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Incidents and Statements involving Lashkar-e-Taiba
: 2009
2009
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December 28: Coming down heavily
on the hotel managements for ignoring specific security warnings,
a Government-appointed probe panel set up after the 26/11 terror
strikes has said that the lack of Police presence outside the Taj
Mahal and Oberoi hotels allowed heavily-armed Pakistani LeT terrorists
to walk in rather smoothly. The two hotels and the Leopold Cafe
- the worst-hit sites during the multiple terrorist attack last
year - in south Mumbai were ill-prepared to thwart the attack despite
their managements being informed about specific intelligence warnings
that the LeT was planning to target them, says the report of the
R.D. Pradhan probe committee. The three sites were specifically
named in different intelligence tip-offs, the panel found during
its investigations. The hotel managements ignored the warnings and
didn't take proper security measures as advised by the Police, it
says.
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December 27: The Army destroyed
a hide-out of the LeT and recovered explosive devices and ammunition
in Surankote forests of Poonch District. Recoveries made by the
troops of 25 Rashtriya Rifles from the forests include seven Chinese
grenade, two magazines of Sniper rifle, two magazines of AK rifle,
one UBGL grenade, rucksack bags, medicines, incriminating documents
of the LeT and some eatables.
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December 26: The Army destroyed
a hide-out of the LeT and recovered explosive devices and ammunition
in Surankote forests of Poonch District. Recoveries made by the
troops of 25 Rashtriya Rifles from the forests include seven Chinese
grenade, two magazines of Sniper rifle, two magazines of AK rifle,
one UBGL grenade, rucksack bags, medicines, incriminating documents
of the LeT and some eatables.
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December 25: The Police arrested
two militants of the LeT and Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM) outfits from
Dhara village in Thanna Mandi area of Rajouri District. One of the
arrested militant was working as a co-ordinator between the LeT
and HM outfits and was in constant touch with several top ‘commanders’
of the two groups, official sources said. They were identified as
Abdul Salam (17), son of Abdul Rashid, a resident of Dhara, Thanna
Mandi and Mohammad Rafiq alias Papa Lohar (45), son of Faiz Baksh,
a resident of Khanyal Kot. While Salam was affiliated to the HM,
Papa Lohar was working for the LeT. Police recovered a high range
wireless set, two wireless set antennas, 17 pairs of Dura cell chargers,
a number of incriminating documents including letter heads of LeT
and HM outfit and a medical kit from the possession of Abdul Salam.
Some more recoveries were expected from the two arrested militants
during their further interrogation.
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December 20: Security Forces arrested
a close supporter of slain LeT ‘Divisional Commander’ Abu Tallah,
identified as Nisar Ahmed, in Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir,
police officials said. He was working as a guide, messenger and
courier of slain LeT Abu Tallah.
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December 17: The Army foiled an
infiltration bid by militants at Kamalkote in Uri sector near the
Line of Control (LoC), killing one militant. The other cadres of
the group escaped back into Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). The
militants had not crossed the barbed wire fencing erected along
the Line of Control (LoC) but had entered the Indian Territory when
the gun battle took place. A Defence spokesman said the operation
was still in progress. As per intelligence reports, more than 2000
militants are waiting at various launch pads across the LoC, awaiting
orders to infiltrate into the Valley and other parts of the State.
Nearly 100 militants have been killed in dozens of infiltration
bids along the LoC in 2009 after the top three militant outfits
- LeT, Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) - lost
several of their top 'commanders' in anti-militancy operations launched
by the Security Forces.
Three militants were reported to
have returned from Pakistan taking an unidentified route and were
hiding somewhere in upper reaches of Banihal in Ramban District.
The militants have returned after spending nearly a decade in different
training camps of Pakistan. Intelligence reports said the route
taken by the three militants, two belonging to the HM and another
to the LeT, to reach Banihal is being ascertained as strict surveillance
is being maintained on traditional infiltration routes at LoC as
well as International Border (IB). The militants, who have reached
Banihal after nearly a decade long hi-tech training in different
camps of Pakistan, have been identified by the Intelligence agencies
as Inayatullah and Mohammad Rafiq of HM and Mohammad Iqbal of LeT.
With arrival of the three militants, the number of militants operating
in Ramban District has gone up to 21.
Soofiya Madani, wife of Peoples'
Democratic Party (PDP) leader Abdul Nasser Madani, was arrested
from her residence in Kochi shortly after the Kerala High Court
dismissed her anticipatory bail application in connection with the
burning of a Tamil Nadu bus in the State in September 2005. Soofiya
was named as the tenth accused by the Kerala Police recently after
the interrogation of suspected LeT militant T Nazir, who was picked
up by the Bangladesh Rifles along with an associate and handed over
to Indian security agencies. Her arrest came as Justice K T. Sankaran
dismissed her bail plea stating that, prima facie, there was evidence
that terrorism took place and there were serious allegations against
the petitioner of waging war against the country.
Geopolitical intelligence group
Stratfor said that the investigation into the David Headley case
has conclusively proved that LeT and Harkat-ul-Jihad-al Islami (HuJI)
continue to enjoy great deal of operational freedom in Pakistan
because of their links with its Government and military officials
even as al-Qaeda barely manages to survive. This is one of the conclusions
drawn by Geopolitical intelligence group Stratfor in its latest
report on US investigations into Headley which further authenticates
India's stand that Islamabad is not doing enough to dismantle the
terror infrastructure. According to Stratfor, the case shows that
LeT and HuJI operatives were able to travel, raise funds, communicate,
train and plan operations in Pakistan with seemingly little interference.
''This is a stark contrast to al-Qaeda, which is hunted, on the
run and experiencing a great deal of difficulty moving operatives,
communicating, raising funds and conducting operations. The links
between Headley and his associates to current and former Pakistani
military officers and Government officials are likely what is affording
LeT and HUJI their operational freedom,'' said the report, adding
that even while having to drift out from under the wings of Inter-Services
Intelligence (ISI), the two groups have developed an advanced central
planning apparatus. The report goes on to say that HuJI leader Ilyas
Kashmiri's links with al-Qaida and the plans for Denmark attack
are an indication that HuJI has become more closely aligned with
the transnational jihadis targeting philosophy as a result of Kashmiri's
contacts with Osama bin Laden and company. ''It appears that LeT,
on the other hand, has retained more of a focus on India. So, while
the two organisations continue to cooperate, they do have some differences
in targeting philosophy, and it would seem that HuJI is creeping
further into the al-Qaida orbit than LeT,'' states the report.
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December 16: The Federal Bureau
of Investigation (FBI) interrogator of David Coleman Headley alias
Daood Gilani has, for the first time, confirmed that "A section
of serving Pakistan army officers" are working in collaboration
with India-specific jihadi groups like LeT and Jaish-e-Mohammed
(JeM). Sources said this was revealed by Headley to his FBI interrogators
in what is the first confirmation by an independent probe agency
of the involvement of Pakistani Army officers in planning and executing
terrorist operations against India. This, sources said, had been
conveyed to the Indian side by the FBI team which visited India
to share information on Headley's questioning. While Pakistan has
explained away the instances of the involvement of Army officials
calling them "aberrations", this has exposed the jihadi
infiltration of the Pakistani Army and their collaboration with
terrorist outfits in anti-India operations. Sources said the officials
identified by Headley were working with Lashkar on 'Karachi project'
as part of a larger campaign against India. This project involves
using jihadi fugitives from India sheltered in Pakistan to draw
in vulnerable Indian Muslim youth. The FBI interrogation of David
Coleman Headley has revealed a Lashkar training project involving
jihadi fugitives from India. The youth, after they are trained by
Pakistani army officials, are sent back to India as part of the
gameplan to conceal the Pakistani involvement and pass off the terror
in India as a home-grown phenomenon.
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December 15: A self styled LeT 'commander'
hailing from Reasi District was killed in an encounter with the
Security Forces (SFs) in Kupwara District, while a Pakistan-trained
militant of the Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) was arrested by SFs in Srinagar.
The encounter took place at Kakadpathri forests in Lolab area of
Kupwara District in the morning, after SFs launched an operation
to flush out the militants hiding in the area, official sources
said. An AK assault rifle, few grenades and some other ammunition
were recovered from the incident site. Superintendent of Police
of Kupwara District, Uttam Chand, told Daily Excelsior that the
slain militant was identified as Abu Muaviya, a resident of Mahore
area in Reasi District.
One Pakistan origin American national,
Syed Haris Ahmed (25) of Atlanta, and one Bangladesh origin American
national, Ehsanul Islam Sadequee (23) of Georgia, were sentenced
to 13 and 17 years in prison respectively by a United States court,
for their link to Pakistan-based LeT and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM)
and providing them with material aid and support for attacks in
the U.S. and abroad. District Judge William Duffey Junior of Federal
Court in Atlanta sentenced Syed Haris Ahmed and Ehsanul Islam Sadequee,
following their convictions in 2009 in separate but related criminal
trials. Like David Coleman Headley and Tahawwur Rana, Sadequee and
Ahmed too were in contact with the LeT and the JeM. However unlike
Headley, who sent video footage and photographs of possible LeT
targets in India, Sadeequee and Ahmed sent video clips of possible
LeT targets in the US. "This is not about your faith,"
Judge Duffey Jr. told them. "This is about your conduct. This
is about the rule of law in this country that you have decided does
not apply to you."
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December 14: 'Pashtun-looking' suicide
bombers, trained by Taliban, have entered India and are positioned
in Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and a couple of cities in Gujarat to carry
out LeT’s plan to launch a fresh wave of attacks in coming days,
security agencies have said. Though the exact number of fidayeen
who entered India is not yet clear, Indian agencies have come across
inputs stating that suicide squads have already been in touch with
their facilitators - who entered India as an advance party - for
necessary logistics for the operations. An official said, "It
is possible that one or two suicide bombers could be positioned
in each of the cities, which are on terror radar. They have been
trained by Taliban and pushed into India by LeT."
The suicide bombers' targets include
BARC, Trombay Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and Shiv Sena Bhavan in
Mumbai American consulate and sea port in Kolkata Rashtiya Swayamsevak
Sangathan (RSS) headquarters in Nagpur National Defence College
in Delhi, and some defence establishments and civilian targets in
other cities including Ahmedabad. Indian agencies have got the inputs
from FBI, which got the details from US-based terrorist David Coleman
Headley during his interrogation. After being tipped off by FBI,
the home ministry has now alerted Maharashtra, West Bengal, Delhi
and Gujarat asking them to beef up security of all such installations
and high-risk individuals - like Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra
Modi and Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray - and remain fully vigilant.
The official said states had also
been asked to keep watch on soft and potential targets and intensify
patrolling, especially at airports, railway stations, bus terminus
and hotels. He said the inputs also suggested that terrorists were
''Pashtun-looking'' and drawn from Pakistan-Afghanistan border areas.
A few days before the terrorists' entry, some of their ''facilitators''
had visited different cities for recce and to provide information,
the official said.
In a new disclosure, the Federal
Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has said that the famous Somnath temple
in Gujarat, Bollywood stars and Shiv Sena leaders in Mumbai were
also the targets of LeT, which was planning to carry out strikes
with the help of two Chicago-based residents of Pakistani origin.
These three possible LeT targets were revealed for the first time
by the FBI in a footnote to the fresh evidence and chargesheet submitted
by it against Pakistani-Canadian Tahawwur Rana, the terror suspect
whose bail plea hearing is scheduled for December 15 (today) in
a Chicago court. Earlier, the Federal Bureau of Investigation had
said that the National Defence College in New Delhi was on the hit
list of LeT.
"In the September 7, conversation,
David Coleman Headley discussed four targets with Rana - Somnath
(a temple in India) and Denmark, Bollywood (a reference to the Indian
film industry) and Shiv Sena (a political party in India with roots
in Hindu nationalism)," the FBI said in a foot note on page
nine of the 10-page fresh affidavit. "In his post-arrest statement,
Rana falsely claimed that these were references to potential business
ventures. It is difficult to imagine why a person who praises the
work of a designated terrorist group that attacks India would look
at an Indian temple or a Hindu nationalist party as a business venture,"
the FBI noted. "It bears note that, as set out in the complaint,
‘business’ and ‘investments’ were code words used by Rana, David
Coleman Headley (Pakistani-origin American terror suspect has been
charged for plotting Mumbai terror attacks), "Pasha" (a
retired Pakistani Army Brigadier) and others to describe terrorist
plots," the FBI said. The FBI said in his September seven conversation
with Headley, Rana discussed the National Defense College in India
as a "target". "Headley added this target to their
list of previously discussed targets, saying ‘sorry not four, five,’
and identified the ‘defence college’. Rana responded, ‘right, this
is it, I knew already’," the investigating agency said. "Rana
said he ‘thought it is the target’ using the English word ‘target’.
Headley explained that he would ask LeT Member A to 'do that first'
(attack the Defence College). Rana responded affirmatively, 'in
this matter, do the defence," the FBI said in the affidavit.
"After Headley stated that 'we' would use LeT Member A to carry
out the attack on the Defence College, Rana again offered praise
for Let Member A and the terror outfit: ‘they should be really commended.
I appreciate them from my heart’," the FBI said.
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December 9: The Army and Police
arrested two Over Ground Workers (OGWs) of the LeT from village
Patnazi in Kishtwar District. They were identified as Noor Hussain
(55), son of Abdul Aziz and his 25 year old son Masood Ahmed, residents
of Pattan at Patnazi in Kishtwar. Official sources said the OGWs
were arrested by a joint team of 21 Rashtriya Rifles and Police
during searches conducted in Patnazi. However, no recoveries were
made from the possession of the OGWs. Sources said the OGWs had
been providing logistic support including eatables and shelters
to the LeT militants on the directions of LeT 'district commander'
Mohammad Ishaq Bhat alias Atiq.
David Headley, the suspect terrorist
arrested by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), will
soon be charged separately by the Mumbai Police for allegedly conducting
reconnaissance of targets hit by LeT terrorists in November 26,
2008 (also known as 26/11). The decision comes after the FBI gave
in a Chicago court details of the reconnaissance missions carried
out by the American national at the behest of the LeT. Official
sources said that Indian investigators had enough proof of Headley,
who is of Pakistani origin, conducting surveillance of targets in
Mumbai for more than two years preceding the also known as 26/11and
all evidence of his involvement would be incorporated in the supplementary
charge sheet. However, it would be filed only after Indian investigators
get access to interrogate Headley.
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December 7: The Police arrested
two persons, identified as Abdul Hamid Lone and Hussain Mohammad
Dar alias Raju, for using cross-Line of Control (LoC) trade on Srinagar-Muzaffarabad
road to deliver funds for the LeT to fuel militancy in the Kashmir
Valley. The arrests were made by Sopore Police while investigating
the recovery of INR 300,000 Hawala money from a bakery owner in
the apple-town of North Kashmir earlier in December, official sources
said. Lone has told Police that his brother Abdul Majid Lone, who
is living in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) for the last 16 years,
was using the cross-LoC trade to fund militants of LeT in the Valley.
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December 6: The Police arrested
a LeT militant while his associate managed to escape in Gubbar forest
nursery in Gandoh area of Doda District. The militants were heading
towards upper reaches of Gandoh reportedly to meet two Pakistani
militants of the LeT outfit known with their code names of Ans and
Maaz. The arrested militant was identified as Mudassar Nazar, a
resident of village Sarna in Gandoh, while his associate, who escaped
from the incident site, was Naseer, a surrendered militant, who
also hailed from Sarna. The arrested militant is being interrogated
to ascertain hide-outs of the Pakistani militants - Ans and Maaz.
Arrested Jammu and Kashmir based
Islamist militant Abu Yusuf Butt, who is a leader of Jamaat-e-Islami
and Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM) outfit, confessed before a Dhaka court
that he was linked to the August 21,2004 grenade attack on an Awami
League rally on Bangabandhu Avenue in the city, reports Daily Star.
Disclosing that he was present at the site of the attack that killed
24 people and injured 300 others, the HM leader also admitted to
his close involvement in the planning and preparation of it, court
sources said. Yusuf gave the confessional statement before Metropolitan
Magistrate AKM Emdadul Huq after being in remand for 14 days in
four phases in the custody of the Criminal Investigation Department
(CID). Yusuf also said that he also worked with militant outfits
Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI) and Pakistan-based LeT.
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December 4: The Police arrested
three LeT operatives, including a hawala operator and an arms courier,
in three separate operations in the Kashmir valley, recovering a
large quantity of ammunition meant for top Lashkar ‘commander’ Abdullah
Uni. Police arrested a shopkeeper from the Sangrama area of Sopore
in Baramulla District who was on his way to deliver a consignment
of 3590 AK ammunition rounds to Abdullah Uni, official sources said.
They said Manzoor Ahmad Malik, a resident of Lalad in Sangrama,
had received the consignment from Kupwara and was directed to deliver
it to Uni and his close associate Muzaffar Ahmad Naikoo. Malik,
who runs a shop in Sangrama, has been arrested under the Arms Act
and Unlawful Activities Act. The recovery made from Malik was reportedly
one of biggest hauls of ammunition in Kashmir valley during 2009.
Another Lashkar operative, identified
as Abdul Rashid Bhat, was arrested from the Kangan area of Ganderbal
District. Bhat was a close associate of Pakistani militant Nadeem
Gujjar, a resident of village Dohota in the Sialkot District in
Pakistan. One Chinese pistol, one magazine and 15 rounds were recovered
from his possession. Meanwhile, the Sopore Police arrested a hawala
courier who had evaded arrest earlier this week. Identified as Raju,
the youth was scheduled to pick up INR 300000 from Manzoor Ahmad,
a bakery owner at Sopore, on November 30 but slipped from the Police
net as the bakery owner was arrested. Police had raided several
hideouts of Raju over the past three days and he was arrested late
last night, official sources said. Eight persons have been arrested
in the latest crack down on hawala operators in Kashmir valley since
July 2009.
The arrested LeT militant and the
mastermind of the July 25, 2008 Bangalore bomb blasts, Nasir, who
was handed over to the Bangalore Police, has revealed to investigators
that he had links with Abdul Nasir Madani, leader of the People’s
Democratic Party (PDP), the Police said in Bangalore. Tadaiyantavida
Nasir alias Ummer Haji alias Ummer and his close aide Safaz alias
Shafaz Samsuddi, were taken into custody by the Bangalore Police
team lead by Assistant Commissioner Omkaraiah, City Commissioner
of Police Shankar Bidari told Express Buzz. Madani was reportedly
the first accused in the 12 serial bomb blasts that killed 33 people
and injured 153 others in Coimbatore on February 14, 1998. But he
was released after the Police failed to prove his involvement. He
had close contacts with Nasir and the police are interrogating Nasir
about possible involvement in the Coimbatore case, a Police officer
said. Nasir allegedly visited Madani in October 2007 and acted as
a mediator in a scuffle between Madani and Nasir''s associates.
The Police said that Nasir reportedly revealed to investigators
that he was responsible for converting youth in the Students Islamic
Movement of India (SIMI) through Tareequath classes (a meeting of
like minded) to the Jihadi ideology. The Police said that Nasir
and his associates regularly visited Hyderabad to attend similar
assemblies.
A senior US diplomat alleged that
some Al Qaeda leadership could be present in Quetta, the capital
of Balochistan province. "Our intelligence shows that some
of the Al Qaeda leadership is in Pakistan," Candace Putnam,
the US Consul-General in Peshawar, told a media roundtable in Peshawar.
"I don’t know where Osama bin Laden is on any given day, but
we do know that some of the leadership is sitting in Quetta and
that they travel back and forth from Afghanistan to Pakistan,"
she said. "We know that they are there. And I think your government
also knows this. Whether they want to say this in public or not
but I think they know they are there," she added. She also
said that the United States had been successful in removing some
of the Al Qaeda leadership. But increasingly, she added, the United
States had found that Al Qaeda was working with the Taliban, LeT,
Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) and the Tehrik-e-Taliban
Pakistan (TTP).
However, the Foreign Office spokesman
Abdul Basit described Candace’s statement as "speculation"
and "misleading". "This is but sheer speculation.
If there is any credible information, it should be shared with us
through government channels rather than making misleading statements
through the media," the spokesman said. Pakistan’s own intelligence,
he added, indicated that the Taliban leadership was in Afghanistan.
"Otherwise, they would have long been handled, given our unflinching
commitment against violent extremism. Our actions against terrorism
speak for themselves," Abdul Basit claimed.
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December 3: Two LeT militants, who
were handed over to India by the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) near the
India-Bangladesh border in Meghalaya on December 2, confessed their
involvement in the July 25 Bangalore serial bomb blasts. "Nazir
Tarian Dabede (25) alias T Nazir told interrogators of Meghalaya
Police and BSF that he had planted the bombs along with another
person, Rahim," a top Police official said on December 3. "The
duo did not admit their involvement in the 2005 terrorist attack
on the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore," the official
added. They are likely to be taken to Bangalore on December 5. A
Bangalore Police team, led by an ACP, has arrived here. Formalities
are on to take the two to Karnataka, officials said.
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December 2: An over-ground worker
of the LeT, identified as Bashir Ahmad Wani, was arrested from Nagam
village in the Kokernag area of Anantnag District.
The Border Security Force (BSF)
personnel arrested two suspected Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operatives
from Umkrem near Pyrdiwah in East Khasi Hills District in Meghalaya
along India-Bangladesh border. They were subsequently handed over
to the Meghalaya Police. They were identified as Siraj Shamzudin
(30) and Nazir Tarian Dabede (25) and both of them belonged to Kannur
District in Kerala. A senior Police official said the militants
had confessed their involvement in 2008 serial bomb blasts in Bangalore.
They had also masterminded the 2005 terror attack in the same city
of Bangalore. They managed to escape Bangladesh soon after the blasts
and stayed there till they surfaced in on the Meghalaya border.
The BSF public relations officer Ravi Gandhi said that Security
Forces in Bangladesh had provided intelligence inputs to the BSF
leading to their arrest. "The militants have confessed to belong
to LeT though we could not recover any document or identity card
from them," Meghalaya Director General of Police S.B. Kakati
said. The militants also did not possess any arm or ammunition.
A senior Police official said the militants spoke fluent English.
"They seem to be highly educated and are the brain behind many
other bomb attacks in the southern states," he mentioned. According
to the Police, the LeT operatives had no contact or guide in Meghalaya
and were probably trying to travel from Shillong to the mainland
by themselves. The Police sources said that their guide in Bangladesh
may have helped them to reach the border and returned soon after.
"The LeT militants wanted to go to mainland India after reaching
Shillong. We do not know what new mission they were entrusted with,"
a Police official said. The Police ruled out any plan by the LeT
operatives to strike in the Northeast.
India is as vulnerable to a terror
attack as it was a few months ago because terrorist outfits have
forged alliances against the country, Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram
said. "We are as vulnerable today, as we were a few months
ago. Groups like LeT are now coordinating their action. One of these
groups appears to have forged ties with al-Qaeda," he said
in the Rajya Sabha (Upper House of Parliament). Without naming Pakistan,
Chidambaram said even while there has not been any terrorist attack
in the last one year, the country cannot lower its guard because
"our adversary has not changed its attitude...". Replying
to a debate on the internal security, he said the epicenter of the
cross border terrorism is the junction point of Afghanistan and
Pakistan and since India is in the region, "we are vulnerable".
The Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram
answering supplementary questions in the Rajya Sabha (Upper House
of Parliament) said there will be no talks with Pakistan unless
it brings to book the perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attacks.
