Terrorism-related incidents in Rajasthan, 2007-2009

2009

• May 31: A suspected ISI agent, Mohammad Sajid, who allegedly carried out printing work for the Indian Army, was arrested in Bikaner District. Sajid, a resident of Bilalganj at Lahore in Pakistan, infiltrated into India via Bangladesh and Nepal and had established himself as a resident of Bikaner as a tenant under the assumed name of Lakhan Joshi since 2005, the Additional Director General of Police (Intelligence), M. K. Devarajan, said. Sajid had been reportedly running a printing press in the city where he purportedly managed to get some job works for Army units located there. Devarajan affirmed that the ISI gave him training in intelligence work and Hindi in the Lahore Military Hospital for three months. Meanwhile, the Rajasthan Police have registered a case against Sajid under the Official Secrets Act, 1923, and the Foreigners Act, 1946.

2008

• November 18: Police filed charge sheets against 11 Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) cadres, identified as Mohammad Qureshi, Mahndi Hassan, Imran, Nazakat Hussain, Shahbaz Hussain, Mohammad Toufiq, Munnavar Khan, Ateeq-ur-Rahman, Mohammad Iliyas, Mohammad Sohail and Mohammad Azam, in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate in capital Jaipur. The charge-sheets claimed that they were associated with the SIMI and had taken part in the meetings held by the banned group across the country. They were also accused of conspiracy against the nation for giving shelter to main accused of the Jaipur serial blasts, Sajid, Karimudeen and Taukir.

• September 7: Two youths, identified as Mohammad Sohail and Azam, detained in Jodhpur were arrested by the Special Investigation team (SIT) of Rajasthan Police on charges of involvement in the May 13, 2008 Jaipur serial blasts case. During investigation, it was found that both had links with the banned SIMI and the main accused of the Jaipur serial blasts, including Sajid, Karimudeen and Taukir. They had allegedly arranged hotel rooms for the meetings of Sajid and his accomplices. The SIT sources claimed, "Sajid and his associates like Taukir, Karimudeen and others had visited Jodhpur many times and generated funds from there. It was found that Sohail and Azam had also gathered Zakat (charity) for them". With these two arrests, the total number of people arrested in connection with the Jaipur serial blasts has gone up to 14.

• September 1: Police arrested four SIMI cadres suspected to be involved in the May 13 explosions in Jaipur. The arrested were identified as Munawar Husain alias Muzaffar Husain, Atiqur Rehman alias Abdul Hakim, Nadeem Akhtar alias Yaminuddin, all residents of Kota and Mohammed Iliyas alias Mohammed Husain from Baran. All of them were produced in the court and were sent on 11 days Police remand.

• August 25: Rajasthan Police arrested seven persons from Kota District for their involvement in the May 13 explosions in Jaipur. Police sources said the suspected mastermind behind the explosions, Shahbaz Hussain, who has since been arrested and remanded to 10 days Police custody held three terror camps in Nanta of Kota District between November 2007 and January 2008, along with other SIMI activists, Mufti Abu Bashir and Sajid Mansuri.

• August 24: Rajasthan Police, with the assistance of the Anti-Terrorism Squad of the Uttar Pradesh Police, arrested Shahbaz Hussain, a resident of the Maulviganj area of capital Lucknow, for his suspected involvement in the May 13 terrorist attack in Jaipur. A. K. Jain, the Additional Director General of Police (Crime) and chief of the Special Investigation Team in Rajasthan, said, "Shahbaz was a key player in planting the bombs in Jaipur as he was instrumental in mobilising resources as well as selecting the team, which executed the blasts." Police sources said that 25-year old Shahbaz, a diploma holder in mass communications and owner of a cyber cafe in Maulviganj, was a key aide of Sajid Mansoori who reportedly masterminded the Jaipur blasts.

• June 13: Ajmer District Police received a letter from the Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI) threatening to carry out bomb blasts in the State between June 12 and 20. The letter, sent on a postcard and written in English, warns of dire consequences if the Rajasthan Government and Police do not stop their crackdown on illegal Bangladeshi migrants. The letter also demands the release of Bangladeshis detained in Rajasthan for suspected terror links.

