Terrorism related incidents in Andhra Pradesh since 2007

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February 21

Dilsukhnagar, Hyderabad Urban District

Twin blasts happened in quick succession a little after 7 pm, about 100 metres apart.

Karnataka

Maharashtra ATS with Karnataka Police detained a man, Shaikh Aqueel in connection with February 21 twin blasts.

Tadbund X road, Hyderabad Urban District, Andhra Pradesh

Five persons were arrested for allegedly circulating FICN. The main accused Gouse is still absconding.

NS

Police suspect links between Sabarmati (Gujarat) Central Jail tunnel case (2013) and the Hyderabad blast case (February 21, 2013).

Secunderabad railway station, Hyderabad District

Three persons were arrested on charges of possessing FICN.

Preliminary forensic reports suggest that the bomb used in the Bangalore (Karnataka) blast of April 17, 2013 is similar to the ones used near Jama Masjid in New Delhi on September 19, 2010, Zaveri Bazar, Mumbai (Maharashtra) on July 13, 2011 and also in the twin blasts in Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh) on February 21, 2013.

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April 27

Hyderabad

DRI officers arrested a passenger who arrived by an Emirates flight from Dubai and seized FICNs with face value of INR 4.Million from him at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad. Officials did not disclose the identity of the accused. This is the first big haul of this kind at Hyderabad airport, the DRI release said. "The accused, who is being questioned, had made trips to Dubai in the past for the same purpose," the release added.

Delhi court also allowed the plea of Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh) ATS for a month's custodial remand of another IM militant, Mohammed Tariq Anjum (31). He is said to be a member of banned SIMI.

Police neutralized a two-member gang circulating FICNs printed in Pakistan. The Police arrested the gang from the railway station area of Vishakhapatnam.

IM operative Mohammed Tariq Anjum reportedly told interrogators that the IM had carried out the twin bombings in Hyderabad to avenge the May 18, 2007, Mecca Masjid bomb explosion. Sources said that Anjum has given some vital leads about 'most wanted' IM founder Riyaz Bhatkal.

The state intelligence agencies have intensified search for Shaikh Najeehullah alias Najeeh, an alleged LeT operative from Hyderabad, suspecting that he might have entered Andhra Pradesh with some sinister designs.

West Godavari District (Nizamabad, Tanaku)

The arrest of a manpower consultant from Nizamabad, Vamshi, and another broker, Srinu alias Subrahmanyam of Tanuku in West Godavari, by the DRI officials revealed that the Districts of East Godavari and West Godavari, are emerging as favourite places for circulating Pakistan-printed FICNs which are flown into Hyderabad via Dubai.

Task Force team has arrested two persons, identified as R. Pandu Ranga Rao and Syed Sami involved in FICN racket near Gokul theatre in Erragadda in Hyderabad.

Police busted a gang from Malda of West Bengal who supplied FICN in Hyderabad.

Police arrested three persons on charge of manufacturing FICN and seized counterfeit notes with face value of INR 2, 00,000 in Andhra Pradesh.

Police have arrested three persons for circulating FICN and seized INR worth 90,600 from their possession in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh.

According to classified Government report, the recent cyber attack was to test the effectiveness of network of 'modules and sleeper cells' of subversive outfits in states like Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Kerala.

Intelligence agencies in their report have warned that outfits like HuJI, IM, SIMI and even the PFI have a formidable network in southern India and have 'increased their support base manifold' in the last few years.

Andhra Pradesh has topped the list of cyber crimes committed across the country.

Police suspect that the money to execute the conspiracy to eliminate two corporators and a leader from Hindu right-wing organisation, using Hyderabad city (Andhra Pradesh)-based terror suspect Obaid-Ur-Rahman, might have come from Dammam.

Alleged IM and SIMI operative Afaq Iqbal alias Danish Riyaz was brought to Hyderabad from Gujarat by the SIT of Hyderabad Police.

Six persons were arrested with FICN having a face value of INR 2 lakh were arrested in Hyderabad.

Syed Afaque Iqbal has now been booked by the SIT for reviving banned SIMI in Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh). Two days after taking the custody of Iqbal, Hyderabad Police has claimed to have gathered sufficient leads to charge him of revving banned SIMI in the city.