"There are no talks with Pakistan," he said. "The
Prime Minister has already stated that unless Pakistan brings to
book the preparatory of 26/11 Mumbai (terror) attacks and dismantles
terrorist infrastructure (in that country), there is no scope for
talks with Pakistan," Chidambaram said. Replying to a debate
in the Rajya Sabha on internal security, he said the Government
would maintain zero tolerance towards terrorism, whether it is in
the shape of jihadi violence or Hindu extremist violence. He also
said India remains vulnerable to terrorism as he noted that outfits
like the LeT have forged alliances with Al Qaeda and Pakistan has
not changed its attitude.
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November 25: On the eve of the first
anniversary of November 26, 2008 (also known as 26/11) Mumbai attack,
the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said that terrorists backed
by various external agencies had expanded their focus beyond the
Kashmir Valley with the objective of creating communal tension and
hitting the country's economic growth. Underlining the threats which
exist despite various security measures taken post-Mumbai terror
attacks, the MHA said, "The challenge that we face today is
from terrorist organisations that are not only equipped with latest
technologies and have immense access to funds, but are having active
backing of various external agencies." The MHA also said, "It
is important that we are totally committed to a comprehensive approach
to tackling terrorism and put in sustained intensive efforts to
end this menace."
However, among measures taken to
strengthen security and intelligence infrastructure in the past
year, the MHA listed functioning of the Multi-Agency Centre (MAC)
within the Intelligence Bureau for effective intelligence sharing,
setting up of four regional hubs of National Security Guard (NSG)
at Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai, move to set up 20 counter-insurgency
and anti-terrorism schools across the country, constitution of National
Investigation Agency (NIA) and strengthening of coastal security
among other things. The MHA also said that due to close coordination
among intelligence and security agencies of the Centre and States,
a number of sleeper cells were broken up, key LeT operatives arrested,
terrorist incidents averted and a large number of cases resolved.
Referring to the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, the traditional
war zone of Pakistan-based terror outfits the MHA said that the
number of violent incidents has gone down considerably and till
October, 436 incidents were reported compared to 575 during the
corresponding period in 2008.
A day before the first anniversary
of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, an anti-terror court in Rawalpindi
indicted seven persons, including Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, ‘operations
commander’ of the LeT, for their suspected involvement in the attacks.
The indictment on November 25, 2009 paves the way for the trial
of the seven men, which may begin on December 5, the date for which
the next hearing has been fixed. The seven persons, all in custody,
are: Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, "mastermind" of the attacks
Abdul Wajid alias Zarar Shah, also of the LeT and described as a
"facilitator and expert of computer networks" Hamad Amin
Sadiq, who is charged with "facilitating funds and hideouts"
for the Mumbai attackers Mazhar Iqbal alias Abu al Qama, described
as a "handler" Shahid Jamil Riaz, who is described both
as a facilitator for funds, as well as a crew member of a boat used
by the attackers Jamil Ahmed, described as "facilitator"
and, Younus, also a "facilitator."
The in camera proceedings in Anti-Terror
Court 1 of Rawalpindi were held in the high-security Adiala Jail,
and reportedly lasted a little under two hours. Judge Malik Mohammed
Akram Awan framed charges against the seven under the Anti-Terrorism
Act, several sections of the Pakistan Penal Code, including Section
302 for murder and under the Explosives Act. All the seven pleaded
not guilty to the charges, including Shahid Jamil Riaz, who earlier
made a detailed confession about his part in the attacks before
a judicial magistrate in Rawalpindi, where he was first produced
after his arrest. Earlier, the court rejected objections by defence
lawyers at the last hearing over the admissibility of the confession
of the lone arrested LeT terrorist Ajmal Amir ‘Kasab’ as evidence.
They had argued that as he was neither an accused in the case in
Pakistan nor in the list of proclaimed offenders, his statement
could not be used for the purpose of framing charges against the
other accused. While holding that ‘Kasab’ could not be declared
a proclaimed offender as his whereabouts were known, the Judge said
he would be treated as an accused whose case had been separated
from the case under trial in his court, and who was being proceeded
against in another court.
The Police arrested two LeT militants
in the Doda District, who had connections with two Pakistani militants,
Ans and Maag (code names), operating in Doda. Official sources said
Sajjad Ahmed and Sohaib Ahmed, both LeT militants, were arrested
from the outskirts of Doda town on specific information that they
were involved in grenade attacks. Sources said Sajjad Ahmed and
Sohaib were directly linked with Pakistani militants Ans and Maag
of the LeT outfit. Police have recovered one hand grenade and 12
AK rounds from the possession of arrested militants.
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November 24: Five Pakistani Army
officers have been detained for questioning over possible links
to the two US terror suspects of the LeT, who are accused of plotting
an armed attack on a Danish newspaper, intelligence officials said.
LeT militants, David Coleman Headley and Tahawwur Hussain Rana,
were arrested in Chicago during October 2009. US prosecutors said
the two men were believed to be working with an unidentified senior
member of the outfit and a senior Al Qaeda operative. Two Pakistani
intelligence officials said phone records showed the five Pakistani
officers had contacted Headley and Rana. They say the five include
a retired brigadier general and two active lieutenant colonels,
but did not provide more details.
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November 23: Indian authorities
have arrested two top LeT militants, who infiltrated into Bangladesh
to lead a 15-member squad in an attempt to attack the US and Indian
missions in Dhaka, sources in the law-enforcement agencies said.
The LeT militants, identified as T. Nasir and Sharfaraz from Indian
State of Kerala, were arrested by the Indian intelligence officials
soon after they crossed the Bibir Bazaar border in Comilla District
on November 6, the sources added. They were reportedly members of
the LeT suicide squad and were earlier hiding in the hilly areas
of Chittagong District for around one and a half months and trying
to collect explosives from the Rohingya rebels for the attack. Funds
for launching the attacks on the US Embassy and Indian High Commission
were being provided by LeT leaders in Pakistan, said an unnamed
official of the Detective Branch. Sources said that T. Nasir, wanted
in India for a number of terrorist attacks, was supposed to lead
the 15-member team formed with five LeT militants from Bangladesh,
India and Pakistan each. They had planned to launch the attack on
November 26, the same day the LeT terrorists carried out the Mumbai
attack in 2008.
The Police arrested a suspected
LeT operative as he was allegedly carrying INR 100000 hawala money
to be delivered to the militants of the outfit in the Barzulla area
of capital Srinagar. "Mushtaq Ahmad Dar, son of Mohammad Sadiq
Dar, a resident of Wathoora in Budgam district, was arrested at
Barzulla while he was on his way to deliver Rs one lakh hawala money
to either a conduit or the militants of Lashkar-e-Toibla,"
Police officials said. Dar was arrested after Police developed some
leads while investigating an earlier case of hawala transactions
registered in the Police Station Saddar on July 21, 2009.
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November 22: The LeT denied having
any link to two men arrested in Chicago on terrorism charges. David
Headley and Tahawwur Hussain Rana were arrested in October 2009
and are accused of plotting an attack on the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten
and unspecified targets in India, the US authorities said in court
documents. The documents said the plans were discussed with the
LeT and with another militant Ilyas Kashmiri. The Indian authorities
are also investigating whether the two men had links to the Mumbai
attacks of November 2008.
"David Headley and Tahawwur
Hussain Rana have no connections with the Lashkar-e-Taiba, linking
them with our organisation was propaganda aimed at maligning Kashmir's
freedom struggle… We strongly condemn it," Abdullah Gaznavi,
the spokesman for the group, told Reuters by phone. "All our
members are local Kashmiri Muslims and we have no network in America,
or any other place… We are only fighting Indian security forces
in Kashmir," Gaznavi claimed.
An Afghan war veteran, identified
as Abu Motaleb alias Matu alias Majnu, was arrested by the Detective
Branch (DB) of Police in the Motijheel area of the capital city
Dhaka in Bangladesh. He was taken on a four-day remand after DB
Police had produced him before a Dhaka Court. DB Police said that
they had arrested Motaleb following information from arrested Pakistani
nationals and LeT militants Mohammad Monwar, Mohammad Ashraf Ali
Zahid and Syed Abdul Kaiyum alias Sufian.
-
November 21: The Police arrested
two LeT militants from village Kurar at Patnazi in Kishtwar District.
They were identified as Farooq Ahmed Wani and Abdul Qadir Keen.
They were working for LeT 'district commander' Mohammad Issaq Bhat
alias Ateeq.
-
November 19: The Union Government
sounded a security alert for the International Film Festival of
India (IIFI) which opens in Goa from November 23. With intelligence
inputs suggesting that the IIFI and some tourist places in Goa could
be high on the target list of terror outfits like LeT, the Union
Ministry for Home Affairs (MHA) has alerted security and intelligence
agencies to heighten their vigil.
-
November 18: With the arrest of
Mohammed Navas, a key accused in the burning of a Tamil Nadu Transport
Corporation bus at Kalamassery on September 9, 2005, the Kerala
Police said that the culprits are those with LeT links and those
arrested earlier were not directly involved in the action. The Police
suspect that Navas alias ‘Ganju’ Navas, to be the main link in distributing
hawala (informal money transfer system) money meant for seditious
activities in the State. He was in the first batch of persons recruited
for terror training in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, but was ped from
further training because of his drinking habit, Police sources said.
-
November 17: Three Bangladeshi nationals,
suspected of having links with the Pakistan-based terrorist outfits
Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI) and LeT, were arrested by the Special
Task Force (STF) of the Kolkata Police. Fake Indian Currency Notes
(FICN) with a face value of INR 3 million was seized from their
possession along with several incriminating documents. According
to Rajeev Kumar, the STF Joint Commissioner, the three militants,
identified as Abdullahil Baki, Abdur Rahaman and Mohammad Tahidur,
had infiltrated through the India-Bangladesh border in the Murshidabad
District on November 16. They were reportedly involved in the attack
on the STF office in Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh) and the Shramjeevi
Express in 2006. During primary investigation, the arrested reportedly
confessed to links with the Pakistan-based Shahid Bilal''s group
which is involved in recruiting and training youth from Bangladesh
for carrying out terrorist activities for outfits like the LeT and
HuJI. Police sources also said that Baki admitted to receiving military
training at a camp in Pakistan.
-
November 12: The Police and Central
Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel arrested five cadres of two
militant outfits, including the brother of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen's
(HM) surrendered militant Bashir Lohar and a private ration dealer,
during raids carried out at Manwas, Kud Dhar and Doda town in the
Doda District. The ration dealer was arrested from outside the District
Police Headquarters, Doda when he was carrying out recee of the
vital installation. The arrested militants belonged to the LeT and
HM outfits, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP, Doda), Parbhat
Singh, said. The SSP said Bashir Ahmed, a resident of Kutch Dhar
in Doda, was arrested from outside the District Police Headquarters,
housing among others the SSP office, when he was carrying out recee
of the Headquarters for the HM. Bashir is working as a private ration
dealer in Kutch Dhar.
A LeT cadre, Hanief, a close associate
of Mohammad Hussain, a LeT militant who was recently killed by the
troops at Koti, was arrested from Koti area where he was searching
for a hideout for the LeT militants. Further, three HM activists
were arrested by the Doda Police and CRPF from Manwas and Kud Dhar.
They have been identified as Nayamatullah, Shabir Ahmed, who the
brother of surrendered HM militant Bashir Lohar, both residents
of Kud Dhar, and Ghulam Rasool.
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November 11: The Union Government
warned Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Uttarakhand and Maharashtra
against possible terrorist attacks, particularly on military academies.
Sources in the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said that the
alert was issued on suspicion that during his stay in India between
2006 and 2009, David Coleman Headley, who was arrested by the Federal
Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for allegedly plotting attacks in
India for the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), may have done a reconnaissance
of some vital installations for carrying out attacks. The sources
said it was found that Headley visited Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Lucknow,
Agra and Delhi and did a reconnaissance of the National Defence
College in New Delhi and vital installations in other cities. The
sources also said it was possible that Headley established sleeper
cells in these States. He was reportedly also recruiting cadres
for the LeT to send them to a Gulf country using the services of
his immigration business in Mumbai. The States have been asked to
coordinate with the Indian Army authorities and the administration
of the Indian Military Academy in Dehradun and Khadakwasla about
security to the vital installations.
-
November 10: The Army personnel
killed a LeT ‘commander’ and his close aide during an encounter
in the Kalwa area of Mahore sub-division in Reasi District. A Defence
spokesman said that on the basis of specific information about the
presence of militants, troops of Rashtriya Rifles (61st Battalion)
launched a combing operation in Kalwa area, about five kilometers
from Mahore town in the afternoon. During the search operation,
troops were fired upon by the hiding militants leading to an hour-long
encounter in which both the militants were shot dead by the troops.
The duo was identified as ‘district commander’ Mohammed Rafiq and
his close aide Zabrar. While Rafiq belongs to Mahore area, an identity
card recovered from the possession of Zabrar revealed that he hailed
from the Tangmarg area of Kashmir valley. From the encounter site,
troops recovered one AK-47, two magazines, three grenades, one radio
set and a satellite phone. The spokesman said that following the
killing of Mohammed Farooq alias Abu Tala, a LeT commander, in an
encounter at Bal Angrala village in Reasi District some days back,
Rafiq was made the ‘district commander’. He was also entrusted with
the responsibility of the outfit''s operations in the adjoining
Gulabgarh area.
A LeT cadre, Hanief, a close associate
of Mohammad Hussain, a LeT militant who was recently killed by the
troops at Koti, was arrested from Koti area where he was searching
for a hideout for the LeT militants. Further, three HM activists
were arrested by the Doda Police and CRPF from Manwas and Kud Dhar.
They have been identified as Nayamatullah, Shabir Ahmed, who the
brother of surrendered HM militant Bashir Lohar, both residents
of Kud Dhar, and Ghulam Rasool.
Two LeT militants were killed in
an encounter with the Security Forces (SFs) in the Rafiabad area
of Baramulla District in north Kashmir. However, the identity of
the militants could not be ascertained. During the exchange of fire
between the SF personnel and militants, a gas cylinder was hit by
a bullet resulting in the outbreak of a blaze in which two houses
were damaged, Police sources said in capital Srinagar. However,
no reports of any civilian getting killed or injured during the
incident were received.
A LeT militant was arrested while
a militant hideout was neutralized during two separate operations
in the Anantnag and Budgam Districts, a Police spokesman said in
Srinagar. On specific information, the Anantnag Police arrested
a LeT militant, identified as Ashiq Lone alias Setha, a resident
of Haf-Shirmal in the Shopian District, at Anantnag town. In another
incident, SFs neutralised a militant hideout at the house of Abdul
Rashid Mir, a resident of Wani Mohalla Surasyar in Budgam. The troops
recovered 49 AK rounds, one AK bayonet, one detonator, one AK combination
tool, three blankets and one gas cylinder from the hideout.
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November 9: A top militant of the
LeT outfit surrendered before the Army and Police in Reasi District.
He has been identified as Mohammad Ashraf (code name Abu Ibrar)
a resident of Mahore. A 'platoon commander' of the LeT, Ashraf was
a Pakistan trained militant and was operating in Reasi District
since 2006. Initially, he was affiliated with the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen
(HM) outfit but had later switched over to the LeT. The militant
handed over one AK-47 rifle, two magazines, six cartridges, one
binocular and one solar charging plate at the time of surrender.
-
November 8: Three Pakistani LeT
militants still holed up in Bangladesh targeted the US Embassy and
Indian High Commission in Dhaka for attacks before Hajj (pilgrimage)
as part of the outfit's plan, sources in the Detective Branch (DB)
of Police said. Officials of the DB said that they received the
information from detained Bangladeshi LeT leader Mufti Harun Izahar,
and Harun's associates Shahidul Islam and Al Amin alias Saiful.
The DB officials said that during interrogation, the arrestees divulged
that three Pakistani nationals aged around 30 came to Bangladesh
two months earlier to ute the attack plan with the help of Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami-Bangladesh
(HuJI-B) militants. The DB Assistant Commissioner Sanwar Hossain
told Daily Star, "We are trying our best to arrest the militants
involved in the plot to attack the foreign missions."
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November 5: Unable to send the newly
recruited youths across the Line of Control (LoC) for arms training,
the militant outfits, especially LeT and Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM),
were reported to have activated their training camps in the upper
reaches and forest areas of Doda, Reasi and Rajouri belts. This
information was secured from some of the recently arrested militants
and over-ground workers in the Doda belt comprising the Doda, Kishtwar
and Ramban Districts, Udhampur and Reasi Districts and twin border
Districts of Poonch and Rajouri. According to Intelligence inputs,
militant outfits, including the LeT and HM, have managed to attract
nearly 50 youths from Jammu region into their ranks during the past
few months. The fresh recruits have been kept in the huts abandoned
by shepherds with the onset of winter in the upper reaches.
The inputs further revealed that
the militants did make a couple of attempts to take fresh recruits
to Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) from the Poonch and Rajouri sectors
but failed due to the fencing and alertness of troops. The militant
commanders, on whose disposal the fresh recruits have been kept,
now have been advised by their mentors from across the LoC to provide
training in handling of sophisticated weapons and explosive devices
to new recruits by reviving the training camps in Pir Panjal range
and upper reaches, which were used quite a long back but had been
de-activated for the past few years. A series of messages of militant
commanders of the LeT and HM, intercepted by security agencies and
Police, have revealed that the militants were facing massive shortage
of manpower in view of the almost negligible infiltration from LoC
in Rajouri and Poonch Districts in 2009. However, few militants
were diverted to Doda and Reasi belts by the LeT and HM commanders
from Shopian and Anantnag areas of the Kashmir valley to compensate
for the losses suffered by two outfits during last few months.
-
November 4: A day after the LeT
plot to attack key installations and schools was revealed by the
FBI of US, more details were reported about the terror plan directed
at India. As per a report obtained by Zeenews, the LeT is planning
more 26/11 (the November 26, 2008 attack in Mumbai) like attacks
in India. FBI inputs suggest that popular tourist spots, international
boarding schools and several key installations in India are the
prime targets of LeT this time. The terrorist outfit also has major
plans to target the American and the Israeli citizens currently
visiting and residing in India.
In addition, two unidentified militants
associated with the LeT's Bangladesh module have successfully sneaked
into India through the eastern border. The FBI has warned Indian
intelligence agencies that they have strong evidence about one of
the two militants being in Maharashtra. The other is said to targeting
a major tourist spot, but keeping a low profile at present in order
to avoid detection by the Indian intelligence agencies. The two
militants are said to be acting on the basis of specific instructions
from LeT 'commanders' Ilyas Kashmiri and Abu Sayed.
The Detective Branch (DB) of Police
arrested three LeT militants at Jameyatul Ulum Madrassa (Seminary)
on a hill at Lalkhan Bazar area in the Chittagong District. The
arrestees were identified as Mufti Harun Izahar, Shahidul Islam
and Al Amin alias Saiful. The trio was reportedly linked to a plot
to attack the US embassy in Dhaka. The DB officials said that Izahar,
along with another suspect, did recce of the US embassy area several
times to devise an attack plan. They also detected several calls
the three made to several Pakistani militant leaders.
Further, the arrestees were placed
on a two-day remand on November 6. Assistant Commissioner of DB
Sanwar Hossain said that the arrestees needed to be remanded for
obtaining crucial information about the plot, their network and
the people involved in it.
-
November 3: David Coleman Headley
and Tahawwur Hussain Rana, arrested on October 27 by the US Federal
Bureau of Investigation (FBI), were part of a LeT plan of a major
terrorist attack on the facilities of a Danish newspaper and the
National Defence College in India, federal prosecutors have said.
The reference to the National Defence College as a target was made
by the duo during their conversations on September 7, which was
recorded by the FBI, Times of India reported. "In the same
conversation, Headley and Rana discussed Denmark and other targets,
including the National Defence College in India Rana, in fact, used
the English word "target" in this discussion," the
FBI informed the court.
-
November 1: Security Forces (SFs)
killed a ‘commander’ of the LeT during an encounter in the Mahore
area of Reasi District. Official sources said a joint team of the
Rashtriya Rifles (61st Battalion) and Police launched a search operation
at village Bal Angralla under the jurisdiction of Mahore Police
Station in the night after securing information about the presence
of a couple of militants in the area. In the ensuing exchange of
firing between two sides, LeT ‘commander’ Mohammad Farooq alias
Abu Tala, a resident of Baddar Falaskote in Mahore, was killed while
his associate managed to escape taking cover of a surrounding forest
area. Recoveries made from encounter site include one AK-47 rifle,
three magazines, 90 AK rounds, one wireless set, one Mobile telephone,
one Chinese grenade, eight pencil cells, two SIM cards, 12 audio
cassettes and a number of incriminating documents, including letter
heads of the LeT outfit.
-
October 31: The Security Forces
(SFs) shot dead two top militants of the LeT, including a self styled
‘commander’ who had managed to give slip to the SFs twice during
recent gun battles, in an encounter in the Sopore town of Baramulla
District. House of Ghulam Mohiuddin Mir, in which the militants
were hiding, was completely damaged in the gun battle as the SFs
had to use mortar shells to penetrate the shield of the militants.
Some arms and ammunition were recovered from the debris of the house
but search operations were still going on till reports last came
in. The slain militants were identified as Abdullah Yuni and Zubair.
Yuni had twice escaped the security forces dragnet during encounters
in the Sopore area. Last week, Yuni had managed to escape from an
encounter at Batapora in Sopore area.
-
October 30: The militants tried
to attack the house of Rukhsana, the teenager who along with her
brother had shot dead LeT ‘commander’ Abu Osama on September 27,
2009, at Kalsian in the Upper Shahdara Sharief area of Rajouri District.
The Senior Superintendent of Police, Shafkat Wattali, said the militants
reportedly fired rifle grenades targeting the newly set up Kalsian
Police Post near the house of Rukhsana at 9.20 pm. Rifle grenades
were followed by firing by the militants from a distance. The Police
party is reported to have retaliated and after an exchange of firing
till 10.10 pm the militants, stated to be four in number, managed
to escape. Rukhsana along with her brother and other family members
have already been shifted to a protected place by the Police.
Pakistan's Consul General in Chicago
personally knew both David Coleman Headley and Tahawwur Hussain
Rana, arrested by the FBI for planning to carry out a major terrorist
attack in India at the behest of the LeT, the US authorities have
claimed. The FBI in its revised charge-sheet filed before a Chicago
court said the Consul General of Pakistan in Chicago personally
knows both Rana and Headley a.k.a. Daood Gilani, as all three of
them are from the same high school. According to the Website of
the Pakistan Embassy in US, Dr Aman Rashid is the Consul General
in Chicago. "On or about September 25, 2009, Rana spoke by
telephone with the Consul General at the Pakistani Consulate in
Chicago in an effort to obtain a five-year visa for Headley to travel
to Pakistan. It is clear from the email traffic unrelated to terrorist
plotting that the Consul General knows Rana and Headley personally
as all three attended the same high school," the FBI claimed.
However, the affidavit, does not say anything if the Consul General
was aware or had any inclination of the terrorist connection of
Rana and Headley. Rana (48) and Headley (49) are residents of Chicago
and also alumni of the same military school.
American national Headley, whose
assistance was sought by LeT in planning a major terrorist attack
in India, was helped by his Pakistani-Canadian friend Rana to obtain
a visa for Pakistan so that he can travel to NWFP for training and
meeting the LeT leaders, federal prosecutors have charged. The charge-sheet
also indicates that the LeT was planning to use Headley for a major
terrorist attack in India. The transcripts of the taped conversations,
both e-mail and telephone, reveals that the LeT was planning to
use Headley for attack on a mysterious Indian actor ''Rahul'' -
which Indian intelligence agencies say could be a code message.
