Detail Of Terrorism Update

Two militants suspected to be sectarian target killers were killed and a Police Constable was injured in an encounter in Akhtarabad area of Quetta on April 23, reports Dawn. According to sources, a Police patrol signalled a vehicle to stop for checking but its driver tried to speed away. Police chased the vehicle and found it in a nearby garden where a shootout took place. Two suspected terrorists were killed and Constable Riaz Ahmed was injured. 

The Deputy Inspector General (DIG) said Police had seized two pistols, hand-grenades, four 9mm rifles, a large number of bullets, fake number-plates and four Computerised National Identity Cards (CNICs). He claimed the suspects were target killers, adds Daily Times. “They wanted to target some people in Quetta but police’s timely action foiled their attempt,” he added. “We firmly believe they are target killers who had been on some mission. They belong to some extremist group involved in sectarian violence.”

The Times of India reports that the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadres killed sarpanch (head of village level local self-Government institution) Chamru Kulle Joi (40) of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), in Gardewada village under Etapalli tehsil (revenue unit) of Gadchiroli District on April 22. Sources claimed that the Maoists abducted Joi and shot him dead. His body was recovered on Gardewada-Mardakuhi road, 10 kilometres from Gatta Police outpost.

In another incident, Maoists set ablaze a forest vehicle and assaulted the forest labourers in Talwada village on Bhamragarh-Allapalli road in Aheri tehsil in the District on April 23. Sources claimed that Maoists reached the spot in the forest where labourers were busy loading vehicles with wood. They assaulted the labourers and set ablaze the vehicle with its fuel. The Maoists also left a pamphlet at the site urging the forest employees and the labourers to discontinue their work of clearing and cutting the jungle or face dreadful consequences. Police officials in Gadchiroli, however, denied of any knowledge of the incident.

A leader of the People’s Committee against Police Atrocities (PCPA), a frontal organisation of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist), was shot dead by unidentified assailants in the West Midnapore District on April 23, reports The Hindu. The bullet- ridden body of Mangal Mahato was found in the morning near Banstala railway station in the Jhargram sub-division of the District. According to the Police, Mahato had been charged with murder, abduction and sedition. He was arrested in April 2010 and was later granted bail in October 2011. After his release he was not actively involved in any ultra left activity but Police sources said that he was a Maoist link- man.

Armed Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadres set ablaze three tractors at a brick kiln at Sahajadpur village in Vaishali District on April 22, reports IBN Live. Around 25 Maoists raided the brick kiln and assaulted the labourers before setting ablaze the tractors, sources said.

Meanwhile, 10 French tourists, detained in Nawada District for violating visa rules, were deported from Bihar in the morning of April 23, reports Indian Express. They were sent to New Delhi from where they will have to catch the first flight home. The Police suspected the tourists had been working for a Maoist-sympathiser voluntary group, claiming to be working for rights of the landless people. The tourists, who had come to Bihar on April 18, were detained as they entered Nawada from Jamui on April 21.

Separately, the Bihar Government will install satellite phones at 85 places in Maoist and flood-affected Districts for better communication in times of emergency, reports Daily Bhaskar. An official of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) said satellite phones will be installed soon after equipment arrives in Patna.

Nagaland Post reports that suspected militants planted a hand grenade at the entrance gate of Director of Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) official quarter at RIMS in Imphal West District on April 23. Police as well as family of the director suspected the hands of the militant group who has been repeatedly planting bombs at the RIMS hospital campus.

Meanwhile, SFs arrested one United National Liberation Front (UNLF) cadre, identified as Ningthoujam Houburemba alias from Kumbi Uyung Makhong of Bishnupur District, reports The Sangai Express.

Also, Imphal West District Police commandos arrested a cadre of the Progressive faction of People’s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK-Pro), identified as Thokchom Budhachandra alias Mobi, on April 22 at from his residence. He disclosed that he is working under the command of ‘commander’ Deban alias Khamba of PREPAK-Pro for the last four years.  Two mobile handsets were seized from his possession.

Separately, the PREPAK has denied any connection whatsoever between the outfit and Sapam Chonbi alias Premabati who was arrested from Sairem Khul in Imphal West District on April 20 for her involvement in recruitment of under aged youths for militant outfits. They also maintained that PREPAK never recruited under aged youth.

Police on April 23 claimed to have arrested over 50 suspects in the overnight targeted operations in various parts of Karachi, reports Daily Times. At least two alleged target killers, arrested from Orangi and Baldia Towns, were also among the detainees. Police claimed to have seized a huge cache of weapons in the raids.  