• June 9: The Special Operations Group (SOG) of Rajasthan Police investigating the May 13 Jaipur blasts case formally arrested Bharatpur cleric Mohammed Ilyas, who had been detained by the Police on May 26 under the Passport Act. Ilyas was also charged with possessing disproportionate assets and has been taken to Jaipur for further interrogation. Police recovered two forged passports from Chandigarh and Jaipur, a computer, a mobile phone and diaries from him. Police sources said that Ilyas is the imam (priest) of the Bharatpur mosque and also the convener of the Madarsa Jamia Islamia Arabia Darool Uloom's Bharatpur chapter.

• May 27: The Special Investigation Team probing the May 13 serial bomb blasts in Jaipur detained a madrassa (seminary) teacher and a telephone booth owner in Bharatpur for their alleged role in the bombings that killed 80 people. The teacher, identified as Hakimuddin, a resident of Nagla Imam Khan village in Mathura District, was living in Bharatpur for the past two years. The telephone booth owner, Kamil, had his shop at Khumer Gate in Idgah Colony in Bharatpur. The name of both persons had been disclosed by Mohammed Ilyas, the imam of the Jama Masjid, who was arrested on May 23.

• May 17: Police conducted raids across the State targeting SIMI activists. A SIMI cadre, Mohammad Shajid, was detained for questioning. Raids were conducted at Jaipur, Ajmer, Fatehpur, Godhpur, Tonk and Sikar on the basis of Intelligence inputs. A senior Police officer said, "Raids were conducted, but it seems most of the activists have gone underground fearing arrests."

• May 14: A day after the serial bomb blasts in Jaipur, the Rajasthan Police released the sketch of a suspected terrorist on the basis of details provided by a shopkeeper at Kishenpole Bazaar who sold him a cycle, which was used in planting a bomb in the crowded area of the walled city. Inspector-General of Police, Pankaj Kumar Singh, said the shopkeeper remembered the suspect as he behaved suspiciously and seemed to be in undue hurry to buy the cycle.

  An e-mail by an outfit known as Indian Mujahideen has claimed responsibility for the serial bomb blasts in Jaipur. The e-mail, which was sent on May 14-night to various television channels, has given the frame number (129489) of the bicycle which was planted at Choti Chaupad near Kotwali in Jaipur. The frame number of a bicycle recovered by the Rajasthan Police from the spot is same, official sources said, adding the e-mail was written on May 14 from a cyber cafe in Sahibabad in the outskirts of the national capital New Delhi. The e-mail id used was "guru_alhindi_jaipur@yahoo.Co.Uk", the sources said. The e-mail said India should stop supporting the US in the international arena, "and if you do continue then get ready to face more attacks at other important tourist places..."

• May 13: At least 80 persons were killed and over 150 others wounded when eight serial bomb blasts were triggered at Johari Bazaar, Hanuman temple, Hawa Mahal, Badi Chaupad, Tripolia Bazaar and Chandpole in Jaipur, capital city of Rajasthan. The first blast took place at 7.20pm (IST) in the crowded Johari Bazaar and within 15 minutes seven more blasts occurred in adjoining areas in the walled city area - near the Hanuman Mandir, which was reportedly crowded with devotees, near Hawa Mahal, at Badi Chaupad, Tripolia Bazaar and Chandpole. "We have information that 80 people have died," Rajasthan Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria was quoted as saying.

2007

• October 13: Rajasthan Police sources said six people, including two Bangladeshis, had been detained for questioning following the blast that killed two people and injured nearly 17.

• October 12: A live bomb was found near the main gate of the shrine of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer.

• October 11: Two persons, including one identified as Mohammed Shoaib, were killed and 17 others injured when a bomb exploded in the dargah (shrine) of the Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer. Official sources said that the bomb exploded at 6.12 pm (IST) near the Ahata-e-Noor courtyard. Intelligence sources revealed that the device used to execute the explosion was fabricated by packing a low-intensity explosive and metal fragment inside a metal lunch-box. Some fragments of a mobile phone were also recovered from the incident site.

Source: Compiled from English language media sources.