Headley stated that he intended to travel to Pakistan in early October
2009 to meet with an unidentified LeT Individual ''B'' and (Ilyas)
Kashmiri, the FBI told the court. It said Headley had already travelled
to Pakistan from late January to early March of 2009, during which
he visited FATA.
-
October 28: US investigating agencies
have neutralised a plot by the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT)
to use an American national for terrorist attacks in Denmark and
India. The man, identified as David Coleman Headley, was one of
two suspects arrested early in October 2009 by FBI''s Joint Terrorism
Task Force at Chicago''s O''Hare International Airport before he
boarded a flight to Philadelphia, from where he was intending to
travel to Pakistan to meet Pakistani terrorist handlers, including
the fugitive Ilyas Kashmiri. Headley''s partner in the terror plot,
which included plans to attack the Danish newspaper that published
cartoons of Prophet Mohammed, was a Pakistani-Canadian named Tahawwur
Hussain Rana, also a resident of Chicago who was arrested by the
FBI on October 18. According to the FBI affidavit filed in a Chicago
court, Headley was in close contact with Ilyas Kashmiri and several
unidentified leaders of LeT, two of whom are identified as "LeT
member A" and "Individual A." He had visited Pakistan
before to meet LeT handlers and was returning there ostensibly to
finalize plans for strikes. "In July and August 2009, Headley
exchanged a series of e-mails with LeT Member A, including an exchange
in which Headley asked if the Denmark project was on hold, and whether
a visit to India that LeT member A had asked him to undertake was
for the purpose of surveilling targets for a new terrorist attack,"
the FBI said in its affidavit. "These e-mails reflect that
LeT Member A was placing a higher priority on using Headley to assist
in planning a new attack in India than on completing the planned
attack in Denmark," it said. Although the affidavit named Kashmiri,
it did not identify others involved in the plot, referring to them
as LeT member A and Individual A. It said LeT member A "has
substantial influence and responsibility within the organization"
and his "identity is known to the government." "In
July and August 2009, Headley exchanged a series of e-mails with
LeT Member A, including an exchange in which Headley asked if the
Denmark project was on hold, and whether a visit to India that LeT
member A had asked him to undertake was for the purpose of surveilling
targets for a new terrorist attack," the FBI said in its affidavit.
Although the affidavit named Kashmiri, it did not identify others
involved in the plot, referring to them as LeT member A and Individual
A. It said LeT member A "has substantial influence and responsibility
within the organization" and his "identity is known to
the government."
-
October 27: US investigating agencies
have neutralised a plot by the Pakistan-based LeT to use an American
national for terrorist attacks in Denmark and India. The man, identified
as David Coleman Headley, was one of two suspects arrested early
in October 2009 by FBI''s Joint Terrorism Task Force at Chicago''s
O''Hare International Airport before he boarded a flight to Philadelphia,
from where he was intending to travel to Pakistan to meet Pakistani
terrorist handlers, including the fugitive Ilyas Kashmiri. Headley''s
partner in the terror plot, which included plans to attack the Danish
newspaper that published cartoons of Prophet Mohammed, was a Pakistani-Canadian
named Tahawwur Hussain Rana, also a resident of Chicago who was
arrested by the FBI on October 18.
According to the FBI affidavit filed
in a Chicago court, Headley was in close contact with Ilyas Kashmiri
and several unidentified leaders of LeT, two of whom are identified
as "LeT member A" and "Individual A." He had
visited Pakistan before to meet LeT handlers and was returning there
ostensibly to finalize plans for strikes. "In July and August
2009, Headley exchanged a series of e-mails with LeT Member A, including
an exchange in which Headley asked if the Denmark project was on
hold, and whether a visit to India that LeT member A had asked him
to undertake was for the purpose of surveilling targets for a new
terrorist attack," the FBI said in its affidavit. "These
e-mails reflect that LeT Member A was placing a higher priority
on using Headley to assist in planning a new attack in India than
on completing the planned attack in Denmark," it said. Although
the affidavit named Kashmiri, it did not identify others involved
in the plot, referring to them as LeT member A and Individual A.
It said LeT member A "has substantial influence and responsibility
within the organization" and his "identity is known to
the government." "In July and August 2009, Headley exchanged
a series of e-mails with LeT Member A, including an exchange in
which Headley asked if the Denmark project was on hold, and whether
a visit to India that LeT member A had asked him to undertake was
for the purpose of surveilling targets for a new terrorist attack,"
the FBI said in its affidavit. Although the affidavit named Kashmiri,
it did not identify others involved in the plot, referring to them
as LeT member A and Individual A. It said LeT member A "has
substantial influence and responsibility within the organization"
and his "identity is known to the government."
-
October 26: The Security Forces
(SFs) shot dead three top militants of the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM)
outfit, including a ‘divisional commander’, during an encounter
in the Shopian District of south Kashmir. The Army, Police and Central
Reserve Police Force launched a joint operation in the forests of
Shalidar in the Keller area of Shopian following receipt of information
about the presence of militants in the area. Officials sources said
in the ensuing encounter, three HM militants were killed and a cache
of arms, ammunition and war-like stores were recovered from the
hideout. The slain militants have been identified as ‘divisional
commander’ for Pir Panjal Range, Saquib, and his two close associates
Riyaz Poswal and Ishfaq Ahmad alias Adnan. Two AK-56 rifles, one
AK-74 rifle, 14 magazines of AK rifles, a satellite phone, one Pistol,
three mobile sets, one radio set and 278 rounds of ammunition were
recovered from the incident site. Saquib, believed to be a Pakistani
national, was instrumental in coordinating subversive activities
with other militant groups like the LeT and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM),
the officials said. He was also behind several attacks on the SFs
and civilians in south Kashmir in the recent times.
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October 25: Pakistan-based terrorist
outfits the LeT, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM)
are planning to infiltrate terrorists into India to "create
mayhem", the Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram said, asserting
that the country''s security forces were, however, prepared to meet
any external threat, PTI reported. He said Pakistan has no will
to prosecute and punish the perpetrators of the Mumbai terrorist
attacks of November 2008 and voiced concern over the spread of Taliban
in that country, apprehending that the danger could spread to the
rest of South Asia, including India. "We go by the information
or intelligence that we are able to gather. Our assessment of the
inputs flowing into India is that the LeT, the JeM and the Hizbul
Mujahideen are planning to infiltrate terrorists into India. Now
obviously they are not (not) trying to infiltrate for tourism purposes.
They are being infiltrated to India to create mayhem here. Therefore,
we say that the threat level has not diminished. That is what the
Prime Minister said (in the Commanders Conference). There are many
attempts which have been foiled even before they could (materialise),"
Chidambaram said in an interview to PTI. Asked how well prepared
the country was to meet terrorism inspired from across the border,
Chidambaram said, "We are prepared to meet any external threat.
As I said, we are building capacity every day, every week, every
month. But, in today''s world, being vigilant and alert is a 24/7
function."
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October 23: The Police and Army
claimed of having killed a top militant ‘commander’ of the LeT outfit
in an encounter in the Sopore area of Baramulla District. However,
two militants are reported to have managed to escape from the incident
site. The slain militant has been identified as Abu Mavia, the district
commander of LeT for Baramulla District.
The security of the Madhya Pradesh
(MP) Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has been beefed up in
wake of a threat letter. Though the letter (written in Hindi) bore
no address, the sender’s name was stated as LeT, said Inspector
General A. K Soni adding a team has been assigned to probe the matter.
Prima facie it seems to be a fake letter dispatched on the behalf
of LeT, still we are investigating it, he said. The letter was reportedly
posted at the official address of the Jhansi station superintendent,
who subsequently forwarded it to MP Police Head Quarter.
-
October 21: Interior Minister Rehman
Malik said that Iran had been informed that Jundallah chief Abdul
Malik Reigi is in Afghanistan and not Pakistan. He said Islamabad
had forwarded knowledge of his whereabouts to Iran. Condemning the
incident in Iran, he said Pakistan had already repatriated Reigi’s
brother to Iran and would not hesitate to repatriate Reigi if he
were on its soil.
He also claimed that India has continuously
failed to share information on the Mumbai terrorist attacks of November
26, 2008 with Pakistan and Islamabad will not listen to any further
allegations of its involvement in the incident. "We have been
continuously accused [of involvement in the Mumbai attacks by India]
... enough is enough," he told journalists in Islamabad. He
also warned India against issuing threats to Pakistan, adding nobody
should cast doubt over Pakistan’s commitment to fight terrorism.
He said if India refused to share information with Pakistan, Islamabad
would refuse to listen to any more allegations implicating it in
the attacks. He also said Pakistan had not yet received India’s
seventh dossier on the Mumbai attacks. "India should not perceive
our offer for negotiations as a sign of weakness ... we can engage
in threatening rhetoric just as well, or even better, than India.
Pakistan is not a weak country and is capable of responding (to
India)," he told journalists. He stated that Islamabad would
not take dictation from anyone over the Jama’at-ud-Da’awa (also
known as LeT) chief Hafiz Mohammed Saeed’s case.
-
October 19: The Islamabad Police
arrested an activist of the Jama'at-ud-Da'awa (the LeT front) from
Pir Wadhai.
-
Pakistan has informed Iran that
Jundallah (Soldiers of God), the Pakistan-based anti-Shia militant
outfit, which has claimed responsibility for the suicide attack
in Zahedan, targeting the elite Iranian Revolutionary Guards, is
carrying out coordinated terrorist operations with the help of the
TTP and the LeJ, to undermine Pakistan-Iran relations. According
to interior ministry sources in Islamabad, the explanation has been
conveyed to Tehran after the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
alleged that the suicide attack, which killed at least 42 persons,
had been plotted from Pakistan. Ahmadinejad had further alleged
that Abdul Malik Rigi, chief of the Jundallah, who has claimed responsibility
for the attack, operates from Pakistan.
-
October 15: The Union Home Minister
P. Chidambaram admitted that the country remains vulnerable to a
November 26, 2008 (also known as 26/11) Mumbai-style terrorist attack
because neighbouring Pakistan is struggling to rein in the Islamist
groups blamed for 26/11. He, however, made it clear that any new
attack would be met with a "swift and decisive" response.
"My assessment of the vulnerability is that it has remained
the same since 26/11. It has not diminished nor has it enhanced",
Chidambaram said in an interview to a news agency.
-
October 12: A suspected militant,
Ali Mohammad Dhobi, was arrested by Security Forces along with two
illegal locally-made guns from Kishtwar District. He was reportedly
earlier operating for slain LeT militant Abu Maaj.
-
October 9: The Security Forces (SFs)
killed two Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militants, including a Pakistani,
in the Neel area of Ramban District, Superintendent of Police Ramban
Mubassir Latifi said, according to Daily Excelsior. One of the slain
militants has been identified as Qasim Zubair, a resident of Zarari
in Neel while his associate was a Pakistani national and his identity
has not been established so far. Both of the slain militants were
operating in the Banihal sub-division for more than two years. Two
AK rifles and a large quantity of ammunition and explosives have
been recovered from incident site.
Meanwhile, the anti-militancy operation
at Ladoo in the Khrew area of Pulwama District continued for the
third day today as the SFs combed the area looking for militants,
who had reportedly escaped earlier. Official sources said the troops
have strengthened the cordon around a vast area in Ladoo forests
as reports said a group of militants had managed to escape from
the encounter site on October 7. One militant was killed on that
day while several SF personnel sustained injuries in the encounter
till October 9.
-
October 7: Five militants, including
two top ‘commanders’ of the LeT and Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM) outfits,
were killed and two soldiers injured in Kashmir.
A Defence Ministry spokesman said
in capital Srinagar that Security Forces killed a ''district commander''
of the HM, Abdul Majeed Bhat, at Trikanjan Top near the Line of
Control (LoC) in Uri sector. One AK rifle and other arms and ammunition
were recovered from the slain militant. He also that said a LeT
militant was killed at Narote forest in the Baramulla District.
Further, the spokesman said the
Special Operation Group (SOG) personnel of Jammu and Kashmir Police
and Paratroops launched a joint operation at Satkuji forest at Handwara
in the Kupwara District following a tip-off about the presence of
militants. When the area was being sealed, the militants opened
fire and lobbed hand grenades on the SFs. The troops retaliated
and subsequently killed two LeT militants. The operation was still
going on when the reports last came in, official sources said.
In addition, the Police, Rashtriya
Rifles (21st Battalion) and Paratroops killed a top militant of
the LeT at Behnipora forest in Handwara. The slain militant was
identified as Abu Humza, a resident of Pakistan.
Meanwhile, the operation against
militants hiding in the forests at Khrew in Pulwama District continued
for the second day. SFs are searching the forest area, official
sources said. They also said one militant was so far killed in the
encounter on October 7-afternoon. State Home Department sources
said the encounter in the forest area began two days back after
a militant involved in a car bombing at downtown city was arrested
and he told the Police that perpetrators of the blast, which killed
four people, were staying in the jungles. Two of the eight terrorists
had been killed while the remaining militants, mainly Pakistani
nationals, were still hiding in the jungles. Army helicopters had
been pressed into service to locate them, the sources said.
-
October 2: An over ground worker
of the LeT was arrested in the Handwara area of Kupwara District
by the SFs. Identified as Sonaullah Mir alias Akash, son of Mohammad
Abdullah Mir, resident of Changi Mulla Police post in Zachaldara
area of Handwara, Mir was working for LeT commander Rehman Bhai.
On his disclosure one pistol, two pistol magazines, 20 rounds of
pistol ammunition and two hand grenades were recovered from a garden
in the village Changi Mulla Zachaldara.
The Police seized terror fund worth
INR 2.5 lakh from a LeT militant, which was being smuggled from
Sopore to Banihal for THE LeT ‘District Commander’ Abu Moosa. The
militant'' Ghulam Hassan'' son of Abdullah Pachu, a resident of
Baba Khari, Banihal was arrested from a vehicle from Banihal bus
stand.
-
October 1-2: Four LeT militants
surrounded by the SFs at Galut in the Mendhar sector of Poonch District,
remained trapped for second day. Senior Superintendent of Police
(Poonch) Manmohan Singh, security and Police teams were being sent
to forests from different directions to eliminate the militants.
However, no contact was established with the militants after last
night''s firing.
-
October 1: A LeT militant was shot
dead by the Border Security Force (BSF) personnel during an encounter
at Galut forests in Harni area under Mendhar tehsil (revenue unit)
of Poonch District, when four cadres of the outfit were tying to
infiltrate.
-
September 30: Pakistan''s investigation
into the November 26, 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks (also known
as 26/11) has concluded that LeT militants carried out the assault,
according to a media report in The New York Times, which also said
some people in the Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI),
knew about the plot but "closed their eyes." A dossier
compiled by Pakistani investigators stated that LeT recruits for
the attack were vetted and trained in different parts of Pakistan
including at well-established camps in Muzafarrabad in Pakistan
occupied Kashmir (PoK) and in Mansehra in the North-West Frontier
Province (NWFP). "A core group, the 10 chosen for the Mumbai
assault, was eventually moved to Karachi and its suburbs, where
the real drilling began and where Pakistani investigators later
retraced the plotters' steps," the report said. "The investigation
concludes beyond any reasonable doubt that it was Lashkar militants
who carried out the Mumbai attacks, preying on their victims in
a train station, two five-star hotels, a cafe and a Jewish centre
over three days starting last November 26," the daily report
added. Quoting a "highly placed" LeT militant, the English
daily said that the Mumbai attackers were part of groups trained
by former Pakistani military and intelligence officials at LeT camps.
"Others had direct knowledge that retired Army and ISI officials
trained Lashkar recruits as late as last year. Some people of the
ISI knew about the plan and closed their eyes," The New York
Times quoted the militant as saying.
Further, quoting the Indian and
Pakistani dossiers on the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, the news paper beginning
as early as May 2008, the group trained and planned brazenly while
living in various neighbourhoods in and around Karachi. "They
made scores of calls using cell phones, some with stolen numbers,
starting in August. They set up voice lines over the Internet."
At one water sports shop, they bought inflatable boats, air pumps,
life jackets and engines. One of their training camps, with five
thatched rooms and a three-room house, was located near a creek,
where they conducted water drills in the open. Working from Millat
Town, a dusty, middle-class Karachi suburb on the eastern edge of
the city, Sadiq organised the cadre. "Neighbours described
him as quiet and pious, riding around the streets with his two young
sons perched on his motorbike. The Pakistani dossier says he was
a committed Lashkar militant." the daily reports Using handwritten
manuals, the recruits were trained how to use cell phones to keep
in contact with their handlers during the attack. They pored over
detailed maps of the Indian coastline, plotting the course they
would take to Mumbai. They learned how to use global positioning
devices, the report said.
-
September 29: A Union Ministry for
Home Affairs (MHA) document said that there are at least 700 terrorists
in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) and 1350 terrorists in Pakistan
waiting to infiltrate across the Line of Control (LoC), before the
winter. The terrorists are mostly hiding in camps across PoK, which
are still thriving and breeding grounds for the terrorists, ready
to infiltrate. The militants belong to LeT, Harkat-ul-Mujahideen
(HuM), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM).
-
September 29: Pakistan-based LeT
is ‘largely intact’ and ‘determined to strike India again’, former
and current members of the group and intelligence officials said.
Despite pledges from Pakistan to dismantle militant outfits operating
on its soil, and the arrest of a handful of operatives, the LeT
has persisted and even flourished, since 10 recruits killed over
180 people in Mumbai mayhem on November 26, 2008, The New York Times
reported.
Indian and Pakistani dossiers on
the Mumbai investigations, copies of which were obtained by the
US daily, offer a detailed picture of the operations of Lashkar
network that spans through Pakistan. It included four houses and
two training camps in Karachi that were used to prepare the attacks.
In fact, Lashkar's broader network endures, and can be mobilised
quickly for elaborate attacks with relatively few resources, the
daily quoted Lashkar members and intelligence officials from the
US, Europe and Pakistan as saying. But by all accounts Lashkar's
network, though dormant, remains alive, and the possibility that
it could strike India again makes Lashkar a wild card in one of
the most volatile regions of the world, the report said. One 'highly
placed' Lashkar militant said the Mumbai attackers were part of
some groups trained by former Pakistani military and intelligence
officials at Lashkar camps, adding, "Some people of the ISI
(Inter-Services Intelligence) knew about the plan and closed their
eyes." Even as new details emerge about the Mumbai attacks,
senior American military, intelligence and counterterrorism officials
have expressed grim certainty that the LeT is plotting new attacks.
The United States warned Indian
officials this year about a Mumbai-style attack by Lashkar against
multiple sites in India, according to a senior US counterterrorism
official. The unnamed counterterrorism official said that the information,
gleaned from electronic intercepts and other sources, was not specific
but it was significant enough for American officials to alert their
Indian counterparts. "There were indications of possible terrorist
activity in the run-up to the Indian elections," in May, "and
that information was shared promptly with Indian officials,"
the US daily quoted the counterterrorism official as saying. Pakistani
officials, however, say they''ve been kept in the dark. But, if
there is one thing on which the intelligence agencies agree, it
is that the consequences of a new attack by Lashkar could be devastating,
the daily said. "We do fear that if something like Mumbai happens
in India again there might be a military reaction from the Indian
side and it could trigger into a war. Right now we cannot guarantee
that it''ll not happen again because we do not have any control
over it," a Pakistani official said.
-
September 28: Two Pakistani LeT
militants, who were allegedly planning suicide attacks in the Srinagar,
and a woman were among four persons killed in an encounter in the
Tral area of Pulwama District. An encounter broke out between the
militants hiding at Mohalla Sheikhpora in the Amlar area of Tral
town after the Security Forces (SFs), acting on specific information,
cordoned of the village in the morning, a Police spokesman said.
"As soon as the cordon was laid, the militants opened indiscriminate
firing, which resulted in injuries to two CRPF jawans and a civilian
woman identified as Taja Begum," he said. During the operation,
three militants were killed. The deceased were identified as Abu-Dujana,
Abu-Zahid alias Abu Shahid (both Pakistani nationals) and local
militant Mehraj-ud-Din alias Zaffar Sidique. All the three slain
militants were affiliated to the LeT. Taja, "who got injured
in the course of cross firing, later succumbed to injuries,"
the spokesman added. The SFs recovered cache of arms and ammunition
from the encounter site. The recoveries include three, AK 47 rifles,
10 AK 47 magazines, 180 rounds of AK ammunition, three hand grenades,
one smoke grenade, one wireless set and a mobile phone.
Mehraj-ud-Din, who was also operating
under the codename Salman Sajad, was involved in the killing of
60-year-old Abdul Satar of Monghama in the Tral area some time back.
The Two Pakistani militants were potential fidayeen suicide bombers),
who were planning suicide attacks in Srinagar. "Police had
been receiving information with regard to the infiltration of two
Pakistani Fidayeen (suicide) terrorists. Their movements were tracked
as they were moving from North Kashmir Range to South Kashmir Range
and lodged themselves in the Tral area with the help of some over
ground workers (OGWs)," the spokesman further said.
In addition, a LeT militant was
arrested in the Baramulla District and arms and ammunition were
recovered from his possession. On specific information, the SF personnel
arrested Altaf Ahmad Mir alias Sohail, son of Ghulam Nabi Mir, resident
of Chanji Mulla and recovered one AK rifle, three magazines, 81
rounds and four hand grenades from his possession.
-
September 27: The Police arrested
two persons with alleged links to the LeT from the Baramulla District
and recovered an AK-47 rifle from them. The duo - Nazir Ahmad Rather
and Hilal Ahmad Rather - were arrested from Takia-Wagoora, 60 kilometres
from Srinagar.
-
September 25: The Police arrested
three Over Ground Workers (OGWs) of the LeT in the Srinagar city,
Daily Excelsior reported. Srinagar Police arrested the three OGWs
at Saida Kadal Rainawari and recovered a hand grenade and a detonator
from their possession. They were arrested after their vehicle was
intercepted by a Police party at Saida Kadal. The arrestees were
identified as Gowhar Ahmad Rather son of Mohammad Abdullah Rather,
resident of Chandrigam Tral in Pulwama District, Aqib Ahmad Mir
son of Mohammad Maqbool Mir and Amir Ahmad Wani son of Ali Mohammad
Wani, both residents of Nowpora Tral. After interrogation, they
deposed that the vehicle was to be handed over to LeT militants
at Tral. The Police spokesman said a "tragedy was averted"
by the seizer of the vehicle as the arrested OGWs had revealed that
it was to be used for making a car-Improvised Explosive Device.
-
September 24: The JuD [the LeT front]
chief Hafiz Mohammed Saeed has neither been formally arrested nor
put under house arrest, Punjab Inspector General of Police (IGP)
Tariq Saleem Dogar said, adding, that the Police had merely "restricted
his movement." The IGP also claimed that Punjab Police had
solved all major cases of terrorism, including the suicide bombing
targeting the 15 building in Lahore and other attacks in Rawalpindi
and had arrested suspects. "The involvement of the Indian intelligence
agency Research and Analysis Wing in any incident of terrorism in
Punjab has yet to be determined as investigations are underway and
all those arrested so far are Pakistanis," added Dogar.
-
September 23: Four militants, including
one ‘District Commander’ of the Hiz-bul-Mujahideen (HM) and LeT
each, an Army Major and a Marine commando were killed during two
separate encounters in the Baramulla and Bandipora Districts, taking
the death toll in the two-days gun battle to eight, official sources
said.
-
September 22-23: In the encounter
at Banyari village in the Bandipora District, the Army eliminated
HM 'District Commander' Pasha and the LeT ‘District Commander’ Moosa.