The Mominabad Police arrested an alleged target killer, Imran. He was arrested while trying to flee after wounding two men near Badar Chowk, Orangi Town. A TT pistol was also recovered from his possession. A police official said that the arrested suspect belonged to a political party. However, he declined to name the party.  

Another alleged target killer, Fahimuddin alias Fahim Kala, was arrested from Baldia Town. Saeedabad Station House Officer (SHO) Tariq Islam said that the arrested suspect during initial investigation confessed to have killed Pakistan People's Party (PPP) workers Zafer and Majeed Bhola besides three Sunni Tehreek (ST) workers during the recent wave of target killings. 

Elsewhere, Awami National Party's (ANPs) District South President Abdul Bari Kakar accompanied by four of his companions Iqbal Kakar, Sadiq Tareen, Maqbool Kakar and Saddaruddin Agha, was arrested in a raid at the ANP Office located at Empress Market.

The Police arrested a militant, Hafizullah Malik, in village Arwani Bijbehara in Anantnag District in the evening of April 22, reports Daily Excelsior. Malik had infiltrated back recently via Nepal Border on a fake passport after being trained in illegal arms.  

Meanwhile, Police on April 23 said that two militants, Mohammad Lateef Pir alias Mushtaq Ahmad Latrum and Barkat Rasool alias Shoaib, who had crossed over to Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) in 1990's for arms training returned to Kashmir via Nepal along with wives and children. They have surrendered before the Police at Bomai Police Station in the Sopore area of Baramulla District.  

Indian Express reports Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) leader Yasin Malik on April 22 said his Front will make efforts to get the Kashmir issue resolved "without the help of Pakistan". "We feel that the issue is being sidelined despite the fact that the guns have been dropped and people are resorting to peaceful protests to raise the issue... We will make efforts to get it resolved without the help of Pakistan," he contended.

Three Naxalites [Left Wing Extremist (LWE)] cadres, including two belonging to the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist), surrendered in Warangal District on April 23, reports The Hindu. The surrendered Maoist cadres include ‘deputy commander’ of Sironcha dalam (South Gadchiroli division of Maharashtra), Pasham Swaroopa (22), and Agaboina Sambaiah (24), member of Singanna dalam that operates in Narasampet and Kothaguda areas. The third member, Gosula Raju, belongs to Communist Party of India-Marxist Leninist-New Democracy (CPI-ML-New Democracy) had been underground since 2009. He worked with the Suryam dalam in Kothaguda area.

Meanwhile, all the 32 detained Adivasis (tribals) of Chhattisgarh were produced before the executive magistrate in Kusumanchi mandal (administrative unit) in Khammam District by the local Police on April 23 and later let off. Kusumanchi Police took the 32 Adivasis, including seven women and five girls, into preventive custody while they were travelling in a bus from Bhadrachalam to Hyderabad to participate in the Revolutionary Democratic Front (RDF) meeting on April 22.  G Satyam, who was accompanying the Adivasis, has been arrested under Section 8 of Andhra Pradesh Public Security Act. Revolutionary literature of the banned CPI- Maoist was seized from his possession.

The Hindu reports that the Gajapati District and Session Court in Paralakhemundi on April 23 granted bail to eight Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadres, including Arati Majhi (22), in the two cases related to burning of Odisha State Road Transport Corporation bus and damaging a mobile communication tower at Raipanka in Gajapati District in 2009. Arati was one of the Maoists whose release was demanded in exchange of abducted (now released) Italian Paolo Bosusco. Arati was arrested on February 10, 2010. She is now lodged in Berhampur circle jail. Bosusco was abducted on March 14, 2012 and later released on April 12, 2012. The others who got the bail were Jacob Majhi, Shyam Majhi, L. Majhi, Babula Behera Dalai, Patra Majhi, Manu Majhi and Gisya Pradhan. But none of them would get released from jail. “Arati still has six more cases pending against her in which she has not received bail. Similarly the other seven also have several more cases pending against them”, Upendra Nayak, the legal counsel of Arati and the other seven said.

Khalil Ahmed, an aide of Dawood Ibrahim, was acquitted on April 23 by the Delhi High Court in a case of alleged attempt to extort money from a businessman in Delhi, reports The Times of India. He was booked under a stringent anti-organised crime law. Justice Suresh Kait dismissed the Police plea and upheld the trial court's order absolving Khalil of the charges under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crimes Act (MCOCA) for running an organised crime syndicate.

Normal life was affected due to a bandh (general shutdown) called by the Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities (NEFIN) on April 23 across the Terai region, reports Republica. Public transportation on highways has come to a halt in eastern Terai Districts including Jhapa, Morang, Sunsari, Saptari and Siraha due to the banda. The ethnic body called bandh to press for timely promulgation of an ethnicity-based federalism constitution, among their other demands.

