened fire from a Kalashnikov rifle at the American Center in the West Bengal capital.

Nabbed from the Cheetah Camp area of north-east Mumbai, Shaikh had assumed the identity of ‘Sadaqat’ at the time of the incident.

Shaikh, 33, and 19 others were arrested at different times in September-October from various locations around the country. They are all in police custody.

Among the four arrested in the first phase of crackdown by the police Sept 24, Shaikh was employed as a programme engineer with an electronics company in the city.

He had attended terror training camps in Pakistan twice – once for nine months and the second time for one-and-half months, the police said.

The remaining activists of the terror group or their accomplices in the serial blasts were nabbed in October.

The dawn attack on the American Center, when the guard duty was being changed, had left five policemen dead and injured 20.

No consular staff or US nationals were injured when four people draped in shawls came on speeding motorcycles and sprayed bullets at the guards.

The operation was completed in less than five minutes before the terrorists escaped from the scene.

Later, two Islamic groups, including the Harkat-ul-Jihad-e-Islam (HuJI) based in Bangaldesh, had claimed responsibility for the attack.

In Kolkata, police deputy commissioner Jawed Shamim said a team from West Bengal Saturday visited Mumbai to cross-check the details.

‘Joint Commissioner of Police (STF) and I along with other officials went to Mumbai Saturday. On interrogating him (Shaikh), we found that he is Sadaqat operating under the name Sadiq,’ Shamim told reporters.

‘We were looking for Sadiq for a long time. We are trying to bring him to Kolkata,’ Shamim added.

Shaikh, along with absconder Riyaz Bhatkal alias Roshan Khan and another Pakistani – Atif – are believed to be the founders of the Indian Mujahideen.

Shaikh’s role has also come to light in the July 11, 2006 serial blasts in Mumbai’s suburban trains, police said. He was one of the key IM persons in direct touch with Pakistan-based Roshan Khan and Amir Raza.

Shaikh, along with absconder Riyaz Bhatkal, alias Roshan Khan and another Pakistani – Atif – are believed to be the main founders of the IM around 2005.

The police have said the Indian Mujahideen played a central role in the recent serial blasts in different parts of the country and was also involved in almost all blasts in the country in the past four years.

Kolkata: Is an Islamic terrorist attack imminent?

Sitting on a time bomb
26 Sep 2008, 0550 hrs IST, Caesar Mandal,TNN

The city’s underworld has suddenly gone quiet. Organized crime has dipped. But while police celebrate a success story, intelligence officials are spending sleepless nights. They fear that the next morning, everything will change in Kolkata. They fear a terrorist attack.

“The sudden disappearance of criminals indicates an uneasy calm. If they are not robbing houses or hijacking cars, what are they doing? Where are they getting their money from?” asked an intelligence official. Until a few months ago, whenever officers of intelligence agencies would meet to discuss the security scenario, they would all agree that Kolkata was comparatively safe from jihadi attacks. They felt it would be difficult to motivate Kolkatans to turn to terror, thanks to the social fabric.

But not any longer. The recent change in jihadi modus operandi and the background of home-grown cadres has alarmed security agencies. Kolkata is no longer safe, they realize.

Local criminals tapped

After the Ahmedabad blasts on July 26 this year, Gujarat Police suspected that a section of local criminals were involved in the attack. The suspicion turned true when Mumbai Police arrested a car thief who was allegedly among the five-member Indian Mujahideen (IM) team responsible for the serial blasts in Bangalore, Delhi and Ahmedabad.

The arrest corroborated police’s initial suspicion that hard-core terrorists are engaging local criminals to execute their plans, keeping themselves behind the curtain. “The local criminals don’t know the entire plan. They are assigned individual roles by the gamemakers and carry out the contract without knowing what it is for,” said a senior intelligence officer.

This IM thumbprint was the trademark of Asif Reza Commando Force and was seen in the abduction of Khadim boss Partha Roy Burman. Several local criminals were put to use while key players controlled the operation from a distance, say police. “The jihadis never use top rung gangsters. They prefer low-profile criminals on whom police do not keep close vigil – like car or bike thieves,” said an officer of Kolkata Police special branch.

Lull before storm
City police officers deny the link between the lull in crime and terrorist activity, claiming that the crime rate is low because most of the notorious criminals are cooling their heels in jail. But intelligence officials think otherwise. “Terrorists will not engage big-time gangsters like Gudda or Gabbar. Rather, someone like Seikh Binod is more useful to them as he has good connections among criminals of different statures,” said an Intelligence Bureau (IB) officer, pointing to the sudden fall in robbery and two-wheeler and four wheeler thefts in Kolkata.

IB officers are now hunting for local criminals who have disappeared from their trade in the last few months. “Why is crime not rising in proportion to the population or the increase in people’s wealth of late?” an intelligence official wondered.

Cloak of secrecy
Even as criminals are drawn unwittingly to the terror network, innocent people too are caught in the trap. Abdul Majid of Narkeldanga is said to be one such. He was arrested by Mumbai Police for the serial blasts but investigation revealed that he came in touch with four Bangladeshi youths at a marriage reception at his neighbour’s house. According to police, the four asked Majid to “escort” them to Mumbai for a pleasure trip, and while returning to their country, they requested Majid to keep their “luggage” claiming their visas had expired and they were trying to re-enter Bangladesh through the border. Months later, they returned to take back their belongings. Only after his arrest did he learn that the “luggage” was the RDX used in the Mumbai train blasts, police say.