Army Major, G. S. Suri, and a trooper, Khushal, were killed when
they sustained bullet injuries during initial firing from militants
as they entered a house where the militants were hiding. "A
team of Army officers and soldiers entered a house at Banyari last
evening (September 22). They came under heavy firing from militants
in which four of them were injured. Major Suri and Naik Khushal
were killed while two others managed to steer to safety in an injured
condition," the sources said. "Two officers -- Major Gautam
Raj Reshi and Major Kamlesh Kumar, NCO Mahipal Singh and Sepoy Naveen
were injured," they added. The militants were hiding in a house
which was cordoned off by the Security Forces (SFs) and, as reported
earlier, reinforcements were rushed to spot and the house was cordoned
off to prevent the militants from escaping from the spot, leading
to a fierce exchange of firing between the two holed up militants
and the SFs. Pasha, a foreign militant, was active in the area for
the last more than 10 years and was considered to be the driving
force behind many attacks on the SFs and political workers. Moosa,
who was working in close coordination with the HM militants recently,
was also wanted by the SFs for the last couple of years, the sources
said.
-
September 19: A LeT militant was
killed in an encounter with the Police in the Dessa area of Doda
District. On a tip-off, the Special Task Force of Police launched
an operation at Kandi Dhar area of Dessa tehsil (revenue unit),
220 kilometres from Jammu. The militant opened fire on the Police.
In the retaliatory action, the LeT militant, identified as Noor
Hussain alias Chota Hamza was killed, Police said. Police also recovered
a 303 rifle and a Chinese grenade from the possession of the slain
militant.
Meanwhile, seven suspected militants
were arrested in Doda and Srinagar Districts. Five kilograms of
RDX, a hand grenade and a rifle were also recovered, the Police
said on September 20. On a tip-off, the Police raided a hideout
at Ghar Sungle in the Doda District and arrested three militants.
A 12-bore rifle, two letter pads of the LeT, 17 electrical detonators,
a wireless set and a cigarette packet containing explosive sticks
were also recovered. In another operation four suspected militants
were held on the outskirts of Srinagar.
-
September 18: The Intelligence Bureau
(IB) sources said that all coastal State Director Generals of Police
(DGPs) have been sent alert mails to increase patrolling in the
wake of terrorist threat from sea. IB sources also warned that the
attacks vessels would be launched from an Iranian port and a Gulf
financier is believed to be behind the terror plans. The development
has came barely hours after Israel warning India that a Pakistan-based
LeT, affiliated to al-Qaeda, is planning to carry out a string of
terror attacks across India.
However, taking note of Israel's
warning, the Union Government on September 18 said that it was fully
prepared to deal with any situation, adds Times of India. "We
are fully prepared and we will take care of whatever situation arises,"
a Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) spokesperson said.
Meanwhile, to strengthen its security
apparatus along the 1600 kilometre long coast line in the State,
Gujarat Government has decided to create a marine commando unit
and recruit 600 commandos. A senior official in the State Home Department
said that the marine commando unit would be created and its headquarters
would be located in Jamnagar District in Saurashtra. "We have
finalised the details of the project and also framed the criteria
for recruitment of the commandos," he said. In addition, the
State Home Department has also sent a proposal to the Union Government
for setting up 12 Coastal Police Stations in the State.
-
September 18: The militants shot
dead two Special Police Officers (SPOs) and managed to decamp with
their weapons at Shikri Top in Marmat area of Doda District. Senior
Superintendent of Police of Doda District said that three SPOs,
who were on way back home at Gajot from Sadak post in hilly Marmat
area of Doda District, were intercepted by a group of five to seven
militants at Shikri Top at 5 pm (IST). The militants had laid a
‘C’ type ambush for the SPOs from thick growth of vegetation. Two
SPOs were killed on spot while third one managed to survive taking
cover behind the crops. As Police personnel from their Sadak post
and Security Forces (SFs) rushed to the spot, the militants managed
to escape. SFs have launched a massive search operation in the area
to arrest the militants suspected to be cadres of the LeT outfit.
The SPOs killed in the firing were identified as Abdul Gani and
Riaz Ahmad, residents of Gajot. Another SPO, Mohammad Yaqoob, managed
to survive with minor bruises and later informed Police and SFs
about the ambush. The militants also took away one Insas rifle,
a pistol and three mobile telephones from slain SPOs while Yaqoob
saved his AK-47 rifle. According to sources, the killing of SPOs
was a possible retaliation by the militants to the elimination of
their over 20 top associates in Doda District during last three
months.
Meanwhile, the Police arrested three
LeT militants from Bhaderwah town in Doda District and recovered
arms, ammunition and explosive devices from their possession. The
arrested militants were identified as Dawood Ahmad Khan son of Abdul
Rashid Khan, Nazir Ahmad son of Abdullah Khan and Abdul Majeed Khan,
son of Ghulam Hassan Khan, all residents of Sungli, Bhaderwah. one
cigarette packet of a Pakistan made company ‘Ruili River’ fitted
with a detonator, 17 electronic detonators, one Alinco wireless
set, one 12 bore gun, a letter head of LeT and some ammunition were
recovered from their possession.
-
September 17: Israel has warned
that a Pakistan-based terror outfit affiliated to al-Qaeda, which
carried out the November 26, 2008 (also known as 26/11) Mumbai attacks
to hit Western and Israeli targets, is planning to carry out a string
of terrorist attacks across India. India blames Pakistani-based
LeT for the 26/11 attacks in which 10 militant killed over 186
persons in a three-day rampage through Mumbai. “The terrorist group
that carried out the serious Mumbai attack in India is planning
to carry out a number of attacks across India, particularly against
concentrations of Western or Israeli tourists,” warned a statement
from Israel's counter-terrorism bureau at the National Security
Council (NSC). Among the targets hit was a Jewish centre run by
the ultra-Orthodox Lubavitch movement. The statement warned the
impending attacks could target other Lubavitch centres in India.
The statement said the travel warning was based on “a concrete,
very serious threat.” The warning called on Israeli travellers to
stay away from crowded places and the disputed Jammu and Kashmir
region.
The authorities registered two cases
against Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, the 'chief' of the banned JuD [the
LeT front)], on charges of delivering anti-State sermons and collecting
charity to fund terrorist activities. The cases were registered
in Faisalabad with the Madina Town Police Station and the People's
Colony Police Station in Punjab.
The Defence Ministry sources said
that around 300 militants are waiting across the Line of Control
(LOC) in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) for an opportunity to infiltrate
into India, prompting the Army to strengthen its anti-insurgency
security grid. The militants have been spotted moving in batches
from place to place along the LoC, apparently in search of vulnerable
spots from where they could infiltrate into Jammu and Kashmir. The
attempt was to push in as many militants as possible before the
onset of winter when snowfall will make the mountainous terrains
impregnable, the sources said. In the recent times, there have been
a number of attempts at infiltration, many times accompanied by
firing from across the LoC to provide cover to such bids. Security
Forces have killed at least 25 terrorists while foiling these infiltration
attempts in August 2009 and these encounters took place at the points
along the LoC. Most of these terrorists come from militant outfits
such as the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Al Badr and HM, sources added
further. Sources also put the number of terrorists currently operating
in Jammu and Kashmir at 600. About 150 of these terrorists were
foreign mercenaries, aided and abetted by the Pakistan.
-
September 16: LeT militant Aslam
Kashmiri (27) had undergone training in Pakistan much before lone
arrested terrorist Mohammad Ajmal alias Kasab and his nine other
cadres were trained to carry out the November 26, 2008 (also known
as 26/11) Mumbai terrorist attacks, says Mumbai Anti Terrorist Squad
(ATS). Kashmiri was first arrested by the Delhi Police's special
cell on August 25, and brought to the custody of the ATS of Mumbai
Police on September 14. Kashmiri underwent training in the Pakistan's
Muridke in 2006 and the handlers for him as well as the Kasab group
were the same, the Police said. Kashmiri, who studied at Lucknow
University in 2003-2005, had obtained a bachelor's degree in Persian.
"I met Zarar Shah and Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakvhi, (LeT operatives
in Pakistan) during the training. They had come to oversee the training
programme,'' Kashmiri told the Police. Shah and Lakhvi were accused
in the 26/11 attack. However, the Police are yet to establish if
Kashmiri knew any of the 10 LeT militants who terrorised Mumbai
for three days. "We are questioning him and trying to establish
his role in the arms haul case. It's too early to comment on it,''
said ATS Additional Commissioner Sukhvindar Singh. Kashmiri is suspected
to have played a key role in 2006 Aurangbad arms haul case where
the ATS claimed to have seized State's second biggest consignment-
43 Kilograms RDX. Besides, 16 AK-47 rifles, hand grenades and over
3,200 live bullets were also seized. Kashmiri was booked in this
case under the stringent sections of the Maharashtra Control of
Organised Crime Act (MCOCA). "Preliminary inquiries revealed
Kashmiri sent four youths to Pakistan for training in terror. Our
teams are continuously working on the case and trying to get more
information,'' ATS Chief Krish Pal Raghuvanshi said. Kashmiri is
suspected to have arranged the trip of youth to Pakistan via Nepal
and Bangladesh to Pakistan for training, said Police. The youth
would be imparted with 21-day training in assembling bombs and operating
fire arms, they added.
-
September 15: In a sudden development
across the Line of Control, Pakistan army and the militant commanders
of LeT and Hizbul Mujahideen have called back all local militants
of this part of the State, who had for the past several months,
abandoned the training camps in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK)
and started working in shops and other business concerns within
PoK and Pakistan. While exact number of the militants from Jammu
and Kashmir, held up in PoK after training, was not available, intelligence
inputs revealed that nearly 1000 of them had left the training camps
of militants with the consent of LeT and HM commanders during last
about a year and started working in shops and business houses. Many
of them got engaged by the militant 'commanders' themselves at that
time. Reports, however, suggested that the LeT and HM 'commanders'
have sent messages to all these militants asking them to immediately
report back to the training camps or face consequences. The messages
to these militants were sent through over ground network of the
militants as well as Police. The militants, majority of whom hailed
from Kashmir valley besides Doda belt, Rajouri and Poonch Districts
of Jammu region, have responded to the 'dictates' of militants and
returned to the camps of militant outfits. The cadres, who have
not returned so far, are being searched by the militants themselves
to bring them back to the camps.
A suspected LeT militant, Aslam
Kashmiri, was produced before a Maharashtra Control of Organised
Crime Act (MCOCA) court, which sent him to Police custody till September
29. Kashmiri is suspected to have sent at least four youths to Pakistan
for training in terror, a senior Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) official
said. "Preliminary inquiries revealed Kashmiri sent four youths
to Pakistan for training in terror,'' ATS chief Krish Pal Raghuvanshi
said. Kashmiri was first arrested by the Delhi Police's special
cell on August 25, 2009 was brought to Mumbai on September 13 in
connection with the 2006 Aurangabad arms haul case. The ATS confirmed
Kashmiri alias Yusuf alias Saleem's role in the arms haul case.
-
September 14: Expressing concern
over cross-border terrorism, the Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram
cautioned that terrorist groups, including the LeT and the Jaish-e-Mohammed
(JeM), were persisting in their attempts to launch terror attacks
against India with the support they found among disgruntled elements
within India, The Hindu reported. "They [LeT and JeM] continue
to innovate new ways and means of deniability. Cells and modules
within India lend an Indian character to these activities. Through
community policing and other innovative measures we must detect
and deny any opportunity to our adversaries. Intelligence is the
key. We were able to bust 12 terrorist modules in 2008 and, in the
first half of the current year, we have been able to neutralise
13 modules." Chidambaram said while delivering the inaugural
address at the three-day annual conference of State Police chiefs
and Inspectors-General (IG), organised by the Intelligence Bureau
(IB) in New Delhi. He said that there were attempts from across
the border to forge unity among separatists in Jammu and Kashmir
and escalate violence. Chidambaram spoke about his goals in internal
security and policing over the next five years. He described the
November 26, 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks (also known as 26/11)
as a "game changer," saying "we can no longer afford
to do business as usual." "Let me state our position clearly.
On terrorism, our stance is zero tolerance. We shall raise our level
of preparedness to fight any terror attack and, in the case of threat
or attack, our response will be swift and decisive," he said,
adding that Policing in India was always a challenge and after 26/11,
it became graver.
He pointed out that the large scale
diversion of development funds to militants gives them easy access
to critical resources which helps them recruit new cadres as well
as procure arms, adds Times of India. "This conference should
dwell on finding workable ways and means to curb illegal diversion
of funds to the militants." Chidambaram urged.
-
September 11: Security threats to
India from militant groups operating from Pakistani soil have not
diminished, Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram said in Washington.
He also said that there was an increase in infiltration from Pakistan
in the last four months. He conveyed New Delhi's concerns during
meetings with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and top security
officials of the U.S President Barack Obama administration. Completing
his four-day U.S. visit, Chidambaram told journalists in Washington
that he was going back to India with a "lot of ideas."
One of these was establishing something on the lines of the National
Counter-Terrorism Centre of the U.S. Set up in 2004 under a presidential
utive order, the centre, staffed by over 500 personnel drawn from
16 departments and agencies, spearheads U.S. efforts to combat terrorism
at home and abroad by analysing threat perceptions and sharing information
with friendly countries. Chidambaram reportedly met National Security
Adviser James Jones, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director
Robert Mueller, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and
U.S. Attorney-General Eric H. Holder Jr. Early. Chidambaram said
that he had told the U.S. officials about Pakistan not prosecuting
perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attacks, including the mastermind
Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, founder of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), who
was roaming free in that country despite evidence provided by India.
"I did brief them on the state of the trial of Amir Ajmal 'Kasab'
[the lone surviving LeT militant in 26/11 Mumbai attack] in India
and I also did mention about no progress in Pakistan in respect
of the five or six people they have arrested. And Hafiz Sayeed remains
a free man. I think that is enough. They know to draw the lessons
from that statement," Chidambaram added.
In addition, the Union Home Minister
has given to U.S. officials a list of 60 Pakistani terrorists killed
by Indian Security Forces (SFs) in various encounters in different
parts of the country and 10 others arrested in the last one year,
adds Times of India. A top Government official said that Chidambaram
had compiled the list before leaving for the U.S. for a four-day
visit and shared it with the U.S. officials. "Their names and
addresses in Pakistan were given in the list," the official
said.
Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood
Qureshi stated that no dossier on Balochistan was handed over to
the Indian Prime Minister Manmonah Singh. "No, we didn't. Actually,
we flagged the issue on Balochistan. We asked for a positive attitude
and asked for non-interference inside Balochistan," Foreign
Minister said. He also questioned the visit of Indian Union Home
Minister P. Chidambaram to the US which is seen by Pakistan as an
attempt to put pressure on it to take action against the LeT’s founder
Hafiz Saeed, who was the mastermind behind the November 26, 2008
Mumbai terror attacks.
-
September 10: The Security Force
personnel neutralised two hide-outs of militants in the Bari Behak
forests at Falsa Top in the Mahore area of Reasi District and recovered
a cache of ammunition and ration items. The Deputy Inspector General
(DIG) of Udhampur-Reasi range, Gulzar Singh Slathia said the hide-out
belonged to LeT outfit. Recoveries made from the hide-out include
120 AK rifle bullets, three AK magazines, 10 Pika rounds, one wireless
set with antenna, one binocular and several bags of ration. The
ration was enough to feed half a dozen militants for two to three
months.
Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman
Malik in an interview said that Pakistan is still studying the evidence
provided by India against the LeT/ Jamat-ud-Dawa founder, and could
not take action against him on the basis of "hearsay",
according to The Hindu. Malik also said India must stop blaming
Pakistan for not being cooperative in the November 26, 2008 Mumbai
terrorist attacks (also known as 26/11) case. He attributed any
delays to "foot-dragging" by New Delhi in providing information
the Pakistani investigators had asked for. The Minister repeated
his demand for information on the Samjhauta Express attack, once
again drawing a link between those behind the February 2007 firebombing
of the India-Pakistan train, in which more than 60 Pakistanis were
killed, and the Mumbai attacks. He also reiterated Pakistan's claims
of "ample evidence" of the alleged Indian hand in Balochistan.
Commenting on India''s demand for action against Hafiz Saeed for
his role in the Mumbai attacks, the Minister said India's latest
information dossier had arrived "only 10 days ago" - it
was given on August 21 - "and we need a few days to evaluate
its veracity and also whether it can take the test of our courts.
We cannot operate on hearsay alone." He added another message
for India: "We respect your courts. You respect ours."
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September 6: India has never ruled
out the involvement of state actors in Pakistan in the Mumbai terror
attacks despite Islamabad''s contention to the contrary, Union Home
Minister P. Chidambaram said. "We have never ruled out (involvement
of) State actors. Although Pakistan has maintained that only non-State
actors were involved, we have never ruled out the involvement of
state actors and we have never accepted this distinction between
state actors and non-state actors because both operated from Pakistani
soil," he told NDTV. He was replying to a question on possible
links of the Pakistan Army in the attacks as Jamaat-ud Dawa (JuD)
chief and mastermind of November 26, 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks
(also known 26/11), Hafiz Saeed, was accompanied by one ''Major
General Saab'' during a meeting with the lone arrested Mohammad
Ajmal Amir ''Kasab'' and other Mumbai terrorist attacks accused
at a training camp. "Well that [involvement of Pakistan army]
can only be revealed by investigation," he said. Chidambaram
termed as "atrocious" Pakistan's decision to let off Saeed
in the Mumbai case. "There is enough and more evidence to continue
the investigation against Hafiz Saeed. On the face of this evidence,
to let him off, I think, is atrocious," the Union Home Minister
said. "… So they know what we have but if there is an opportunity,
I will certainly walk them through the dossier to point out that
there is enough evidence [against the JuD chief]," the Home
Minister said.
-
September 5: The SFs shot dead a
LeT 'commander' in the Bathoi Jagnan area of Mahore sub-division
of Reasi District. An official spokesman said that on the basis
of specific information about the presence of a hardcore LeT militant
in the house of Mohammed Nazir in Bathoi Jagnan area, a joint operation
of the Mahore Police and Rashtriya Rifles (61st battalion) was launched
in the early hours. When the operation was going on, the hiding
militant opened fire on the SFs. In the consequent encounter, the
militant, identified as Mohammad Avais alias Abu Jindal, a resident
of Kharian area in Pakistan, was killed. From the encounter site,
the troops recovered one AK-47, three magazines, 60 rounds of AK,
three mobile hand-sets, some SIM cards and diaries. The SFs continued
the cordon in the area as another LeT militant, identified as Mohammed
Rafiq, was believed to be hiding in the area, the spokesman said.
An over-ground worker (OGW) of the
Harkat-ul-Jehad-al-Islami (HuJI) and Lashkar-e-Taiba was arrested
from the Bus Stand area of Kishtwar town in the afternoon of September
4. A Police spokesman said that a joint team of Army and Police
apprehended the OGW when he was carrying some items for the militants
to their destination. He was identified as Akhtar Hussain (19),
a resident of Patti Mahal. Three I-cards, a mobile phone and some
other items were recovered from his possession. The Police said
he was a surrendered militant of the LeT outfit. He had surrendered
before Rashtriya Rifles (11th battalion) in 2007.
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September 2: A division bench of
the Lahore High Court granted bail to 11 activists of the Jama'at-ud-Da'awa
(JD, the LeT front), who were in jail since the UN imposed sanctions
on the JD, The News reported. Abdul Shakoor, Muhammad Hanif and
others were arrested from Bahawalnagar under the Anti-Terrorism
Act. During the course of hearing, Deputy Prosecutor General Chaudhry
Jamshed argued that the JD was a banned organisation but its activists
continued collecting funds, distributing religious literature and
doing other activities. However, the accused-petitioner's counsel
Irshadullah Chatta stated that there was no notification regarding
the ban on JD. He argued that an organisation could not be banned
until a notification under Section 11 B was issued. He said the
Government had already admitted in the Hafiz Saeed case that it
had no substantial evidence against the JD. The bench comprising
Chief Justice Khawaja Muhammad Sharif and Justice Ijaz Ahmad Chaudhry
after hearing the arguments granted them bail against surety bonds
of PKR 100,000 each. The released JD activists included Muhammad
Siddiq, Abbas Dogar, Saeed Amir, Arif Ali, Muhammad Akram, Dr. Muhammad
Iqbal, Master Abdul Shakoor and Muhammad Anwar.
-
September 1: Yet another infiltration
attempt, backed by Pakistan troops, was made by a group of Pakistani
militants from the Line of Control (LoC) at Sagra village in the
Mendhar sector of Poonch District. An Army trooper is reported to
have died in the firing from across the LoC. "It was being
ascertained as to whether the bullet was fired by Pakistan army
or the militants trying to sneak-in. The bullet was fired from a
sniper rifle which was available with top commanders of LeT and
Hizbul Mujahideen militants", official sources told the Daily
Excelsior. The Indian Army is reported to have sought a flag meeting
with Pakistan army commanders on the LoC to lodge a protest on both
aspects - the cease-fire violation and infiltration attempt by the
militants.
According to sources, Pakistan army
and Rangers have been using a new modus operandi on the LoC as well
as the International Border (IB) to push militants. They first target
forward Indian posts and then try to push the militants by diverting
the attention of the Security Forces. However, the Pakistan army
and Rangers have not succeeded in their plan so far, sources added.
The arrested top leader of the India
Asif Reza Commando Force (ARCF), Mufti Obaidullah, revealed during
interrogation that militants fighting in Jammu and Kashmir have
regularly used Bangladesh as a transit point to travel to Pakistan
and have built safe havens in that country to shelter and train
militants for terrorist operations in the region, reports Daily
Star. Obaidullah said Pakistani militants crossed the Line of Control
(LoC) to enter India to run terrorist operations and fight with
Government forces in Jammu and Kashmir and then cross the border
into Bangladesh to fly back to Pakistan. "As it was tough to
cross back to Pakistan through the India-Pakistan border, the Mujahideen
would cross to Bangladesh and then left for their destinations using
fake passports and visas," the interrogation statement said.
He said that his student Selim and close associate Jalal helped
him in this operation. Obaidullah also said he had built a safe-home
in Habiganj in 2002 to shelter fugitive terrorists, and recruit
and train Bangladeshis to take part in terrorist attacks in Jammu
and Kashmir, India and Pakistan. Obaidullah reportedly built the
safe-shelter under the cover of a kindergarten named ''Noor Shah
Islami Kindergarten'' in Habiganj District. One of the operations
chiefs of the LeT in Bangladesh, Faisal alias Khurram Khaiyam alias
Abdullah, supplied BNR 18,000 in two installments to Obaidullah
to construct the house.
In his statement, Obaidullah said
that several other militants in Bangladesh visited his safe-home,
including Moulana Mohiuddin, who he knew from the Deoband madrassa
(seminary), and Harkat-ul-Jihad-al Islami Bangladesh (HuJI-B) leader
Mufti Abdur Rouf. Later, the then ARCF chief, Asif Reza, ordered
Habibullah and Jamal to open a training camp for Bangladeshi recruits
that would also serve as a safe shelter for Pakistani and Indian
militants, according to Obaidullah''s statement. In 2005, Obaidullah
met ARCF chief Amir Reza, Asif Reza''s brother, at Khurram''s house
near the Noorani mosque in Dhaka''s Goran area.
-
August 27: One LeT militant was
shot dead in an encounter with the Security Forces (SFs) in the
Keshwan area of Kishtwar District. The slain militant was later
identified as Mohammad Yusuf alias Abu Salim.