Delhi Police arrested another suspected IM terrorist, identified as Sayed Maqbool alias Zuber, from Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh) for his alleged involvement in the August 1, 2012 Pune serial blasts.

Police arrested three persons and seized FICN worth 6, 500, 00 from them in Secunderabad near Trivoli Theater, in Andhra Pradesh.

West Zone Task Force sleuths arrested four members of a FICN gang from Motidarwaja in Golconda in Hyderabad District (Andhra Pradesh) and seized from their possession FICN 50,000.

Mumbai CB has arrested a software engineer, identified as Tajool Kazi, from Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh) for his alleged role in BEST bus at Ghatkopar attack (Mumbai, Maharashtra) on December 6, 2002, which killed four people. Kazi is an active cadre of SIMI.

Police authorities admit that the menace of FICN is on the rise in Vishakhapatnam city, Andhra Pradesh.

Hindu Right Wing extremist Rajender Chaudhary was arrested in Ujjain (Ujjain District) of Madhya Pradesh. NIA claim Rajender alias Samunder alias Pehlwan along with one Amit planted bombs on the premises of the Mecca Masjid (Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh) on May 18, 2007.

NIA special court remanded Rajender Chaudhary alias Pehalwan, a key accused in the Mecca Masjid Blast (May 18, 2007) in Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh) case and Samjhauta Express blast of February 18, 2007, in 12-day NIA custody till December 28, 2012.

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January 18, 2010

Hyderabad

The Special investigation Team (SIT) of Hyderabad Police arrested ‘south India commander’ of the LeT,  identified as Shaik Abdul Khaja alias Amjad, from Afzalgunj area of the city. Police said that the arrestee was linked to Mohammed Abdul Shahid Bilal, key suspect in the May 2007 Mecca Masjid bombing. Hyderabad Police Commissioner B. Prasada Rao said that Amjad was a resident of Moosaram Bagh and has been absconding since 2005.  Amjad, who also goes by the noms de guerre of Saif, Pappu and Abdullah, is accused of having close links with other terrorist groups like the Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI) and the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Rao said, adds The Hindu. Rao also mentioned that Amjad was in Hyderabad for a recce for a terrorist attack. At the time of his arrest, he had in his possession USD 348, Saudi Riyal 313, United Arab Emirates Dirham 225 PNR 28,640 and BNR 348, Rao said.

2

May 3, 2010

Hyderabad

The Hyderabad Police neutralised a sleeper cell of LeT by arresting its operative Mohammad Zia-ul-Haq. The 34-year-old accused turned out to be the man who lobbed a grenade inside Odeon theatre at RTC crossroads in 2006, Hyderabad Police Commissioner A.K. Khan told reporters. Haq became passive soon after carrying out that grenade attack and continued to live in Hyderabad though he met his handlers now and then. In a joint operation with Counter Intelligence wing, the city Police arrested Haq, a resident of Edibazar of Bhavaninagar in old city. A Chinese made 7.4 pistol with six rounds and two Chinese made grenades were seized from him. Directed by his handlers to cause ‘maximum damage’ in the city, Haq was looking out for targets when city Police were alerted by central intelligence agencies, Khan said.

3

May 14

Hyderabad

A Policeman was killed when at least two gunmen attacked an unarmed Police Picket at the Khilwat junction of the communally sensitive Old City area, four days ahead of the third anniversary of the bomb blast at Mecca Masjid. Constable V. Ramesh and his colleague Sri Hari were under a tree when two youths drove up to them on a motorcycle. One of them whipped out a weapon and shot at the Policemen. Hyderabad Police Commissioner A.K. Khan said that Police suspected the involvement of Vikaruddin, a suspected operative of the LeT, who reportedly masterminded a similar attack earlier. Subsequently, forensic experts who sifted the area found two spent cartridges and a blood-stained Compact Discs (CD) believed to have been left behind by the assailants. The CD contained a statement by an unknown outfit, Tehrik-e-Galba Islami that the attack was in retaliation for the bomb explosions at Mecca Masjid in 2007. The statement is in the name of Mohammad Fasiuddin.