Nepal News reports that the Unified Communist party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-M) chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal aka Prachanda said the Parliament is setting up Truth and Reconciliation Commission and Commission on the Disappeared to probe into wartime killings, torture and forced disappearance, adding that legal actions will be taken against those involved in such rights violations. He also made it clear that amnesty will not be provided to anyone involved in such gross human rights abuses. He also assured that the Government as well as the Maoist party is committed to find the condition and whereabouts of Nepali citizens who were forcibly disappeared during the decade-long armed conflict. He promised compensation as well as relief for the families of those disappeared by the State during the people’s war. 

An all-party meeting held in Raipur on April 23 to discuss proposals to secure the release of abducted Sukma District Magistrate, Alex P. Menon, concluded with the Chhattisgarh Government calling off Security Force (SF) operations in Bastar and agreeing to negotiate with the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist), reports The Hindu. As reported earlier, Menon was abducted on April 21, 2012.

Later in the night, Maoists named three mediators – Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan, former National SC/ST Commission chairperson B D Sharma and President of All India Adivasi Mahasabha Manish Kunjam - for negotiations. In a statement, the Maoists also termed Menon’s health as critical and asked the mediators to bring medicines along with them. They said only the three persons named by them will be allowed to negotiate in Tarmetla village and asked them to accept the invitation to act as mediators.

However, Prashant Bhushan and Manish Kunjam have declined to mediate, adds DNA.

The Gilgit-Baltistan cabinet on April 23 approved setting up a new force to eliminate sectarian violence from the region, reports Dawn.  The administration spokesperson and Education Minister Doctor Ali Madad Sher said a joint force comprising 400 personnel taken from Police, Punjab Rangers, Gilgit-Baltistan Scouts and Pakistan Army will maintain law and order. He said the new force would be commanded by an Army Major and will have two headquarters, one in the Home Department and the second at the main office of the Gilgit-Baltistan Scouts.                                 

Meanwhile, a check post and patrolling point would be set up after 10 kilometres distance on the Karakuram Highway in the jurisdiction of Diamer District to avoid any untoward incident on the road, informed the Minister. He also said a 20-member team comprising people from both Sunni and Shia sects would be set up to ensure that the two main mosques in the Gilgit city were not used for hate speeches. 

The minister also said three lists of anti-peace elements had been prepared and so far 20 out of the 30 most wanted people had been put behind the bars while raids were being conducted to arrest the remaining. He said jirga (tribal council) in Chilas had helped Police arrest eight out of 10 wanted people. The minister said efforts were underway to arrest seven culprits involved in murder of a man and kidnapping of 34 people, including two officials, in Hunza-Nagar District. 

Further, the Government urged the media to not to publish and give coverage to banned outfits particularly the sectarian militant groups, according to a directive issued. 

Pak Observer adds that Ali Madad Sher said that mobile phone service would remain suspended in Gilgit, Diamer and Hunzanagar till complete restoration of law and order. However, the Cabinet has decided to restore mobile phone service in Ghizr District. 

Meanwhile, curfew in Gilgit continued for the 21^st day.

Assam Tribune reports that Mizo families displaced from Sakhan range in Tripura due to “intimidation” from Bru community in 1998 would be rehabilitated soon starting from this week. Mamit Deputy Commissioner (DC) Rodney L Ralte on April 23 said that 83 Mizo families who migrated to Mizoram would be given rehabilitation by the Mizoram Government while 25 families who had returned to Tripura would be given rehabilitation by the Tripura Government. He said that 34 families who have submitted reports to the Mamit DC’s office and who have been verified would be rehabilitated during this week at the rate of INR 1050000 per family.

Meanwhile, the fourth phase of repatriation of Bru refugees from the six relief camps in North Tripura district would commence from April 26, he said, adding that the modalities for the resumption of repatriation, stalled since June 2011, were worked out in his meeting with the DC of North Tripura District on April 21. “It was agreed that the houses of those repatriated in the relief camps would be dismantled as soon as the refugees reach Mizoram,” he added.

The investigators feel that the attack on an Israeli diplomat, Tal Yehoshua Koren, on February 13, 2012, in New Delhi was carried out by Tevhid-Selam-Quds, an organization that is being handled out of Iran, according to The Times of India. "Its operatives are trained and equipped with weapons, ammunition and explosives, especially in handling of TNT and C4," said a source. The group has a history of carrying out terrorist attacks on Israel in other countries like those in Turkey, including the murder of Israeli security officer Ehud Sadan. Police has identified three Iranians, Houshang Afshar Irani, Mohammad Reza Abolghasemi and Seyed Ali Mahdian Sadr, allegedly involved in bombing of diplomat Tal Yehoshua Koren's car.