-
August 26: India has shared the
latest dossier on Jama'at-ud-Da'awa (JuD) chief and mastermind of
the November 26, 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks (also known as 26/11)
Hafiz Saeed with 15-16 countries whose nationals were killed in
the attacks. "We would urge these countries to bring pressure
on Pakistan to launch prosecution against Hafiz Saeed," Union
Home Minister P. Chidambaram told journalists in New Delhi on August
26. Reacting to Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik's statement
that India's Dossier on Hafiz Saeed did not have sufficient evidence
to prosecute him, Chidambaram said he was surprised at such a statement
coming as it did from a responsible Minister. "If the Government
of Pakistan asks any lawyer about the evidence contained in the
Dossier, he would then say there is enough evidence to prosecute
Hafiz Saeed. It is enough for it to set up a Special Investigation
Team and follow on leads in the dossier to bring charges against
Hafiz Saeed," he added.
The Interpol issued a Red Corner
Notice against LeT militants Zarar Shah and Abu al-Qama for their
involvement in the Mumbai terrorist attacks.
Mohammad Aslam, the suspected Lashkar-e-Taiba
(LeT) militant arrested at the New Delhi railway station on August
25 was produced in a city court, which remanded him to 14-day Police
custody. The Special Cell of the Delhi Police sought Aslam's custody,
submitting that he had to be taken to Maharashtra and Gujarat for
investigations. The Police believe he was previously involved in
some terrorist activities in Gujarat. During interrogation, Aslam
reportedly revealed that he had come to Delhi from Jammu in the
morning of August 25. He had been tasked to deliver the raw material
for assembling Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) to some cadres
of a LeT module in Aurangabad in Maharashtra. Aslam, who pursued
his education in Gujarat and Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh), is alleged
to have revealed several names. Efforts are on to zero in on his
contacts, including those he had initiated into terrorism.
-
August 25: A suspected LeT militant
was arrested at the Ajmeri Gate side of the New Delhi railway station
shortly before he was to board a train for Maharashtra. According
to the Delhi Police, a Pakistani passport identifying him as 27-year-old
Yusuf, a Jammu and Kashmir identity card bearing his name as Salim,
a consignment of chemical explosives four detonators and two timers
were recovered from his possession. During interrogation the arrested
militant identified himself as Mohammad Aslam of Rajouri in Jammu
and Kashmir. "We are cross-checking the information provided
by him. He could have been assigned the task of ferrying the consignment,"
said a Police official. The Police suspect that the militant recently
visited Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Police is also trying to ascertain
whether the suspect planned to create disturbances during Ganesh
Chaturthi (Religious Festival) celebrations in Maharashtra.
The Interpol issued Red Corner Notices
(RCN) against Pakistan based LeT founder chief, Hafiz Muhammad Saeed,
and mastermind of the November 26, 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks,
Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi. The notices were issued against Saeed and
Lakhvi after a Mumbai court issued a non-bailable warrant against
the duo for their involvement in the November 26, 2008 (alos known
as 26/11) attacks. India also sent proof and requests to issue a
similar warrant against LeT commander Zarar Shah and Abu Al Qama.
Interpol said it was analysing the evidence against them. The RCN
were issued after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) approached
the international agency for the same with non-bailable warrants
against them. Special Judge M.L. Tahaliyani had issued the warrants,
asking the Mumbai Police Commissioner and the CBI Director to ute
them through Interpol and produce the accused before the court soon.
Saeed had reportedly provided training
to terrorists between 2007 and 2008 at Muridke (LeT headquarters),
Manshera, Muzzafarabad, Azizabad, and Paanch Teni in Pakistan and
Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir. In December 2008, the United Nations
Security Council (UNSC) imposed sanctions on the Jamaat-ud-Dawa
(JuD), the front organisation of the banned LeT, declaring it a
terrorist outfit, and labelled Saeed and Lakhvi as terrorists. The
Council asked all its member countries to freeze their assets and
impose a travel ban and arms embargo against them. Besides Saeed
and Lakhvi, two other top leaders of the LeT — Haji Muhammad Ashraf
and Zaki-ur-Bahaziq — have also been declared terrorists by the
UNSC. India had sought a ban on the JuD after the LeT was blamed
for the attacks in Mumbai.
-
August 23: The Special Operations
Group of Jammu and Kashmir Police arrested the 'chief commander'
of Al Badr militant outfit in the Sopore area of Baramulla District.
Zeenat-ul-Islam, a resident of Shopian District in south Kashmir,
was operating under various codenames, including Zahid and Junaid,
during his four-year stint as the operations chief of the outfit,
official sources said. Zeenat-ul-Islam Shah was active in militancy
since 2005 and was operating in the Lolab area of Kupwara District,
the Inspector General of Police (Kashmir), Farooq Ahmed, said. He
is reported to have shifted to Shopian only two months back. He
used to report to top Al-Badr commander Yusuf Baloch in Pakistan.
He was reportedly trained in Lolab by Pakistan trainer Sikander
in 2005.
A laptop and some documents were
recovered from his possession. Official sources described the arrest
of Zeenat as a major success of anti-militancy operations in Kashmir
as he was trying to recruit new militants for fanning militancy
while finding over-ground workers to guide the recently infiltrated
militants from across the Line of Control to interior areas of the
Kashmir Valley. Security agencies have reportedly been on his trail
for the past couple of years after it emerged that he was coordinating
operations with the LeT and other outfits in south Kashmir.
-
August 21: The Government of India
handed over fresh information on the November 26, 2008 terrorist
attacks (also referred to as 26/11) in Mumbai to Pakistan. Additional
information about the role of the Jama'at-ud-Da'awa (also known
as Lashkar-e-Taiba [LeT]) chief Hafiz Mohammed Saeed in 26/11 was
reportedly given. The information on Saeed, officials claimed, was
"cogent and convincing evidence" to prosecute him. Without
disclosing details, sources in the Union Ministry of Home Affairs
(MHA) said the new information comprised "fresh investigation
details produced before the trial court in Mumbai". The official
also said, "Reading of the material before the Mumbai trial
court clearly pointed to the role of Saeed. This warrants further
investigation and evidence on record should certainly lead to Saeed's
prosecution."
According to sources, India handed
over two sets of information - the first being new evidence and
information emerging at the trial in Mumbai on 26/11 and second,
information on threats of terrorist attacks from Pakistan as referred
to by Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on August 17 at the Chief
Ministers conference on Internal Security in New Delhi. The second
set of information reportedly includes information based on intercepts
of terrorists'' chatter as well as arrests of terrorists that shows
Pakistan-based terrorist groups are continuing to plan attacks in
India.
-
August 19: Assam Chief Minister
Tarun Gogoi said he was apprehensive that the Pakistan-based LeT
may target the State. "We cannot rule out (LeT’s threat). If
you ask me if I have any definite proof, we may not have that, but
I have my apprehensions. These people, you do not know how they
work," Gogoi said. On being asked about any intelligence input
on whether the LeT may target Assam, he said "Yes. I have no
doubt. According to me, we are not safe." He, however, said
the Assam Police is on alert and prepared to thwart any untoward
incident. The Chief Minister also said efforts were on to modernise
the Assam Police with latest technologies and equipment with the
help of the Union Government and the State-run schemes.
-
August 18: The LeT has enforced
a new diktat in parts of Jammu and Kashmir asking people not to
watch television. LeT militants operating in the Banihal heights
of Ramban District have imposed a ban on watching TV - terming it
a 'un-islamic' activity. Lashkar militants have reportedly warned
villagers of dire consequences if they do not stop watching television.
In a recently issued diktat, they have described the television
as an epicentre of all problems and blame the same for impregnating
evil thoughts in the mind of villagers. In addition to resorting
to violence, the Lashkar militants also reportedly pasted a pamphlet
on the boundary wall of a mosque.
Security Forces in the area described
the LeT diktat as one of frustration and desperation. The Inspector
General of Police (Jammu), Ashok Gupta, said, "These days the
television is a very powerful medium which is exposing their lies.
So why would they allow it. It is an act of sheer frustration on
their part."
Nine Pakistani infiltrators, including
six Balochis, were arrested in the Kutch District. The nine intruders
were taken to the Joint Interrogation Cell in Bhuj on August 18.
The water wing of the Border Security Force had lodged a complaint
at Dayapar Police station in Lakhpat taluka (administrative unit)
after they arrested the intruders for moving suspiciously near the
250-MW Akarimota power plant of the Gujarat Mineral Development
Corporation near Nani Chher village of Kutch District. The Kutch
Superintendent of Police, Wabang Jamir, said, ‘‘It’s too early to
say anything. Preliminary interrogation revealed that six of them
are Baloch and hence we’re concerned. We will be able to tell more
after further interrogation.’’ According to Police, the group of
men started from Buddhu port near Karachi in Pakistan. Since the
Baloch aren’t traditionally fishermen the authorities reportedly
suspect their story that they were out for fishing.
Earlier, the Union Ministry of Home
Affairs (MHA) and various other Security Forces had categorically
cautioned the Gujarat Government that the LeT is preparing to infiltrate
its cadres through the sea route in villages and towns located north
of Koteshwar and Mandvi ports. LeT intercepts had suggested that
their supporters in border areas in Gujarat were to arrange for
motorized boats near Koteshwar and Mandvi. The MHA warning had said
fishermen would be involved in the landing activity. The alert warned
that patrolling activities along the coast need to be intensified
and fishermen should be closely watched as certain industrial installations
may also be targeted along the coast. Reports indicate that areas
north of Koteshwar between Kori and Padala creeks are vulnerable
for cross-border infiltration. Another focus of intelligence agencies
is reportedly the Savla Pir and Kotri areas, which are also vulnerable
areas for infiltration.
-
August 17: A top 'commander' of
the LeT was killed by the Security Forces (SFs) in an encounter
at village Ladda in the Mahore area of Reasi District. Deputy Inspector
General of Police (Udhampur-Reasi range), Gulzar Singh Slathia,
said a team of the Army, Police and Special Operations Group was
carrying out search operations in Mahore forests following an intercept
of LeT that a militant, injured in an encounter with the SFs at
Gajna Top in Mahore last week, had taken shelter in a hamlet awaiting
treatment. A Police team which observed his movement is reported
to have asked him to surrender. However, the militant lobbed a couple
of grenades towards the troops, who retaliated killing the militant
on the spot. The slain militant has been identified as Altaf Ahmed,
a resident of Ladda. He was operating in parts of Reasi District
for more than three years and was involved in several subversive
activities. From his possession, Police recovered four grenades,
three detonators, one set, one pouch and some documents. With this,
a total of eight militants have been killed in Mahore during the
last one week in three operations while 12 militants were killed
in the area during the past one month.
Inaugurating the Chief Ministers'
Conference on Internal Security in New Delhi, Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh said "there is credible information of ongoing plans
of terrorist groups in Pakistan to carry out fresh attacks."
Stressing that cross-border terrorism remains a most pervasive threat,
he cautioned that "the area of operation of these terrorists
today extends far beyond the confines of Jammu and Kashmir and covers
all parts of our country." Manmohan Singh told the Chief Ministers
that in dealing with the terrorist challenge, "we need to be
prepared for encountering more sophisticated technologies and enhanced
capabilities." He emphasised the need for guarding the sea
frontier as vigilantly as the land border.
Sources said the Prime Minister's
warning was based on intercepts of chatter among terrorist leaders,
including November 26, 2008 Mumbai terrorist attack accused LeT
operatives Zaki-ur Rahman Lakhvi, Zarar Shah and Abu al Qama, adds
Times of India. The intercepts pointed to a plot for another massive
terrorist attack via the sea route involving local LeT modules instead
of Pakistani militants. The conspiracy has not ripened yet because
of the disarray among the local collaborators of the LeT due to
a crackdown on the Indian Mujahideen (IM).
-
August 16: A top militant of the
LeT was killed in an encounter with the Security Forces (SFs) in
the Pulwama District. A Police spokesman said in Srinagar that "Police
and Army have killed a militant in an encounter in Aarmullah area
of Pulwama district." The slain militant has been identified
as Jan Mohammad Ahangar alias Hamza, a resident of Buchoo in the
Pulwama District. One AK rifle, two AK magazines, one hand grenade
and four mobile phones were recovered from incident site.
-
August 12: Reinforcing the Pakistan
link to the November 26, 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks, the Federal
Bureau of Investigation (FBI) told the special court in Mumbai that
its probe had established that the terrorists came from Karachi
in Pakistan. In a testimony at the trial of the lone surviving LeT
militant Mohammed Ajmal Amir alias Kasab, an FBI forensic expert,
giving evidence for the first time in India in a terrorism-related
case, said the terrorists had used Global Positioning System (GPS),
a satellite navigation system, to locate targets. Deposing before
Special Judge M.L. Tahaliyani, the FBI official said the GPS devices
recovered by the Mumbai Police from the slain terrorists indicated
plans for a return journey from Mumbai to Karachi and Rawalpindi.
He added, “Way Point” data retrieved from the GPS devices pointed
to the route from Karachi to Mumbai and also positions between these
two cities. He also said that he had examined five GPS devices and
a satellite phone.
With intelligence agencies giving
inputs that the Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and the Rashtriya
Swayam Sevak Sangh (RSS, a Hindu organisation) chief Mohan Bhagwat
could be targeted by the LeT, the Union Government has asked all
States to take special security precautions when the two personalities
visit their region. The Union Ministry for Home Affairs (MHA) sources
said the Union Government has informed that the former Jammu and
Kashmir Chief Minister Azad and Bhagwat are in the LeT hit-list
and they could be targeted by the militants anywhere in the country.
Both Azad and Bhagwat have Z-plus security with the former being
accorded with the elite Black Cat commando protection along with
bullet-proof car.
-
August 10: The detained LeT operatives
and Indian nationals - Mufti Obaidullah and Moulana Mohammad Mansur
Ali - revealed that besides the local chapter of the Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami
(HuJI-B), some political leaders have been helping the Pakistan-based
militant outfit LeT to operate in Bangladesh. Investigators are
now working to gather more about them, said sources in the intelligence
and security agencies. Officials involved in the ongoing crackdown
on militants said they have information that some politicians might
have been sheltering LeT cadres as per secret deals with the terrorist
group. Though the Security Forces had detained several LeT operatives
in the past, they formally admitted the outfit''s existence in Bangladesh
only in July 2009 after the Detective Branch of Police arrested
Obaidullah and Mansur.
Earlier, a former investigator of
the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) told that they had come to know
about the existence of LeT and at least seven of its political patrons
in Bangladesh during the last Bangladesh National Party - Jamaat-e-Islami
(JeI) -led Government rule. But they could not carry the investigation
through as they had limitations with the four-party alliance in
power. Sources said investigators are confirmed that banned Islamist
outfit HuJI-B, has all along been backing LeT operations in Bangladesh.
In addition, the local political
links became a focus of the investigation after names of some political
leaders came up during interrogations of the detained LeT cadres.
Detective Branch Deputy Commissioner Monirul Islam who leads the
agency''s drive against militancy said, “We are now verifying the
information and names we''ve got from the detained Lashkar leaders."
He, however, would not say anything about identity of the political
leaders suspected of aiding and abetting LeT in Bangladesh. Sources
close to Detective Branch say some of the suspects are local level
leaders of a political party and some are quite prominent at national
level.
A Sessions Court awarded life imprisonment
to a LeT militant and sentenced another militant of the group to
14 years in jail, five years after they were arrested along with
AK-56 rifles and ammunition on March 12, 2004, by the Special Task
Force of the Uttar Pradesh Police in capital Lucknow, reports The
Hindu. Atharuddin was handed down life imprisonment while Mohammed
Irfan was awarded a 14-year term under the Prevention of Terrorism
Act (POTA) and various sections of the Indian Penal Code. District
and sessions judge Shivanand Mishra also imposed a total fine of
INR 820000 on Atharuddin and INR 470000 on Mohammed Irfan.
-
August 9: Following the security
alert of a LeT threat, an eight-member England team withdrew from
the World Badminton Championship, a day before the event began at
the Gachibowli stadium in Hyderabad, capital of Andhra Pradesh.
This is reportedly the second time that England has pulled out of
a badminton tournament in India. Rajiv Ouseph and Carl Baxter withdrew
from the India Open Grand Prix in March 2009, citing the terrorist
attacks in Mumbai on November 26, 2008.
-
August 8: Union Minister of Home
Affairs, P. Chidambaram, assured that the tournament would take
place "in complete security". "I am satisfied that
the World Badminton Championship will take place in complete security.
No one needs to have any apprehensions on this score," Chidambaram
said in a statement. "The alert in Hyderabad was based on
information shared with the State Police in a routine manner. There
is no specific information that points to any imminent threat to
the badminton championship," Chidambaram added. Chidambaram
also pointed out that the Andhra Pradesh Police had taken all
necessary measures to fully secure the tournament and ensure the
safety of every player.
-
August 7: The security was tightened
at the World Badminton Championship scheduled to begin in Hyderabad,
capital of Andhra Pradesh, on August 10 following specific information
by the Intelligence Bureau (IB) that the LeT is planning to target
it. The information relayed by the Intelligence Bureau to authorities
in Andhra Pradesh was that terrorist elements would attempt to strike
at the international players as they did against Sri Lankan cricketers
in Pakistan recently. Top-ranked badminton players are scheduled
to take part in the World Championships slated to be held at Gatchibowli.
The threat of an attack at the international sporting event came
a day after intelligence inputs suggested that LeT operatives may
target Hyderabad, New Delhi and Kolkata around Independence Day
(August 15).
-
August 6: Ahead of the Independence
Day on August 15, the Pakistan-based terrorist outfit LeT is planning
to target three major cities - Delhi, Kolkata and Hyderabad - Union
Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) officials said. Intelligence agencies
have given specific inputs that the LeT is planning to target the
three cities in the run-up to the Independence Day, an unnamed official
said. The Union Government has already shared the information with
the Governments of West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh besides informing
Delhi Police for necessary action. "The next 10 days are very
crucial. We are taking all necessary steps to foil the designs of
LeT to strike at the three cities," an official said. The intelligence
input shared included an interrogation report of some recent arrested
terrorist along the Line of Control (LoC) who claimed that they
had been tasked to meet some of the terror cells in these cities
to carry out attacks ahead of the Independence Day.
-
August 5: The Government announced
that 25 extremist and militant groups and welfare organisations
affiliated to them have so far been banned because of their involvement
in terrorist activities. In a written reply submitted on August
5 in response to a question in the National Assembly, Interior Minister
Rehman Malik said the banned organisations included Al Qaeda, Sipah-e-Mohammed
Pakistan (SMP), Tehrik Nifaz-i-Fiqah Jafaria, Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan
(SSP), Jama’at-ud-Da’awa, Al Akhtar Trust, Al Rasheed Trust (ART),
Tehrik-i-Islami, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ),
Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, Islamic Students Movement, Khairun Nisa
International Trust, Tehrik-i-Islam Pakistan, Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi
(TNSM), LeT, Lashkar-i-Islam, Balochistan Liberation Army, Jamiat-i-Ansar,
Jamiatul Furqan, Hizbut Tehrir, Khuddam-i-Islam and Millat-i-Islamia
Pakistan.
Malik said the Jama’at-ud-Da’awa,
Al Akhtar Trust, and Al Rasheed Trust were banned on December 10,
2008, after they were named in the United Nations Security Council
Resolution No 1267 and the Sunni Tehrik was placed on the ‘watch
list’. He said law-enforcement agencies were closely monitoring
their activities and stern action was being taken against people
taking part in objectionable activities.
A plot by the LeT to target forward
Army posts and other sensitive installations in border Districts
has been averted by the troops who foiled an infiltration attempt
by three fidayeen (suicide squad) militants from Sabjian in the
Mandi sector of Poonch District in the night in which one infiltrator
was killed while two others were forced to retrieve. The infiltrators,
all top militants and members of LeT’s suicide squad, had been launched
from Cobra 1 post of army in PoK. The intruders took positions at
an isolated forest area and opened indiscriminate firing on the
troops, who retaliated. The militants also lobbed grenades on the
Army personnel. In approximately an hour long encounter close to
the LoC, the Army personnel killed one of the infiltrators while
two others retrieved to PoK taking cover of darkness. There were
no casualties on Army side in the exchange of firing. According
to sources, maps of Army posts in forward locations and other sensitive
installations of Poonch have been recovered from the possession
of the slain militant. More documents seized from the spot confirmed
that all three militants were Pakistanis and part of a suicide squad
of the LeT outfit. In addition to sensitive maps, other recoveries
made from the encounter site include one AK-47 rifle, five magazines,
four Chinese grenades, one Pathan suit, 130 AK bullets, a large
quantity of dry fruit, mobile phones, batteries, chargers, two wireless
sets and one compass.
-
August 4: The Federal Investigation
Agency’s (FIA) Special Investigation Unit (SIU) arrested another
suspect allegedly linked with the LeT. FIA sources said that the
SIU was already questioning five suspects, including Zakiur Rehman
Lakhvi, and Mazhar Iqbal alias Abu Al-Qama of Islamabad, Abdul Wajid
alias Zarar Shah of Sheikupura, Shahid Jamil Riaz of Bahawalpur
and Hammad Amin Sadiq of Rahim Yar Khan to probe their links with
the Mumbai attacks. "The suspects revealed the name of another
suspect, Jamil Ahmed, of Battgram during interrogation. Ahmed also
allegedly facilitated the acts of terrorism in Mumbai on November
26," they said. The sources said the SIU arrested Ahmed from
near his house, adding that the suspect was being interrogated.
-
August 3: The Supreme Court adjourned
for an indefinite period the hearing of a petition filed by the
federal Government challenging the release of the Jama'at-ud-Da'awa
(also known as LeT) chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed and his close aide
Col (r) Nazir Ahmad. A three-member bench of Chief Justice Iftikhar
Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Chaudhry Ijaz Ahmed and Justice Jawwad
S Khawaja is hearing the case. Attorney General Sardar Latif Khosa
told the court on August 3 that the record of the case was with
the Punjab Government, but Punjab Advocate General Raza Farooq had
resigned and nobody else had been appointed in his place. He said
the case could not proceed in the absence of the record, and called
on the court to adjourn the proceedings. Advocate A. K. Dogar, representing
Hafiz Saeed, did not object to the attorney general’s request –
which was accepted by the court.
The federal and the Punjab governments
had filed separate appeals with the Supreme Court against a Lahore
High Court order freeing Hafiz Saeed and Nazir from house arrest.
But the Punjab Government later moved an application for the withdrawal
of its petition, and told the court that if the federal Government
provided fresh evidence against Saeed, the provincial administration
would reverse its decision to withdraw the appeal. In its application
for the withdrawal of the appeal against Hafiz Saeed, the Punjab
Government said the LeT chief and Nazir were put under house arrest
on a directive by the federal Government, but the centre had “failed”
to provide concrete evidence for their house arrest.
-
August 3: Elements in the intelligence
agencies who were sympathetic towards terrorists had resigned and
had been arrested, said Interior Minister Rehman Malik, adding they
were officers of the rank of Major and wanted to target army generals.
He said there have been some elements in the intelligence agencies
who have had links with terrorists, including Baitullah Mehsud,
Qari Ilyas and Qari Hussain and with banned organisations.
To a question, he said South Waziristan
had become a hub of anti-state activities and terrorists from various
areas, including Hangu, Bajaur and Mohmand agencies, were operating
against security forces. He also reportedly said the LeT and Jaish-e-Mohammed
(JeM) supported the Taliban and Al Qaeda in destabilising the country.
-
August 2: Holding the LeT responsible
for the November 26, 2008 Mumbai attacks, a British parliamentary
committee said several major terrorist attacks across the world,
including those in London, Madrid, and Bali, had their origins in
the tribal areas of Pakistan.