4

July 14, 2010

Secunderabad

The Andhra Pradesh Police on July 14 arrested a terrorist, identified as Viqaruddin Ahmed, who was on the run for more than two years after masterminding the killing of a home guard and a Constable in Hyderabad, The Hindu reported. On information that he was moving around in disguise, the Police arrested him when he came to a roadside shop to buy vegetables at Padmaraonagar in Secunderabad. The Counter Intelligence Cell also detained his brother, Sulaiman, and two others after raiding a single-room tenement they had taken on rent at Shabajiguda of Padmaraonagar. Among the detained was a homeopathy doctor, Mohammed Haneef, of Musheerabad, who sheltered Viqaruddin. Based on Viqaruddin''s confession, two youths were arrested from Miryalaguda in Nalgonda District. Police records show that Viqaruddin, who lives in Malakpet, was initially associated with the Darsgah Jihad-O-Shahadat, a religious fundamentalist organisation operating from the Old City.

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January 20, 2009

Hyderabad

An Indian Mujahideen (IM) cadre and alleged key suspect of the July 2008 serial bomb blasts in Bangalore (capital of Karnataka) and Surat (Gujarat) was arrested by the counter intelligence wing of the Andhra Pradesh Police. The arrestee, identified as E. T. Zainudheen alias Abdul Sattar, a native of Malappuram District in Kerala, was actively involved in terror activities in different parts of the country. Sattar, a radio mechanic, is an expert in timer devices and prepared circuits placed with timers used for the Bangalore bomb blasts on July 25, 2008, a Police official said, adding, "We strongly suspect his role in last year''s Bangalore blasts. He also made timer devices for Surat bombs." Sattar was closely associated with Riyaz Bhatkal, a key leader of the IM, he said. During interrogation, Sattar confessed that he hosted Riyaz and Jabbar for two days in October 2008.

May 2, 2009

Hyderabad

Mohammed Nissar, an alleged LeT militant from Hyderabad who disappeared in 2003 while facing trial in a terrorism case, was arrested by the Police in Hyderabad.

May 3, 2009

Hyderabad

A suspected LeT militant, identified as Mohammed Nissar, who was arrested by the Police from Hyderabad, capital of Andhra Pradesh, was remanded to judicial custody till May 18. According to the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), R.S. Praveen Kumar, Nissar alias Osman Bhai had been staying in the Manna Ekhelli village of Bidar District in the Karnataka State. "In August 2001, he along with Abdul Aziz alias Gidda was arrested for indulging in subversive activities and released on bail after three months. Later, he stopped attending the court and went missing,'' the DCP added. It is learnt that the Police had then recovered two pistols, one forged passport, Compact Discs containing jihadi material and an electronic detonator from him.

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March 6

Hyderabad

Police arrested an agent of the Pakistani external intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), identified as Billah, following information provided by a terror suspect arrested in Karnataka. Billah was reportedly named by Raziuddin Naser, who was arrested in Karnataka in January 2008 in connection with a plot to carry out terrorist attacks in Goa and Hyderabad. Some sensitive documents and compact discs were recovered from Billah, who had previously been booked for two cases filed in late 2004.

July 14

Chittoor

The Additional District Judge court at Madanapalli in the Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh sentenced to life imprisonment a Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) militant Azad Ahmed Qureshi, who was arrested in Madanapalli on July 3, 2007. The 29-year-old Qureshi, a native of Kashmir, was sentenced and fined INR 12,000 under sections 121, 121a and 468 of the Indian Penal Code for waging war against India, conspiracy to wage war and forgery in the preparation of election identity cards in Kashmir by the Judge.

July 15

Hyderabad

Police arrested Mohammed Muqeemuddin Yaser, a former member of the outlawed Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), from his residence in the Saidabad area of Hyderabad, capital of Andhra Pradesh. Yaser, who is a MBA student, is also the eldest son of Maulana Naseeruddin, the founder president of Tehreek-e-Tahaffuz-e-Shaan-e-Islam (TTSI) and is presently lodged at the Sabarmati jail in Ahmedabad for his alleged role in the assassination of the former Gujarat home minister Haren Pandya. Yaser’s younger brother Raziuddin Naser, a suspect in the twin blast cases in Hyderabad in August 2007, was arrested by the Karnataka Police in January 2008 for planning terrorist attacks in Karnataka and Goa.