Meanwhile, the Central Forensic Science Laboratory has identified trinitrotoluene (TNT) as the explosive material used in the attack. Sources say TNT has not been used widely by terrorists in India earlier. "It is a material which is usually used by military and armed forces. There are few blasts in India where traces of TNT have been found. Terror groups in India mostly use RDX, PETN, ammonium nitrate or potassium chlorate," said an unnamed senior officer.

Meanwhile, the Kalina Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) is short staffed, says report. This has caused problem and delay in the investigation and analysis of DNA samples in many important cases, including the 13/7 blasts case. Anti-terrorism squad (ATS) officers, who are probing the serial blasts, had collected tooth brush, towels, computer discs, hair and clothes from the flat in Habib Apartment in Byculla in Mumbai (Maharashtra), where the two suspected Pakistani bombers, Waqqas and Tabrez stayed before and after the blasts. Kalina FSL had around 350 personnel till February, 2012 when the contract of 150 staff was over. Sources say the work is delayed due to shortage of manpower. The Kalina and Nagpur FSL receive around 800-1,000 cases to test samples every year.

Federal Minister of Interior Rehman Malik on April 23 revealed that activists belonging to political parties of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)-led coalition Government of Sindh are to be blamed for the menace of extortion in Karachi, reported Dawn. Malik said that activists of PPP, Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), Awami National Party (ANP) and other parties were involved in extortion in the metropolis.  The Minister also rejected the speculations that armed operations were only conducted in Lyari, adding security agencies have also raided offices of the MQM and other political parties in the violence-ridden city.  

However, the PPP and ANP rejected Rehman Malik’s statement while the MQM refused to comment. “The PPP will be the first party to take action against any activist involved in criminal activities, as such workers have no place in the party,” said Taj Haider, General Secretary of the PPP in Sindh. 

Meanwhile, Secretary Information of the ANP’s Sindh Chapter, Riaz Gul, also rejected Malik’s statement. He claimed that there were no ANP activists involved in extortion, and that if the interior minister had any evidence to the contrary, it should be made public.

Assam Tribune quoting PTI reports that Chief Minister (CM) Tarun Gogoi on April 23 admitted Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) “have made some headway” in the State and sought the Central Government’s economic and technical assistance to wean away youths from CPI-Maoist. “To defeat them (Maoist) we need schemes to generate employment among youths not only in Maoist affected districts but all backward and rural areas. I have apprised the Prime Minister about the issue and sought his help”, Gogoi added.

Meanwhile, Installation of floodlights on the Indo-Bangladesh border in Dhubri District, sanctioned by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (UMHA) in 2006 is yet to be completed, reports The Telegraph. The report quoting a source in the border stated that even the barbed wire fencing project, which started in 2007-2008 in the Moslabari and Mantrirchar areas of the District has not been completed yet. The District shares 134 kilometers border with Bangladesh of which 77.3 kilometers is land border and 56.7 kilometers is riverine.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on April 23 said that the era of wars has ended and Pakistan is prepared to resolve all outstanding issues with India, including the Kashmir dispute and terrorism, through talks, reports Times of India. "The era of wars has ended. We are ready to sit and resolve all core issues? Whether it is Kashmir, Sir Creek, Siachen, water or terrorism? At the negotiating table," Gilani said. Instead of trying to resolve issues through force, the Government has adopted a policy of progress and negotiations, he added.

Jama’at-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed on April 23 turned down a ‘request’ from the Government to limit his public appearances and activities after the United States (US) announced a USD 10 million ‘bounty’ on him on April 2, 2012, reports Express Tribune. Associates of Hafiz Saeed told the media that Government agencies ‘advised’ him not to participate in public rallies for the time being. Saeed’s aides said the suggestion was made because the Government fears that his continued appearances might draw a hostile reaction from the US. They, however, said Saeed was adamant and would not accept any such demand. They added that Saeed was planning to address a rally organised by the Defence of Pakistan Council (DPC) in Quetta (Balochistan) later this week to mobilise the masses against the possible reopening of NATO supply routes. 

However, Senator Pervez Rasheed, the spokesperson for the Punjab Government, said he was not aware of any such request made by the Government.

The Shillong Times reports that the breakaway faction of the Achik National Volunteer Council (ANVC-B) has denied sharing any information regarding activities of Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA) and rival ANVC faction with Police. In an emailed statement on April 23, the ‘personal security’ to the ‘chairman’, ANVC-B Akimbri R. Marak said, “We have no connection with police either in information sharing or in operations.” While calling upon the GNLA to stop the blame game, the ANVC-B asserted that “pulling a trigger is not a solution.”