A report by the Foreign Affairs
Committee quoted a former CIA chief as saying the Pakistan-based
LeT had reached a "merge point" with the Al Qaeda. "It
was from the tribal areas in Pakistan that the bomb plots in London,
Madrid, Bali, Islamabad, and later Germany and Denmark were planned,"
said the report on 'Global Security: Afghanistan and Pakistan,'
headed by lawmaker Mike Gapes. The report said the LeT, which was
responsible for the November 2008 Mumbai attacks that targeted Westerners,
in particular U.S. and U.K, nationals, also operates from these
tribal areas. It added that a section within the Pakistani Army
and the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) still feels that "India,
rather than the Islamic terrorists," was the main threat to
it. "We welcome the increasing recognition at senior levels
within the Pakistani military of the need for a recalibrated approach
to militancy, but we remain concerned that this may not necessarily
be replicated elsewhere within the Army and the ISI," the report
said. It welcomed Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari's remark that
terrorism, not India, was the real threat to his country. However,
the report raised doubts over "whether the underlying fundamentals
of Pakistani security policy have changed sufficiently to realise
the goals of long-term security and stability in Afghanistan."
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August 1: Arrested LeT militant
Moulana Mansur Ali revealed during investigation that the India-based
militant outfit Asif Reza Commando Force (ARCF), which works together
with Pakistan-based militant outfit LeT, supplied grenades to LeT-Bangladesh
militant leader Moulana Tajuddin for the August 21 attack in 2004.
This revelation came as the Government pushes for further investigation
into the case, particularly to find if any influential quarters
supplied the grenades. Mansur Ali, who was also an ARCF organiser,
told Detective Branch during interrogation that an ARFC leader,
who is also from India, directly handed over the grenades to Tajuddin.
Tajuddin is reportedly the brother of detained former Bangladesh
National Party (BNP) deputy minister Abdus Salam Pintu. The investigators,
however, did not reveal the Indian national''s name for the sake
of investigation.
Meanwhile, the Criminal Investigation
Department (CID) in its charge sheet only mentioned that Tajuddin
had supplied the grenades. But the CID investigators could not find
out who handed over the grenades to him and how. The grenade attack
on Sheikh Hasina’s rally at Bangabandhu Avenue reportedly killed
23 Awami League leaders and workers and injured over 300 others.
India handed over to Pakistan a
fresh dossier of evidence on the Mumbai terrorist attacks of November
2008 and pressed it to prosecute the prime accused and Jama'at-ud-Da'awa
(the LeT front) chief Hafiz Mohammed Saeed, saying there was "enough"
proof to do so. The dossier, comprising a seven-page summary and
60 pages of annexure, contains replies to queries posed by Pakistan
with regard to investigation and legal process involved in the 26/11
attacks which were carried out by Lashkar-e-Taiba.
The dossier was handed over by T.
C. A. Raghavan, Joint Secretary (Pakistan) in the Ministry of External
Affairs (MEA), to Pakistan's Deputy High Commissioner Rifat Masood
when she was called to the MEA, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said.
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July 29: Two Army soldiers and a
LeT militant were killed in an overnight encounter in the Shopian
District. Official sources said in Srinagar that an encounter took
place between Security Forces (SFs) and militants at Check Matribugh
in the jurisdiction of Shopian Police Station in the two-storied
house of Mohammad Maqbool Bhat. One militant was killed in the encounter
while another managed to escape from the spot. The slain militant
has been identified as Jahangir Ahmad Ganai, a resident of Haf-Shermaal
in Shopian. Two wounded Army troopers, Islam-u-Din and Ratibar,
succumbed to injuries at the hospital. One AK-47 rifle, four AK
magazines and 59 rounds were recovered from encounter site.
-
July 27: The Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT)
chief, Hafiz Mohammed Saeed, will not be arrested since his alleged
involvement in the Mumbai terrorist attacks has not been proved,
Interior Minister Rehman Malik said. Malik said Pakistan had demanded
details of Indian citizens convicted in the Mumbai attacks, according
to Daily Times. He also reportedly said Afghanistan had conceded
there were Taliban training camps on its soil and Afghan President
Hamid Karzai had ordered immediate closure of such camps.
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July 27: Maulana Mansur Ali, a arrested
LeT cadre and one of the organisers of the Asif Reza Commando Force
(ARCF), confessed to the Police during interrogation that a top
ARCF leader, identified as Khurram Khaiyam, had been providing financial
support to the LeT cadres who are hiding in Bangladesh. Mansur also
said they received the money through another LeT cadre who is also
hiding in Bangladesh. However, the Police have declined to disclose
his name for the sake of investigation.
A special Prevention of Terrorism
Act (POTA) court convicted three persons for their involvement in
the bomb blasts at the Gateway of India and the Zaveri Bazaar in
Mumbai on August 25, 2003, which killed 52 persons and injured 184.
Judge M.R. Puranik announced that Haneef Sayyed (46) and his wife
Fahmeeda (43) from Marol and Ashrat Ansari (32) from Juhu Galli
would be sentenced on August 4. The three were also held guilty
of carrying out a bomb blast in a bus at Ghatkopar on July 28, 2003,
which killed two people and injured 60, and of planting a bomb,
which however did not explode, in a bus in the Santa Cruz Electronics
Export Processing Zone. They were convicted under Sections 302 (murder),
307 (attempt to murder), 427 (damaging property) and 120B (criminal
conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code. They were also convicted under
Sections 3 (damaging property) and 4 (damaging property by fire
or explosive) of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act
Sections 3 (causing an explosion to endanger life) and 4 (making
an explosive to endanger life) of the Explosive Substances Act and
Sections 5 and 9B (licence for the use of explosives) of the Explosives
Act. The mastermind of the blasts, who claimed to be a Lashkar-e-Taiba
(LeT) operative, had turned approver.
The Police claimed that Nasir Ahmed,
one of the conspirators, was killed in an encounter in September
2003. However, the couple and Ashrat Ansari were acquitted under
Sections 5 and 6 (making or possessing explosives under suspicious
circumstances) of the Explosive Substances Act. "These are
very minor offences," said Nikam. The accused were LeT operatives
and had committed serious offences. "We will (therefore) argue
for the highest punishment." He added.
Earlier, investigations revealed
that the bomb blasts were carried out by cadres of the Gujarat Muslim
Revenge Force to avenge the communal riots in Gujarat in 2002. Two
other accused — Ansari Ladoowala and Hasan Batterywala — were discharged
from the case after a POTA Review Committee gave them a clean chit
in 2005. The 16-year-old daughter of Sayyed and Fahmeeda was also
an accused, but was later acquitted.
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July 23: The Police arrested two
persons for allegedly damaging equipment of a mobile tower at the
behest of the LeT in Kupwara District, a Police spokesman said.
"Two persons were arrested in connection with the damage of
Mobile tower equipment at Maidanpora, Kupwara," the spokesman
said He identified the duo as Mir Saddam Hussain and Abdul Hamid
Mir, both residents of Maidanpora. The spokesman said during questioning,
the duo confessed that they burnt down the equipment of Airtel/Aircel
Tower at the behest of LeT ‘commander’ Abu Hurrera alias Ali. Ali
was active in active in the Lolab area of Kupwara District till
about 10 months ago but is now operating out of Pakistan, he said,
adding that Saddam and Hamid were active over-ground workers of
the LeT. One mobile phone and a bottle used for carrying flammable
material were recovered from their possession.
Special judge M. L. Tahaliyani ruled
that the confessional statement given by Pakistani national and
the lone arrested LeT militant Ajmal Kasab would stay on the records
though the trial against him would continue. On July 20, Kasab had
pleaded guilty and demanded that he should be punished immediately.
Special Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam, however, argued that Kasab’s statement
was only ‘‘partially true’’ and so the prosecution wanted to continue
examining witnesses to establish all the 86 charges against him.
Tahaliyani, while passing the order, observed that Kasab had given
a ‘‘voluntary confession’’ and his statement could not be removed
from the records. ‘‘The trial will proceed. The confession will
stay though I will not make any comment on its evidence value at
this stage,’’ the Judge added.
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July 22: The Kerala Police arrested
a suspected terrorist, identified as Mohammed Abdul Haleem, for
his involvement in the July 2008 Bangalore serial bomb blasts and
a series of low-intensity blasts in Kerala in the last decade.
Haleem was arrested from Kannur and brought to Kochi where he was
placed under arrest. Police said he was associated with the ultra-Islamic
Noorish Tariquat based in Hyderabad and received terror training
there. Meanwhile, the Kochi Police commissioner Manoj Abraham said
that the vehicle used to plant bombs in Bangalore was the one stolen
by Haleem from Aluva in Ernakulam. Though he was arrested earlier
also in connection with the theft, Haleem duped the Police then
by stating that it was done to raise money for his wife’s medical
treatment. A former cadre of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP)
founded by Abdul Nasser Madani, Haleem was an aide of Tadiyantavide
Nasir, a key LeT militant wanted for the Bangalore bomb blasts case.
Police also established his links with Abdul Sattar, another accused
in the case.
The Minister of State for External
Affairs, Preneet Kaur, said that Pakistan had not responded to its
consistent demand for handing over underworld gangster Dawood Ibrahim
and other fugitives. “We have consistently asked Pakistan to hand
over Ibrahim and others, whom we believe are taking shelter there,
to us. The demand has been made in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007. But,
unfortunately there has been no response from Pakistan so far,”
Preneet Kaur told the Lok Sabha (Lower House of Parliament) during
Question Hour. She said the issue was also brought to the UN Security
Council which has declared the LeT and Jama''at-ud-Da''awa as terrorist
outfits having links with Dawood Ibrahim.
The Police arrested a Bangladeshi
national with suspected links to the Pakistan-based outfit LeT at
Kamalnagar in Satkhira town. The arrestee, identified as Muhaddis
Obaidullah, was produced in a Satkhira court on July 23, which placed
him on a 10-day Police remand for interrogation. His arrest followed
leads from the arrested Indian national and a key organiser of the
LeT, Mufti Obaidullah. Muhaddis is suspected to be an accomplice
of Mufti Obaidullah who had taken shelter at his (Muhaddis) house
in Satkhira after sneaking into Bangladesh in 1995. "We suspect
Muhaddis Obaidullah is a hardcore militant since he had contacts
with LeT organiser Mufti Obaidullah and talked to him even two months
back,” Satkhira Superintendent of Police S.M. Moniruzzaman said.
Muhaddis confessed to the Police that he had come in contact with
Mufti Obaidullah while studying at the Sangu Madrassa (seminary)
in India for a year.
Meanwhile, another detained Indian
national and a LeT organiser, Maulana Mohammad Monsur Ali alias
Maulana Habibullah, confessed before the Police that he had expertise
in making improvised mines and grenades. Ali said he had training
for this when he took part in the war against Soviet forces in Afghanistan.
Intelligence officials interrogating the two detained Indian nationals
said that both of them used to get funds from the LeT and Asif Reza
Commando Force (ARCF), through hundi (illegal money laundering mechanism).
They also revealed that their main target was non-Muslim countries
where Muslims are tortured.
-
July 21: The Detective Branch (DB)
of Police disclosed the arrest of another leader of the LeT, Moulana
Habibullah. The Additional Deputy Commissioner of DB, Walid Hossain,
confirmed the arrest but did not give further details. Habibullah
is believed to be the immediate superior of Mufti Obaidullah, who
was arrested earlier.
A Police officer was killed and
three Security Force (SF) personnel injured as militants attacked
a camp of the Special Operations Group (SOG) in Shopian District.
Official sources in capital Srinagar said that militants fired a
rifle grenade at the SOG camp at Imam Sahib in Shopian in the afternoon.
The grenade landed and exploded in the compound of the security
camp, the sources said. While Special Police Officer Mohammad Shafi
succumbed to his injuries at the hospital, three SF personnel were
wounded in the blast which created a crater at the landing place
in the compound. This is the first grenade attack in Kashmir in
the past few months in which a Police officer has been killed. While
no militant outfit has claimed responsibility for the attack so
far Police officials said the LeT was suspected to be behind the
attack.
The Government admitted that women
were being trained in Pakistan and Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK)
to carry out militant activities in India. Responding to a question
in the Lok Sabha (Lower house of Parliament), the Union Minister
of State for Home Affairs, Ajay Maken, said, “There are reports
to indicate that women are being trained in Pakistan and PoK for
terrorist activities.” He added that Pakistan and PoK-based terrorist
groups including the LeT were reported to be active in organising
acts of terror. He also said, "Available inputs indicate link
between terorrist elements and individuals from Bihar."
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July 20: The lone surviving LeT
terrorist in the Mumbai terrorist attacks case, Mohammad Ajmal Amir
alias Kasab, confessed to his crime before the Special Sessions
Court at the Arthur Road jail in Mumbai. Kasab also mentioned the
name of an Indian national, Abu Jundal, who he claimed “taught us
Hindi.” Ajmal spoke for about four hours about the incident, his
training and his first encounter with the Mujahideen in Pakistan.
He began his testimony with a description of his attack at the Chhatrapati
Shivaji Terminus (CST) along with his partner Abu Ismail. He traced
their journey to the Cama Hospital and also narrated the encounter
at Girgaum Chowpatty.
Meanwhile, calling Kasab’s U-turn
as another ploy to mislead the court, Special Public Prosecutor
Ujjwal Nikam said outside the court that it was his ‘intelligence’
training at work. “Kasab did not name Hafiz Saeed. He confessed
because the testimonies and the electronic evidence left him with
no choice. However, he did not tell the whole truth he hid certain
offences and pleaded guilty to reduce his sentence. On July 21 (today),
the court will decide whether to accept or reject his plea of guilt,”
Nikam said.
The Detective Branch of Police has
arrested another LeT militant from a madrassa (seminary) in the
Dakkhin Khan area of the capital Dhaka. The arrestee was an Indian
national identified as Moulana Mohammad Mansur Ali. He was also
an organiser of the Asif Reza Commando Force (ARCF), the terrorist
outfit responsible for the attack on American Centre in Kolkata
on January 22, 2002. Police arrested him following information obtained
from Mufti Obaidullah, an Indian LeT operative arrested in Dhaka
recently.
-
July 19: Four senior LeT militants
who are hiding in Bangladesh are also serving as teachers in different
madrassas (seminaries) of the country providing their fake identities
like detained Mufti Obaidullah, Detective Branch (DB) sources said.
Of the four, Indian national Moulana Mansur Ali and Pakistani national
Moulana Habibullah, are teachers of two madrassas in capital Dhaka
while two others are outside the capital. Sources, however, refused
to disclose the names of two other Indian fugitive militants.
Meanwhile, the Police are also looking
into whether Obaidulla had links to the August 21 grenade attack
on an Awami League rally, and bomb attacks at Ramna Batamul and
Udichi function in Jessore. DB sources said on the first day of
his seven-day remand, Mufti Obaidullah confessed that the LeT and
Asif Reza Commando Force (ARCF) expanded their networks through
former militants who fought in Afghanistan and Jammu and Kashmir
and also through the students of Deoband madrassa. Sources suspect
that qawmi madrassas have a vital role in setting up of the network
as these madrassas gave them shelter and teaching jobs by accepting
fake identities. Besides, among the militant outfits active in the
country, the Indian militants have closest links with leaders of
the Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI-B), sources added.
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July 17: The Police arrested two
militants of the LeT outfit from the Dalgate area of capital Srinagar.
A Police spokesman identified the duo as Mohammad Yousuf Pujoo,
a resident of Tarkgam Banihal, and Farooq Ahmad Bhat, a resident
of Patnizie Banjaw Kishtwar. One hand grenade, INR 25000, one battery
and two LeT letter pads have been recovered from their possession.
A 36-page dossier handed over by
Pakistan has for the first time admitted that the LeT carried out
the November 26, 2008 Mumbai attacks. The dossier terming Lashkar
operations chief Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi as the mastermind and admitting
the Pakistan nationality of Ajmal Amir Kasab along with some others
is said to have prompted India to be more accommodating with Pakistan
at the NAM Summit in Sharm-el-Sheikh in Egypt. Pakistan has reportedly
given details on each of the accused, which includes Zarar Shah,
who has been identified as the person in-charge of the communications,
and there are also details of proclaimed offenders like Ajmal Kasab.
The LeT has been referred to as a defunct organisation with no links
to other outfits in Pakistan.
The Pakistan-based LeT has been
active in Bangladesh for the last 14 years, intelligence sources
said quoting one of the most wanted Indian terrorists recently arrested
in the capital Dhaka. Local leaders of the outfit have links to
the network of absconding Indian underworld gangster Dawood Ibrahim,
and also to leaders of other Islamist militant outfits like the
Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami Bangladesh (HuJI-B), sources added. The
Detective Branch (DB) of Police on July 17 disclosed that they recently
arrested an Indian national who is very close to the LeT, and is
also one of the most wanted persons by the Indian law enforcing
and intelligence agencies. Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Commissioner
A.K.M. Shahidul Hoque said the arrestee has been identified as Mufti
Obaidullah, who has been staying in Bangladesh since 1995. "He
was arrested from the capital and was taking preparations for a
jihad by organising Bangladeshi mujahids with directives from Ameer
Reza, a leader of the Jammu and Kashmir based LeT, who is an Indian
national now staying in Pakistan," the DMP Commissioner said.
Obaidullah reportedly took part in the Afghan jihad four times and
he was active in the militancy in India, in collaboration with militants
from Pakistan and Afghanistan. He also collaborated with Islamist
militants of Jammu and Kashmir, Varanasi, Punjab, and Hyderabad
in India, said the DMP Commissioner, adding that Obaidullah came
to Bangladesh to evade Indian intelligence after the Government
of India in 1994 had declared him a most wanted person.
Obaidullah, in detention, said he
came to Bangladesh only to hide, and brought his family into the
country later. He admitted that he is one of the most wanted persons
in India, and said four other most wanted Indians are also hiding
in Bangladesh. "In 1994, Indian commandos went to West Bengal
from Delhi by helicopters to arrest me, but I managed to evade arrest
and later left India," Obaidullah added. He also reportedly
managed to get a Bangladeshi national identity card, and cast votes
in several elections, Obaidullah said.
The Counter-Intelligence Cell of
Hyderabad Police arrested a LeT financier Shaukatullah Ghauri, believed
to have raised funds for multiple terrorist attacks by Islamist
terror groups in India. Ghauri, is among the 12 fugitives wanted
by the Police in Gujarat for their involvement in the 2002 Akshardham
temple attack, which was carried out by the LeT to avenge that year’s
communal pogrom in the State. Police sources said that Ghauri, along
with his brother Farhatullah Ghauri, funnelled upwards of INR 500,000
from Saudi Arabia-based Islamists to fund Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM)
and LeT jihadist operations in Gujarat.
Dhaka Police arrested a suspected
militant in Dhaka, wanted by Indian authorities for 14 years. Mufti
Sheikh Obaidullah (45), who had links with the Kashmir-based militant
group LeT, was arrested at a hideout in Dhaka, Police commissioner
AKM Shahidul Haq said. “He is a top Indian terror suspect and has
been sought by Indian intelligence for many years. He came to Bangladesh
in 1995 and has been teaching in different madrassas across the
country,” he said. “He was encouraging students to join jihad and
we have information that he was training militants here,” he added.
Haq said Obaidullah was born in India’s West Bengal state and studied
in the Deoband Madrassa in Uttar Pradesh state. He fought in the
Afghan war alongside the Mujahideen against Soviet forces.
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July 16: Security Forces (SFs) have
arrested four over-ground workers (OGWs) of the LeT outfit from
Patnazi in the Kishtwar District. They have been identified as Mohammad
Hussain, Kalu Mohammad, Mohammad Abdullah and Abdul Gani Wani.
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July 15: A top United Nations (UN)
official has warned that the Pakistan-based LeT is most likely to
attack India again to increase tension between India and Pakistan.
"Lashkar-e-Taiba tactics is quite obvious. It is trying to
increase tensions between India and Pakistan at a time when they
and their associates are particularly under pressure in western
Pakistan," said Richard Barrett, Coordinator of the UN Security
Council''s Al Qaeda and Taliban Sanctions Monitoring Committee,
Indian Express reported. "They may do that again," Barrett
said, adding that "this is the real risk".
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July 14: The Intelligence Bureau,
in an alert, warned that at least seven places in Maharashtra -
including a reputed bank in Mumbai and an important railway junction
in Navi Mumbai - could be attacked. The alert, dated July 8, also
contains photographs of the seven targets. Officials said the alert
was issued after a terror suspect was detained in Jammu and Kashmir
and the Police recovered photographs of targets in Maharashtra from
him. The colour pictures were reportedly sent to security agencies
in Maharashtra by e-mail. “The photographs are genuine. They include
the picture of a reputed bank near the Bombay high court, two railway
stations in Mumbai and a railway station in Navi Mumbai,’’ an official
said, adding that the Navi Mumbai station was not properly covered
“security-wise’’. However, the alert did not specify the number
of terrorists planning to enter Maharashtra and did not provide
any information about possible local involvement. The fresh alert,
officials said, also mentioned four dates on which the terrorists
planned to carry out the strikes. This is the second alert in two
weeks by central intelligence agencies. The first was issued on
June 24—it said a 26/11-like terrorist attack could be repeated
again via the sea route by the Pakistan-based LeT. Meanwhile, Union
Home Minister P. Chidambaram had warned that Pakistan-based terrorists
could launch another sea-borne attack despite the bad weather and
choppy seas. While the minister did not give details, sources in
the central intelligence agencies described the threat as specific
and the most serious in two years. A massive coastal patrol was
launched following that alert.
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July 12: A LeT ‘battalion commander’,
identified as Zarkawi Bhai, a resident of Pakistan, was killed in
an encounter with the Security Forces in the Handwara area of Kupwara
District. Official sources in capital Srinagar said one AK rifle,
four magazines, 60 rounds, one wireless set and a mobile phone were
recovered from the encounter site. The sources said an identity
card belonging to one Ghulam Mohiuddin Sheikh, a resident of Hanga
in Handwara area, was also recovered from the incident site. Sheikh
was killed by militants on May 15, 2009 by slitting his throat.
There was no evidence of local help
for the terrorists involved in the November 26, 2008 terrorist attacks
and a series of calls made by the LeT handlers prior to the attacks
was only to keep the internet telephony account active, a senior
Police official said. "A series of random calls had been made
by the LeT handlers using the Callphonex account since they were
required to maintain a certain amount of traffic in order to keep
the account active," the Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime)
Rakesh Maria said. "We have verified every call that was made
to India including the random ones and there was no evidence of
local support found," Maria added.
Meanwhile, the Special Public Prosecutor
Ujjwal Nikam, who is conducting a trial in the November 26, 2008
attack case, said the statements of all the persons who received
calls had been recorded and nothing suspicious had been found about
them. "The handlers called numbers randomly which is evident
since the calls lasted only between 30 to 40 seconds," Nikam
said.
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July 10: The intelligence agencies
sounded an alert of a possible terror strike by LeT militants in
Jodhpur city of Rajasthan in the coming days. Intelligence sources
said the militants were planning blasts in the city on either July
11, 14 or 28 or on August 21. According to sources, the Intelligence
Bureau sounded the alert on the basis of inputs received from Jammu
& Kashmir.
-
July 9: The Police arrested a hawala
operator of the LeT outfit and recovered INR 290000 worth hawala
money from his possession at Banihal in the Ramban District. He
was identified as Roshan Din, a resident of Cherwari in Banihal.