September 1

Hyderabad

The Hyderabad Police arrested a person identified as Jaber for suspected links with the SIMI. Hyderabad City Commissioner of Police B. Prasada Rao said, "Jaber has been arrested for his alleged links with the banned SIMI and sharing material with SIMI head Safdar Nagori." Jaber, son of Moulana Naseeruddin, is a Hyderabad resident. Naseeruddin is an accused in the assassination of former Gujarat Home Minister Haren Pandya and is now in Sabarmati jail in Gujarat.

November 22

Hyderabad

Kerala Police arrested one Indian Mujahideen (IM) cadre, identified as Abdul Jabbar, from Rajendra Nagar police station limits. Jabbar reportedly belonged to Malappuram in Kerala and recruited youths from his home State for armed training in Jammu and Kashmir and in Pakistan occupied Kashmir. He had managed to escape from an encounter site in Jammu and Kashmir in October 2008. Investigation revealed that Jabbar is the relative of Abdul Sattar, another terror suspect. Jabbar confessed that he had received training in making bombs and assembling and dismantling of guns.

December 3

Hyderabad

A suspected terrorist involved in the May 18, 2007 Mecca Masjid blast case, identified as Vikar Ahmed, and his accomplice, identified as Amjad, and two others escaped after open firing at a three member police team, who tried to arrest them near the crowded Indira Seva Sadan cross road in the Santoshnagar area.

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May 18

Hyderabad

10 persons were killed and over 50 others injured in a bomb blast at the Mecca Masjid (Mecca mosque) near Charminar. Over 10,000 people were offering prayers at the 400-year-old mosque at 1.15 p.m. when the bomb exploded. Police sources said that the explosive device, in which RDX was used, was triggered with a cellular phone and was hidden underneath a thick marble platform. Two more improvised explosive devices (IEDs) were recovered from the site and later defused by the police. Police also found a SIM card from a mobile phone attached to an IED.

2

June 15

Hyderabad

An ISI agent, Mohammed Abdul Sattar, a 27-year-old air conditioner mechanic, was arrested near Secunderabad railway station. Sattar reportedly confessed that he had received arms training in Pakistan in 2004 along with other ISI activists under the leadership of Shahid Bilal, a key suspect in the Hyderabad bomb blast.

3

July 3

Chittoor

A suspected Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) militant, Azad Ahmed Qureshi, was arrested at Madanapalle. A native of Srinagar, capital of Jammu and Kashmir, Qureshi engaged in leather jackets business from 1993 to 1999 in Delhi. Subsequently, he began working for the Islamic Front, a militant outfit operating from Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK). He was in prison till April 2006 following which he continued to work with terrorist outfits, crossed over to Pakistan occupied Kashmir and established links with the LeT.

4

July 15

Secunderabad

A courier of terror operatives suspected to have links with Shahid Bilal, prime suspect in the May 18 Mecca Masjid blast in Hyderabad city, was arrested. The arrested man, 26-year-old Mohd Abdul Kareen Quadri, of Asmangadh in Malakpet, ran a watch repair shop in Malakpet.

5

August 25

Hyderabad

Police arrested four persons, including a Dubai national, and seized counterfeit currency of INR 2.36 crore from the old city area, hours before the twin blasts at the Lumbini Park and Gokul Chat Shop.

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August 25

Hyderabad

The city police recovered a live bomb from Dilsukhnagar area and later defused it, hours after the twin blasts. The bomb was planted underneath a foot-over-bridge with a timer set for 9.30 pm, police sources said.

7

August 25

Hyderabad

10 persons were killed and 29 others injured in a bomb blast in an open air auditorium in Lumbini Park near the State secretariat when a laser show was underway.

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August 25

Hyderabad

32 persons were killed and 21 others injured when an explosion occurred at 7.50 pm at the popular Gokul Chat shop in Kothi locality.

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September 11

Hyderabad

One suspected agent of Pakistan’s external intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), was arrested by the Special Investigation Team probing the August 25 twin blasts in Hyderabad. Mohammed Sohail, a resident of Saleem Nagar in Malakpet, was arrested at the RTC crossroad area. He was reportedly found in possession of jihadi literature. Police sources said that Sohail was in contact with the Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI) leader Shahid Bilal, the prime accused in the blast cases in Hyderabad.