Superintendent of Police (Ramban), Mubassir Latifi, said Police
intercepted a vehicle at Banihal, which was on way from Srinagar
to Ramban, and arrested Roshan Din following specific information
developed about him that he was carrying hawala money. Preliminary
questioning of Roshan Din has reportedly revealed that he was given
the money by an unidentified militant at Anantnag Bus Stand for
delivering it to the LeT ‘district commander’ for Banihal, Abu Mussa.
Mussa was presently operating from the forests of Banihal and was
a front ranking ‘commander’ of the LeT outfit for the last couple
of years.
-
July 4: A LeT militant was killed
in an encounter with the SFs in an encounter at village Arangi in
the Thannamandi area of Rajouri District. Official sources said
an encounter between the SFs and militants was going on at Mangota
since the afternoon.
-
July 3: Attorney General Latif Khosa
said that the Federal Government will challenge the release of Jama’at-ud-Da’awa
(the LeT front) chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed in the Supreme Court
on July 4. He said there were “sufficient grounds” to challenge
the Lahore High Court (LHC) verdict that set Hafiz Saeed free. On
June 3, the LHC ordered the release of Hafiz Saeed, holding that
there was no sufficient ground to detain or link him to the terrorist
attacks in Mumbai in November 2008.
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July 1: Three top LeT militants,
including Zafarullah Parray, a Territorial Army trooper who had
deserted his post along with three weapons on March 8, 2009, were
shot dead by the Army, Police and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF)
in a joint operation at Kulhand in the Doda District. Zafarullah
Parray was being searched by Army and Police since he had deserted
his unit along with weapons and joined the LeT outfit. The Senior
Superintendent of Police, Prabhat Singh, said the house of one Irshad
Ahmed was surrounded by Security Forces in the early hours after
developing specific information that three to four LeT militants,
including Zafarullah, had taken shelter there. However, on observing
the SFs movement, the militants deserted the house and fled towards
Kulhand, about 18 kms from Doda. The militants were chased and in
the consequent encounter, all three militants were killed. A Police
constable, Rakesh Kumar, sustained injuries in the incident. Besides
Zafarullah, the two others have been identified as Mushtaq Ahmed
alias Abu Harare, a resident of Kirthwan, and Billal Ahmad, a resident
of Gurmul. Recoveries made from the possession of slain militants
include two UBGLs, one rifle and a large quantity of ammunition
and explosives. Police also detained Irshad Ahmed and some of his
family members for giving shelter to the Lashkar militants.
The United States imposed sanctions
on an Al Qaeda backer and three leaders of the LeT, believed to
be behind the Mumbai terrorist attacks in November 2008. The US
Treasury said it was imposing an assets freeze on the four, identified
as Fazeelattul Shaykh Abu Mohammed Ameen Al-Peshawari, Arif Qasmani,
Mohammed Yahya Mujahid and Nasir Javaid. Ameen Al-Peshawari allegedly
provided assistance, including funding and recruits, to Al Qaeda
and the Taliban currently fighting to regain control of Afghanistan.
Qasmani is said to be the chief coordinator for the LeT and Mujahid
was the head of the group’s media department. Javaid had allegedly
served Lashkar’s commander in Pakistan. The Treasury said its action
came two days after Al-Peshawari, Qasmani and Mujahid were added
to a UN blacklist of individuals.
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June 30: The Pakistan occupied Kashmir
(PoK) Police have stated that the banned Jama’at-ud-Da’awa (JuD,
the LeT front) is expanding its operations and recruitment in the
region. A confidential report submitted to the Pakistan Government
has revealed that the group had purchased 65 kanals of land in the
Dulai area of Muzaffarabad, the PoK capital, to construct a mosque,
a school and a dispensary, a private TV channel reported. The PoK
Inspector General of Police Javed Iqbal told the channel his force
was closely monitoring the group’s activities.
Information Minister Qamar Zaman
Kaira, however, denied that banned Pakistani groups were expanding
their activities. “No such report has come before the government
claiming these organisations have revived their activities,” he
told the BBC. However, he added, it was a different matter if it
was submitted by an intelligence agency.
-
June 29: Thr Police in Pakistan
occupied- Kashmir (PoK) has revealed that groups like the LeT and
Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) are shifting bases to PoK following clampdown
on their activities in the wake of the Mumbai terrorist attacks
of November 26, 2008. In a confidential report submitted to the
Government of Pakistan, PoK Police has said these groups have acquired
large pieces of land in and around PoK capital of Muzaffarabad and
are pursuing a "jehadi" agenda under the garb of religious
activities, BBC reported. "After the ban imposed on the Jamaat-ud-Dawa
([JuD], the front of Lashkar-e-Taiba) by the UNSC, Pakistan forces
had taken control of their offices... The activities of the outfit
had gone underground for some months, but have again become active,"
the BBC quoted the report as saying. The report said that the JuD
has constructed a mosque, a school and a dispensary on the land
acquired by them in Dulasi and further construction is on.
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June 24: The Police arrested a top
commander of the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and two over-ground workers
of the LeT in separate operations in Kashmir valley. The Police
arrested two over-ground workers of the LeT from Dalgate area of
Srinagar. The duo was identified as Mohammad Ashraf Lone and Khalid
Khursheed Zargar, both residents of Braribrah in the Rafiabad area
of Baramulla District.
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June 22: Three militants of the
LeT outfit, including two commanders, were killed by the Army in
an encounter at village Khour under the jurisdiction of Gulabgarh
Police Station in Reasi District. Official sources said troops of
the Rashtriya Rifles later joined by Police and Special Operations
Group launched a search operation at Khour after getting specific
information about the movement of a group of five militants, including
top commander Abu Hurera, in the area. Sources confirmed the killing
of two militants - Abu Hurera and Qasim Gujjar - only while unconfirmed
reports said that another militant, identified as Majid, was also
killed in the encounter. The encounter was going on till last reports
came in as at least two more militants are reported to be hiding
in the surrounding forests. Abu Hurera was a ‘district commander’
while Qasim Gujjar was an ‘area commander’. All three slain militants
were locals and were operating in the Mahore-Gool-Gulabgarh region
for the past several years. Recoveries made so far from the encounter
site include two rifles, three magazines, 43 rounds, one radio set
and some incriminating documents.
-
June 8: The Army recovered two more
consignments of explosive devices, including five kilograms of RDX
and 12 hand grenades, during search operations in the Rajouri and
Doda Districts. Official sources said troops of the Rashtriya Rifles
neutralized a hideout of the LeT militants at Narla Bambal under
the jurisdiction of Dharamshal Police station in Rajouri district
and seized five kg RDX, 12 hand grenades, 761 AK rounds, 10 detonators,
one radio set, two tape recorders, five IED sets, five AK magazines,
one Chinese pistol with two magazines and one pouch. In another
search operation, the SFs recovered one Rocket Propelled Grenade
Launcher from a hideout of the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM) ‘commander’
Ghulam Hussain alias Kari in the Kharepokhun forests of Doda District.
Kari was shot dead by the troops in an encounter on May 26.
-
June 5: Three hardcore militants
of the LeT and Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM) outfits were killed by the
Security Forces (SFs) during an encounter at Mandrala under the
jurisdiction of Gandoh Police Station on the Doda-Himachal Pradesh
border. Senior Superintendent of Police Parbhat Singh said a joint
team of Police and Army launched a search operation after securing
specific information that three commanders of LeT and HM outfits
were hiding in village Mandrala for the past few days. "It
would have been difficult to trace the militants had they slipped
into the territory of Himachal Pradesh", Singh said, adding
that SFs surrounded the hideout before asking them to surrender.
However, all three militants opened heavy firing on the troops and
tried to break their cordon to escape. In the ensuing encounter,
the troops killed the three militants who have been identified as
Zafarullah, Shabir Ahmed and Nazir Ahmed. Official sources said
Zafarullah and Nazir were section and area commanders respectively
of the HM outfit while Shabir Ahmed was deputy district commander
of the LeT. Recoveries made from the incident site include one sniper
rifle with telescope, its two magazines and 19 rounds, one AK rifle
with one magazine and 9 rounds, three grenades, detonators, wire,
explosive devices, identity cards, letter heads of HM and LeT outfits
besides some incriminating documents of the two outfits and personal
belongings of the militants.
-
June 4: The recovery of 5000 Chinese
made AK bullets from Sabjian forests in the Mandi sector of Poonch
District a couple of days back has given a credible impetus to intelligence
reports that weaponry supplied by China to Pakistan army is being
diverted by the latter to militants operating in Jammu and Kashmir.
Official sources said that a large box dug out by the troops of
Rashtriya Rifles and Special Operations Group from an underground
hideout of the militants in Sabjian forests carried the mark of
Chinese make. Though the recovery of Chinese grenades from the militants
or their hideouts has been a routine, this is for the first time
that China made AK bullets have been recovered during an anti-militancy
operation. Intelligence reports had already been suggesting that
a number of weapons supplied by China to Pakistan army have been
forwarded by the latter to training camps of different militant
outfits, including the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) in Pakistan and Pakistan
occupied Kashmir.
A key LeT operative, identified
as Mohammad Omar Madini, was arrested by the Special Cell of Delhi
Police near Qutb Minar in south Delhi. He was reportedly operating
from India and Nepal for the past several years. The Police have
recovered USD 8000, some Nepali currency and a diary containing
a list of suspected LeT conduits and militants active in and outside
India.
-
Meanwhile, security and intelligence
agencies suspect he was in direct touch with top operatives of the
outfit in Pakistan, including its chief Hafiz Mohammed Saeed. Madini
reportedly disclosed that he infiltrated into India recently on
a ‘talent hunt’. Madini had allegedly been directed by his LeT leaders
to create a large network of operatives in major cities through
whom deadly attacks could be carried out in the future. His job
was to spot talent, cultivate them, initiate them to join the outfit
and fight for its cause.
Mohammad Omar Madani reportedly
ran a logistical hub that funnelled dozens of militants through
Nepal to targets across in India, Delhi Police sources. Working
with fugitives like LeT commander Mohammad Saifullah, the Bihar-born
Nepal national Madani provided LeT operatives with passports, cash
and communications facilities that allowed them to travel from Pakistan
to India through Kathmandu and then secure their escape. Fahim Arshad
Ansari, who is now being tried on charges of having generated the
videotape that facilitated the training of the perpetrators of November
26, 2008 attacks in Mumbai, is among those alleged to have benefited
from the logistical infrastructure Madani helped set up. Sabahuddin
Ahmed, Ansari’s immediate superior and the first Indian national
to have commanded a LeT’s field unit, also used the Lashkar’s transit
hub.
Police sounded a high alert in Hyderabad,
capital of Andhra Pradesh, following a tip-off from the Intelligence
Bureau (IB) that three LeT terrorists had infiltrated into the country
to carry out a major terrorist attack in a South Indian city. The
specific advisory from the IB mentioned that three Pakistani nationals
had crossed the border in Jammu and Kashmir on June 1 and had started
their journey from Srinagar in a Tata Sumo vehicle. The weapons
to be used by them would be delivered to them in Hyderabad, the
city Police were told. The three terrorists were identified as Sharif
Ahmed Bhatti alias Abu Masab (23), Nazeer Ahmed alias Abu Jahangir
(31) and Mohammed Ahmed alias Abu Jharkavi (21). They were likely
to arrive in the city by the Deccan Express train. Following the
specific alert, the Hyderabad Police is reported to have ordered
checking of vehicles and frisking road users on a massive scale.
Security was also beefed up at all vital installations, malls, religious
places and places where people are likely to gather.
-
June 3: According to intelligence
sources, Pakistan’s LeT is planning its next, more spectacular attack
in India. Even before the LeT chief Hafiz Mohamed Saeed was released
in Lahore, the LeT masterminds have reportedly been planning the
next attack. According to intelligence officials, in terms of preparedness,
LeT leaders in Pakistani prisons - Zarar Shah and Zaki-ur-Rehman
Lakhvi - have had full access to communications facilitating the
planning process. In preparation for more terrorist attacks, security
agencies have found new terror modules sprouting up in Nepal and
Bangladesh as well as in India.
Pakistani authorities said that
they would appeal against a court order to release the JuD chief
Hafiz Muhammad Saeed. "The government has decided to file an
appeal against the release order of Hafiz Saeed," Punjab Law
Minister Rana Sanaullah told after the Lahore High Court ordered
Saeed’s release. "We have received the detailed verdict of
the court. Our legal advisers are studying it, and we told them
to file an appeal against this verdict," he said.
-
June 2: India strongly objected
to Pakistan’s attempt to link the Kashmir issue to terrorism in
the region and maintained that bilateral dialogue would resume only
when Islamabad creates conditions for it. "It (terrorism) has
nothing to do with Kashmir. Terror whether it is in Kashmir, in
Mumbai or elsewhere, it is abominable," External Affairs Minister
S. M. Krishna told reporters in New Delhi. He was responding to
Pakistan Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani’s remarks that Kashmir
issue "holds the key to durable peace in the region" and
said that it must be resolved through "sincere dialogue".
Krishna pointed out that Kashmir is a part of the composite dialogue
that India had initiated with Pakistan. "Now it is in Pakistan’s
court to create conditions for the dialogue to be resumed,"
he stated. The composite dialogue, which began in January 2004,
was suspended by India after the 26/11 attacks carried out by the
LeT terrorists based in Pakistan.
Meanwhile, responding to the release
of Jama’at-ud-Da’awa (JuD, the LeT front) chief Hafiz Mohammed Saeed,
Krishna said it demonstrates Pakistan’s lack of seriousness to fight
terror and raises serious doubts about its commitment to probe the
Mumbai attack. "It is regrettable that Pakistan has released
Hafiz Saeed who has been part of terror outfits in Pakistan. The
organisation (JuD) with which he has connections has been declared
terrorist organisation by the United Nations Security Council,"
he said while reacting to the development in Lahore. "This
only shows that Pakistan’s seriousness to fight against terror is
still under a cloud," he said.
Expressing "disappointment"
over the release of Saeed, the External Affairs Ministry spokesman
Vishnu Prakash said: "It is regrettable that notwithstanding
this background and the international obligations it entails on
Pakistan, he has been released." He said Saeed’s release "raises
serious doubts over Pakistan’s sincerity in acting with determination
against terrorist groups and individuals operating from its territory".
Prakash noted that Saeed is the head of JuD and LeT, which are listed
by the UN under UNSC Resolution 1267 as being affiliates of Al Qaeda
and the Taliban. "Hafiz Saeed is specifically listed as linked
to these terrorist groups," he said, adding "the Lashkar-e-Taiba
and the Jama’at-ud-Da’awa have a long and well established background
of planning and launching terrorist acts against India. His professed
ideology and public statements leave no doubt as to his terrorist
inclinations".
Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram
said: "It is a commentary on the commitment of Pakistan to
investigate the perpetrators of the Mumbai attack." Commenting
on Saeed’s release, he said "We are unhappy that Pakistan does
not show the degree of seriousness and commitment that it should
to bring to justice perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attack."
He, however, underlined that the development will not cause any
setback to India’s investigations into 26/11.
Saeed was put under house arrest
on December 11, 2008 after the UN Security Council banned the JuD,
declaring it a front for the Lashkar-e-Taiba, which is blamed by
India for the November 26 Mumbai attacks.
A full bench of the Lahore High
Court (LHC) accepted a habeas corpus petition and ordered the Government
to release Jama’at-ud-Da’awa (JuD, the LeT front) chief Hafiz Muhammad
Saeed and Col (retd) Nazir Ahmad, Daily Times reported. The court
observed that “After hearing the learned counsel for the parties
and perusal of the case law on the subject as well as the material
produced by the learned law officers in chamber, for the reasons
to be delivered later on, with a unanimous view, we have held that
this writ petition in the form of habeas corpus is maintainable
as prima facie the government has no sufficient grounds to detain
the petitioners for preventive measures.” “As far as the UN resolution
is concerned, there is no matter before us about the vires and the
government can act upon the same in letter and spirit if so advised.
But relying on the same, the detention cannot be maintained, as
it was even not desired thereby,” it read.
During the proceedings, petitioners’
counsel A. K. Dogar had claimed the Government’s plea to detain
his clients in the public interest was wrong. Members of the JuD
are good Muslims who follow the example of the holy Prophet, he
said, claiming it was part of a Western conspiracy to defame Islam.
He said the Government had made United Nations Security Council
Resolution No 1267 its basis for detaining the petitioners, even
though the resolution dealt with an arms embargo, freezing the guilty
party’s assets, and banning them from traveling abroad, not detention.
Defending the Government, Deputy Attorney General Naveed Inayat
Malik said Dogar’s arguments collapsed under Article 10(3) of the
Constitution, which contended it was not necessary to show grounds
for detention in the case of preventative detention.
-
In December 2008, the Interior Ministry
had ordered the detention of six JuD leaders, including its chief
Hafiz Saeed, on the suspicion of his group’s involvement in the
Mumbai terrorist attacks of November 26, 2008. A review board of
the Lahore High Court on May 5 extended for further 60 days the
detention of Hafiz Saeed and Col (retd) Nazir Ahmed while releasing
its two leaders Mufti Abdur Rehman and Amir Hamza.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Foreign
Office said India’s views on the release of Hafiz Saeed were misplaced,
The News reported. Responding to a statement issued by the Indian
Ministry of External Affairs on the release of Saeed, the spokesman
said: “The views expressed therein are misplaced. It is best not
to comment on a court decision.” He said the Government of Pakistan
was well aware of its obligations under the national and international
laws. The spokesman said Pakistan had demonstrated sincerity and
commitment vis-à-vis inquiry and ongoing investigations concerning
the Mumbai attacks. “Polemics and unfounded insinuations cannot
advance the cause of justice in civilised societies. Legal processes
cannot and must not be interfered with,” he added.
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May 19: The Bangalore Police filed
a chargesheet against 26 persons, including four foreign nationals,
for their involvement in the July 25, 2008 serial bomb blasts case.
Among the Indian nationals whose names figure in the chargesheet
are Abdul Sattar, his son Sarfuddin, Abdul Jabbar, Mujeeb Mohiddin,
Faizal Abdul Rehman, Abdul Jaleel Moosa, Manaf Mohammad alias Rahees,
Badruddin Noor Ahamed, Sakariya and Sarfarz Nawaz. The chargesheet
also mentions the names of Abdul Sattar’s son-in-law Abdul Raheem,
Mohammed Fiaz Hamsa, Fayis Abdul Rahman and Mohammed Yasin, who
were killed in an encounter in Jammu and Kashmir in October 2008.
The four foreign nationals include a Pakistani national and an Omani
national. “We have established their involvement in the conspiracy.
We are not revealing their names as they are yet to be apprehended,”
said Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Alok Kumar.
The accused have been charged with
waging war against the country under Section 121A of the Indian
Penal Code (IPC) and causing grievous injury and conspiracy under
Section 120B of IPC. They have been charged with using explosive
devices and causing damage to public property under the Explosive
Act 1884. The Police have charged the accused with being members
of an unlawful association, indulging in terrorist activities and
arranging finance for terrorist acts under various sections of the
Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967. “The punishment for these
offences is life imprisonment or death and is heard by Sessions
Court. As the charges are under the Unlawful Activities Act, we
get 180 days to file the charge sheet instead of the 90 days in
other offences,” a city Police officer said.
The accused were reportedly cadres
of the so-called Shahbuddin Gowri Brigade of the Indian Mujahideen
(IM) outfit. The accused had made use of ammonium nitrate, nuts,
bolts, printed circuit boards brought from Kannur in Kerala. Sarfarz
Nawaz identified the places where bombs had to be placed and also
organised finance for the attack from Wali alias Rehan, a Lashkar-e-Taiba
(LeT) operative from Pakistan, the chargesheet said. The Bangalore
Police registered nine cases and handed over the investigation to
its Central Crime Branch.
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May 15: Authorities have ordered
a fresh crackdown on a charity linked to the JuD following reports
that dozens of its volunteers were at the centre of relief operations
for the internally displaced persons (IDPs) in NWFP. The move to
act against the Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation came after The Independent
newspaper reported that JuD volunteers were providing first aid
and emergency assistance to the IDPs. A senior official, however,
said on May 14 that the Government was aware of reports of the charity's
re-emergence and was ready to act. "The Interior Ministry has
directed that no banned organisation will be allowed to resume activities
under the garb of humanitarian work," he said.
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May 13: The Jama’at-ud-Da’awa (JuD,
the front for Lashkar-e-Taiba [LeT]), designated by the United Nations
Security Council as a terrorist outfit in the wake of the November
2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks, has resurfaced as a charity organisation
providing food and other relief to the thousands of people fleeing
the fighting in Swat District. Eyewitnesses said that the JuD is
active in Mardan where most of the refugee camps are located. They
are distributing food and medical care. One eyewitness who visited
the area on May 9 said JuD workers were organised under a charity
organisation called Falah-i-Insaniyat. They had set themselves up
at a roundabout in Mardan town called College Chowk, where they
were collecting food donations for the displaced. Despite the Government
crackdown on the group after the U.N. designation, the canopied
stall was openly flying the black-and-white flags of the JuD, with
the insignia of the sword and the Kalma, the Islamic doctrine of
faith. The organisation has also set up a relief distribution centre
at a village called Rustam, on the outskirts of Buner.
The Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) of
the Kerala Police questioned the People’s Democratic Party (PDP)
chairman Abdul Nazer Madhani for several hours, in connection with
his terrorism linkages, reports Indian Express. Madhani is suspected
to have links with the LeT militants. According to unnamed sources,
the Police questioned Madhani based on the confessions of Sarfras
Nawas and Sainudheen, who were arrested in connection with the July
26, 2008 Bangalore serial bomb blasts case. Nawas had told the Karnataka
Police that he had met Madhani in his residence at Kollam a few
months after the PDP leader was released from Coimbatore jail, where
he had been housed as an under trial in the Coimbatore bomb blast
case. Nawas, suspected to be the financier of the terrorist recruitment
module in Kerala, was accompanied by Abdul Raheem, who had been
killed in Jammu and Kashmir in October 2008. In addition, Madhani
had also faced charges for harbouring the daughter of Sainudheen
alias Sathar Bhai, a close aid of Riyas Bhatkal, the founder of
terrorist outfit Indian Mujahideen (IM).
-
May 12: A charge-sheet submitted
by Police in an anti-terrorism court says that LeT assassinated
former Commander of the Special Services Group, General Aamir Faisal
Alvi, to avenge the role he played in the fight against militants
in FATA. According to the charge-sheet prepared by Islamabad’s Koral
Police against Major (retd) Haroon Ashiq, a resident of Pakistan
occupied Kashmir, Mohammad Nawaz Khan of Peshawar, and Ashfaq Ahmed
of Okara in Punjab, the murder was ordered by Ilyas Kashmiri who
provided funds and weapons.
During interrogation in a kidnapping
for ransom case, the accused told Police they had been ordered to
kill Alvi, who had spearheaded a commando operation against militants
at Angor Adda in South Waziristan in 2004 when a large number of
Arabs, Uzbeks, Chechens, Afghans and local Taliban militants were
killed. The three were arrested by the industrial area police for
trying to kidnap a businessman. Police said the alleged killers,
who belonged to the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba, followed Alvi when he
left his residence in Bharia Town on the day of the attack for his
private office in Islamabad and killed him and his driver near PWD
Colony. Police said the accused were given money and weapons for
the attack by Ilyas Kashmiri and Irfan, another man working for
the militants.
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May 9: The Army and Police shot
dead a top commander of the LeT outfit and his accomplice in a joint
operation in the Dhar forest area of Doda District. The slain militants
were identified as LeT ‘district commander’ Abu Samama and his bodyguard
Barkat Ali. “While Samama was a Pakistani national, Ali was a local
militant," said Brig Gurdeep Singh of 16 Corps of Army. He
added that Samama had been active in this area for the last four
to five years and his killing was a big blow to the LeT. One Army
soldier was injured in the gun battle. SF recovered arms and ammunition
from the incident site.
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May 7: Security Forces (SFs) killed
two top Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM) commanders while their third associate
managed to escape during an encounter at Ghai in the Doda District.
The operation was on to neutralize the fleeing militant, who has
been injured in the encounter. The slain militants have been identified
as Farooq Padar and Sadiq Rather with intercepts revealing that
both were commander level militants of the HM outfit and were operating
in the upper reaches of Doda District for the last several years.
They were reportedly involved in a series of subversive activities
across the Doda and Kishtwar Districts. The absconding militant
has been identified as Ghulam Hassan. From the possession of the
slain militants, SFs recovered two rifles, three magazines, seven
rounds, one mobile telephone, two SIM cards, two pouches and some
incriminating documents. Few personal belongings of the militants
were also found in the hideout which was destroyed in the operation.
Deputy Inspector General of Police
Hemant Kumar Lohia said the offensive launched against militants
in Doda has been paying off with several successful operations being
uted against the militants. In less than 40 days, 11 militants of
the LeT and HM, mostly commanders, have been killed in different
encounters in Doda. In addition, a number of over ground workers
of the militants, including Khursheed Doctor, who used to treat
the injured militants at Laloor, have been arrested by Police.
The Police arrested a LeT militant,
identified as Manzoor Ahmed, from village Dhodi in the Rajouri District
for the killing of a Special Police Officer (SPO) Khadim Hussain
Shah of Budhal Police station, whose body was recovered on May 7.
Shah’s throat had been slit by the militants. According to Police,
LeT commanders Obaida and Jan Nissar had asked Manzoor Ahmed to
kill the SPO as he was instrumental in three successful operations
against the LeT militants.
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May 5: Security Forces recovered
arms and explosives during a search operation in the Nar forest
area of Poonch District and neutralized a hideout of the militants.
The recoveries included one AK-47 rifle, 412 rounds, one pistol
with seven rounds, one radio set, three grenades, five pouches and
some incriminating documents pertaining to the LeT.
A review board of the Lahore High
Court has extended for 60 days the detention of Jama’at-ud-Da’awa
(the Lashkar-e-Taiba [LeT] front) chief Hafiz Mohammed Saeed and
Col (retd) Nazir Ahmed, while releasing two outfit leaders Mufti
Abdur Rehman and Ameer Hamza. The board comprising Justice Mian
Muhammad Najam-uz-Zaman, Justice Syed Shabbar Raza Rizvi and Justice
Fazal-e-Miran Chohan turned down the home department’ request to
extend the detention of Mufti and Hamza after feeling dissatisfied
with the material produced against them. They would be released
on May 6 (today) after the expiry of their detention period. In
the case of Hafiz Saeed and Nazir Ahmed, the board extended their
detention citing security concerns.
Hafiz Saeed is reported to have
stated that his five months long detention was illegal and if there
was any incriminating material against him the Government must produce
it before the board. He was of the view that the UN neither ordered
nor recommended for his detention. Ameer Hamza said he was never
involved in any anti-state or provocative activities while Col (retd)
Nazir opined that elements who broke the country were roaming around
freely while its saviors have been put behind the bars. In December
2008, the Interior Ministry had ordered detention of eight LeT,
including Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, on the suspicion of the outfit’s
involvement in the Mumbai terrorist attacks of November 2008.
The Federal Investigation Agency
in Rawalpindi submitted a charge-sheet against five men accused
of being involved in the terrorist attacks in Mumbai. The court
will frame chares against the accused on May 12. Anti-Terrorism
Court-II Judge Sakhi Mohammad Kahot, who has been conducting the
trial of the accused Shahid Jameel Riaz a resident of Bahawalpur,
Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi of Islamabad, Abdul Wajid alias Zarar Shah
of Sheikhupura, Mazhar Iqbal alias Abu al-Qama, a resident of Islamabad,
and Hammad Amin Saddiq of Karachi in Adial Jail, distributed the
copies of the charge-sheet among the accused who would formally
be indicted on the next date of hearing.
-
May 4: The Military intelligence
revealed that a group of 935 Pakistani women being trained by Inter-Services
Intelligence (ISI), Pakistan''s external intelligence, in the Faridkot
District of Pakistan to entice men and motivate them into becoming
terrorists in India. According to a secret military intelligence
report sent to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), the group
is also being trained at a camp in Kotli, Pakistan. It says a joint
meeting of senior ISI officers with representatives of al-Qaeda,
LeT, Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF) and Khalistan Commando Force
(KCF) on April 23 near Talwandi (in Pakistan) was attended by Neeta,
KZF leader, and Nazira Begum, the wife of Kotli training camp principal
Shah Mohammad.
Meanwhile, Neeta, a resident of
Ward 2 in Jammu town''s Sumbal Camp area, is the only Khalistani
terrorist active from among the five demanded by India from Pakistan.
According to the report, Neeta discussed the logistics of providing
support to groups in Amritsar, Gurdaspur and Ferozepur in Punjab
to revive terrorism and has already appointed a female commander
in Gurdaspur sector. However, the ISI officials take over training
programmes only in the later stages, after the initial phase of
physical tutelage is over. Taught to breach national boundaries,
these women generally enter India through West Bengal and Bihar
borders and are equally adept at using computers and in blackmailing
youth. Their modus operandi to gain a foothold in the society is
simple -establish relationships, legally or illegally.
-
May 3: A suspected LeT militant,
identified as Mohammed Nissar, who was arrested by the Police on
May 2 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.
Meanwhile, Police sources said Nissar
has once fled to Bangladesh. “We are yet to find out why he went
to Bangladesh and from there to Pakistan. At Bidar, Nissar was engaged
in cloth business,’’ an unnamed Police source said. Nissar reportedly
fought against the US forces in Iraq and also participated in the
fighting in Chechnya. A former constable in the Armed Reserve unit
of the Hyderabad City Police, Nissar is the son of Abu Baker, a
retired reserve sub-inspector. Police officers who interrogated
Nissar during the last few days described him as a hardcore militant.
-
May 2: 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.
-
April 30: Two top commanders of
the LeT were killed while an Army trooper was injured and three
Police officials of Bhaderwah had a narrow escape in an encounter
at Chinote in the Bhaderwah area of Doda District. The slain LeT
‘commanders’, identified as Ashraf alias Jehadi and Mudassar alias
Bhaya alias Abu Furqan 99, had escaped Police cordon in Domel forests
of Bhaderwah three days back and since then were being searched
by the Security Forces (SFs). One AK-47 rifle, two magazines, 30
rounds, three grenades, two pouches, RDX and a large quantity of
documents and other belongings of the militants were recovered from
the encounter site. With this incident, a total of eight militants,
mostly LeT and Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM) commanders, have been killed
in Doda District this month. Ashraf and Mudassar were ‘A’ category
militants and were active in militancy since June and September
2004 respectively.
-
April 27: A deputy divisional commander
of the LeT, identified as Abu Babbar, hailing from Peshawar in Pakistan,
was shot dead by troops of 37 Rashtriya Rifles, Police and Special
Operation group in a joint encounter at Shruti Top near Dorimal
forests in Mendhar tehsil (Revenue Division) of Poonch District.
One sophisticated bullet action automatic rifle, a modified version
of AK along with its one magazine and rounds were recovered from
the site of encounter.
-
April 26: Banned terrorist groups
in Pakistan’s Punjab province are gaining strength after joining
hands on a new platform called the Muslim United Army (MUA. The
LeT, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) have a common
cause under the banner of MUA and their activities are also in line
with those of the Taliban, according to a report drawn up by the
Crime Investigation Department (CID). The report also said militancy
has been rapidly taking roots in Punjab province, especially in
the five districts of Muzaffarghar, Dera Ghazi Khan, Bahawalpur,
Rahim Yar Khan and Bhakkar. "As several members of the three
banned groups have taken part in the Afghan war, they have developed
a nexus with the Taliban," a senior CID officer said. "In
the suicide bombings of the Naval War College and Federal Investigation
Agency office in Lahore and the terrorist attacks on the Sri Lankan
cricket team and police training school in Manawan, the facilitators
of the perpetrators were from these organisations operating in Punjab,"
the officer said. Police officials also believe the three groups
had joined hands primarily to target the security forces.
Though the main actors of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi
- Malik Ishaq and Akram Lahori - are in jails in Multan and Karachi
respectively, they are operating their group from behind bars in
connivance with the prison staff, sources said. Though both are
being tried in a number of cases, they are yet to be convicted in
a single case due to lack of evidence. Police claim people are afraid
of giving testimony against them. The CID official said the LeJ
is currently at the forefront in carrying out attacks in Punjab
along with the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan. He also said the
MUA has developed a core group in five Districts as the three proscribed
groups had their seminaries there. "The function of the core
groups is to ensure maximum recruitment from seminaries, give the
recruits training and equip them with weapons. The extremists then
start intimidating security forces, terrorising people, occupying
roads and targeting wealthy people, whom they consider exploiters
of the poor people," the officer explained.
-
April 24: Two top LeT militants
were trapped in a gun-battle with the SFs at Domel forests in the
Bhaderwah area of Doda District. The Senior Superintendent of Police
(Doda), Parbhat Singh, said two LeT militants, Mohammed Ashraf alias
Jehad and Mudassar alias Furqan, were trapped in a hideout at Domel.
The LeT is planning to create further
unrest, the commander of US forces in the Middle East said. “We
should observe that the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba ... are trying to do more
damage and they’re trying to carry out additional attacks,” General
David Petraeus told US lawmakers. Petraeus said the US expected
that “extremists that are trying to cause that kind of tension and
also to take (Pakistan’s) focus off of the internal extremist threat
would indeed strive to do that.”
-
April 23: Around 1,000 highly-trained
militants of the LeT, Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM) and Al-Badr Mujahideen
have been instructed to cross the Indian border from Jammu and Kashmir
and other parts of the country in the month of June 2009, Asian
Age reported. The zonal commanders of these terrorist groups have
been specifically ordered that in each batch of terrorists, which
will be sent to India, at least one should be a suicide bomber.
Normally, a batch comprises of 20 terrorists.
A senior official of a central intelligence
agency said, "The latest inputs confirm that zonal commanders
of these terror organisations have been asked to prepare a list
of around 1,000 highly-trained militants, who will be sent to India
in the month of June. These terrorists will be sent in batches.
The zonal commanders have also been asked to make all necessary
arrangements for their departure." According to intelligence
inputs, around 70 highly-trained militants have already entered
India. Out of total 70, 22 militants have been recently killed during
encounter with the Army in Kupwara district in Jammu and Kashmir,
said the unnamed official.
"Available inputs confirm that
1,000 terrorists will be sent from 26 different terror camps located
in several areas of Pakistan. Hizbul has seven terror camps in Pok.
One the Jungle Mangal camp (Muzaffarabad) where 215 highly-trained
militants are preparing to enter India. The second, the Garhi Haibullah
camp, where 75 militants have been prepared to ute terror strikes
in India. Besides, reports confirm that 30 militants of the Hizbul
from the Boi Camp will be sent to India by the end of June,"
said the official. The official further said, "Lashkar has
at least 30 terror camps located in Muzaffarabad and Kotli. There
are confirmed reports that at least 550 Lashkar militants are being
prepared by their handlers for carrying out terror activities in
India. They will also be sent to India by June end. Besides, other
LeT militants will be sent from its camp located in Rawalakot."
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April 21: Five persons, including
a woman and a female child, were killed and seven others were wounded
in an improvised explosive device (IED) explosion under a vehicle
at Sangla on the Surankote-Marha road in Poonch District. The Deputy
Inspector General of Police (Rajouri-Poonch range), S. D. Singh,
said a TATA Mobile vehicle carrying 12 civilians and loaded with
cement bags was on way from Surankote to Marha when it came under
the impact of a powerful IED, planted on road by the militants.
There had been inputs about the movement of militants in Surankote
area, sources said, adding the vehicle might have been targeted
as it belonged to a Village Defence Committee member. The LeT spokesman
Abdullah Ghaznavi while claiming responsibility for the blast said
seven people were killed and 10 injured in the blast triggered by
their cadre. Official sources, however, said there was no truth
in Ghaznavi’s claim as only five civilians were killed and seven
others were injured.
-
April 20: Intelligence agencies
have recently ascertained that a joint meeting between militants
of the LeT, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and the Babbar Khalsa International
(BKI) chief Wadhawa Singh was held in Rawalpindi in Pakistan during
February 2009, where they planned terrorist attacks in Punjab during
the Parliamentary elections scheduled to be held in the fourth and
fifth phases on May 7 and May 13. Sources in the agencies said the
Pakistan-based terrorist outfits had planned to take help of local
BKI cadres for logistical support. A similar meeting had also taken
place in December 2008 when Pakistan-based terrorist outfits had
planned to infiltrate their cadres through the fenced western border
in Punjab and Rajasthan, sources added. Meanwhile, the Union Ministry
of Home Affairs (MHA) has alerted the State to take adequate measures
in coordination with central intelligence and security agencies
to foil any such attempts. Agencies believed that Wadhawa Singh
continues to be a vital link between terrorists in other countries
and some radical elements in the Sikh community in Punjab. Wadhawa
Singh, hiding in Pakistan, is one of the 40 most-wanted terrorists
India has sought to be deported from Pakistan.
The prosecution proposed 312 charges
against the accused in the November 26, 2008, Mumbai attack case.
The charges are against LeT militant Mohammad Ajmal Amir Kasab,
Fahim Ansari, Mohammad Sabahuddin Ahmed and 35 wanted accused. Special
Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam filed the draft charges before the
special sessions court at the Arthur Road jail in Mumbai. This step
comes before framing of the charges. The charges of criminal conspiracy
are applicable to all the accused.
The charges include: committing
terrorist acts with an intent to overawe the government, striking
terror, waging war, organising and imparting training in Pakistan
with the object of attacking major cities of India, destabilising
the Indian government by engineering violence and through subversive
activities, weakening India’s economic might, killing foreign nationals,
adversely affecting Hindu-Muslim harmony, attacking territorial
integrity by planning to capture Kashmir, smuggling firearms and
explosives, exchanging maps of locations, aiding, abetting and facilitating
terrorist acts, assisting criminal conspiracy and committing acts
to further the objectives of criminal conspiracy. Sections of the
Indian Penal Code, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Explosive
Substances Act, Explosives Act, Passport Act (Entry into India),
Foreigners Act, Indian Railways Act, Prevention of Damage to Public
Property Act, 1984, Bombay Police Act and Customs Act apply to the
charges.
Nikam also presented evidence against
Ansari and Sabahuddin. He said the writing on the map found on the
person of deceased accused, Abu Ismail, and that of Ansari was found
matching by experts. The map showed the position of the Chowpatty
and Malabar Hill. It also had a mention of the Raj Bhavan. Nikam
said Ansari attempted to hire a room at Badhwar Park in Cuffe Parade
where the terrorists docked. He found accommodation at Patthe Bapurao
Marg up to 5 km from Badhwar Park and from there, Fahim allegedly
made detailed maps of the locations. He also bought a mobile phone
in the fictitious name of Sahil Pawaskar. He also got himself admitted
to the SoftPro computer institute opposite the Bombay Stock exchange,
Nikam said.
In his confession, Ajmal has stated
that the LeT ‘commander’ Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi asked the terrorists
to destroy the maps on reaching target locations. The statement
mentions the names of Ansari and Sabahuddin.
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April 19: Interior Adviser Rehman
Malik has said six suspects have so far been arrested in connection
with the Mumbai terrorist attacks. Rehman said Pakistan had asked
New Delhi to provide it the chargesheet against the lone arrested
LeT militant Ajmal Kasab and his confession before the court.
With LeT’s top leaders Zaki-ur-Rehman
Lakhvi, Yousuf Muzammil, Ahmad Bhai and Zarar Shah in custody of
Pakistan police in the aftermath of 26/11 Mumbai terror attack,
the LeT is learnt to have replaced them with new commanders to step
up their terrorist operations in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and
other parts of India.
According to Intelligence sources,
the new commanders appointed by the LeT to co-ordinate operations
in J&K and other Indian States, include Shahji of Bahawalpur
in the Punjab province of Pakistan, who had earlier operated as
‘divisional commander’ of the outfit for north Kashmir for almost
a decade before he was called back to Pakistan, Hyder Bhai, known
for several fidayeen attacks, Huzefa and Walid. All of them are
Pakistani nationals and have reportedly operated in the Kashmir
valley over the last decade before crossing back to Pakistan. According
to sources, the initial focus of four new commanders was the Kashmir
valley and Doda-Rajouri-Poonch belt in Jammu besides metropolitan
and other major cities of India.
Another female militant along with
a ‘commander’ of the LeT outfit was killed in a joint operation
of the Police and Army in the Doda District . An Army trooper and
a Special Police Officer (SPO) also died in the gun-battle. Official
sources said Doda Police received information about the presence
of militants in the forest areas of Kashtigarh. While the Security
Forces (SFs) were carrying out search and cordon operation, they
were fired upon by the militants hiding in the house of Samad Hajam.
In the militants’ indiscriminate firing, trooper Suraj Parkash and
SPO Karan Singh were killed. In the retaliatory action by the SFs,
a 24-year old female militant and a HM ‘commander’ were shot dead.
Another militant, identified as Shaheen Parvez, managed to escape
from the incident site, from where the troops recovered one AK rifle,
four magazines and some ammunition.
The LeT commander Mukhtyar Ahmed,
a resident of Kashtigarh in Doda, had called the female militant,
Dilshad, a resident of Kurdar Manwas, at the house of Samad Hajan
to assign her some task, the sources said, adding the search operation
in the area will be resumed tomorrow (April 20) to track down the
absconding militant. Dilshad is the second female militant to have
been killed during the past 24 hours in Doda District.
-
April 18: A LeT militant, identified
as Nissar Ahmed, was killed along with his girl friend and an accomplice
at Dori Bhagla in Doda District. Doda Deputy Inspector General of
Police H. K. Lohia said that Nissar had slipped through the Police
net more than once in the past and that his girlfriend Zahida Bano
(20) proved crucial in tracking him down. "Nissar, one of the
most wanted terrorists in the district, was proving very elusive
for us till we stumbled upon his affair with Zahida," he said.
He said as soon as Police came to know about the affair, sleuths
were hot on her trail. Zahida was kept under watch for 10 days.
"We closed in on Nissar when we discovered Zahida was to meet
him," Lohia said. A team of Security Force personnel followed
Zahida to Nissar''s hideout. "Nissar and Mohammed Rafiq Nazni,
another terrorist accompanying him, were asked to surrender. When
they didn''t, security forces fired at them," Lohia said. He
said Nissar and Nazni were killed while Zahida was critically injured.
"Zahida, who had been working for the LeT as an Over Ground
Worker (OGW), later died in a local hospital." Lohia also said
that a LeT OGW arrested last week had tipped the Police about Zahida''s
terror link. Superintendent of Police Parbhat Singh said the two
militants had been active in the forest area around Doda for a long
time. "Their elimination is a major success for counter-insurgency
operations in the area," he said, adding, two AK-47 rifles
were recovered from the encounter site.
The Deputy Inspector General of
Police (Doda Range), Hemant K. Lohia, had stated that at least six
to seven young girls and middle aged women were on the Police radar
for actively working for the LeT and Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM) outfits.
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April 15: An accused in the Mumbai
terrorist attack of November 26, 2008 recorded his statement before
the Special Judicial Magistrate Ahmed Masood Janjua and confessed
that he was involved in the attack. The court sent the accused to
the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi on 14-day judicial remand and directed
the Special Investigation Cell to produce him again on April 28.
The accused, Shahid Jamil Riaz alias Muhammad Riaz from Nazir Colony
in Bahawalpur in the Punjab province, recorded his statement under
section 164 and confessed that he and other four accused, Hamad
Ameen Sadiq, Zarar Shah, Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and Hamza alias Abu
Alqa, were involved in the Mumbai attacks.
However, the court refused to provide
information about his confessional statement to the media. The Federal
Investigation Agency sources told The News that Shahid Jamil Riaz
belongs to the LeT and has confessed that he, along with other four
accused, provided all kinds of transportation facilities, accommodation,
internet and other facilities to those who carried out Mumbai attacks.
However, a junior officer of the Interior Ministry rejected any
confession by the accused. He said the accused had given a statement
in the court but it could not be called a confession.
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April 10: The Union Home Minister
P. Chidambaram has stated that four Pakistan-based terrorist outfits
are “working in consort” and there was mention of the Taliban in
intercepts of their conversations. While saying the threat level
in the country was “pretty high”, he disclosed that the LeT, the
Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), the Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen (JuM) and the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen
(HM) were earlier operating separately but had come together. “We
simply have to keep our powder dry. Make sure that we remain on
high alert because four organisations are working in consort. That
means the level of threat is pretty high,” he told NDTV. “I don’t
think anyone has captured anyone to identify him as a Taliban. All
that we know is that there is a serious attempt to infiltrate into
India,” Chidambaram said. He was responding to a question on reports
that about 30 Taliban terrorists had entered Kashmir.
-
April 9: An Indian Mujahideen (IM)
militant, identified as Mohammad Saddik Shaikh, has revealed that
Pakistan had rewarded the financier of the outfit to carry out terrorist
activity in India. The revelation was made in the confessional statement
opened by the Special Maharashtra Control of Organized Crimes Act
(MCOCA) court. “Amir Raza, financier of IM, was paid handsomely
by high ranking officials from the Pakistan Army to conduct terrorist
operations in India,” Saddik said in the statement. According to
the statement, Saddik had gone to Pakistan in 2003 where he met
Colonel Atif, who had given him two envelopes to be delivered to
Raza. Raza used to transfer money through the Western Union Money
Transfer firm and hawala (informal money transfer system) for conducting
weapon and explosives training in Pakistan and for other IM requirements.
Saddik reportedly first visited Pakistan after the 1992-93 Mumbai
riots and underwent training. “From Karachi airport I was taken
to LeT [Lashkar-e-Taiba] office where I met their chief Azam Cheema.
I was then sent to Muzzafarabad where I underwent training for over
25 days in weapon handling and how to assemble explosives,” Saddik
said. “After a group of boys came back from training, Raza asked
me to show my work. With the help of Riyaz Bhatkal, founder of IM
and other members, I conducted blasts in Delhi, Varanasi in Uttar
Pradesh and in several other places,” Saddik has confessed. From
February 2005 to September 2008, the IM conducted blasts in several
cities like Gorakhpur, Hyderabad, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Jaipur,
Ahmedabad and Surat, Saddik has said in his confession.
Meanwhile, the confessional statement
also revealed that IM militants used the information and photographs
posted on matrimonial websites to get themselves fake student Identity
cards, which could be used to procure fake driving licenses, adds
Times of India. An IM cadre and a computer professional Anik Sayyed,
in his confessional statement recorded by the magistrate in October
2008, has said that he downloaded photos from websites like Shaadi.com
and Bharti.com and used them on forged documents. "I used to
type matrimony in Google and open sites like Shaadi.com and Bharti.com
and download photos of men registered on those sites. I used to
then edit those photographs in Coreldraw and Adobe Photoshop and
paste them on other documents," Anik has said. Anik also said
that he also used information from the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited
telephone directory to forge details for procuring SIM cards.
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April 7: Two militants were killed
in the ongoing encounter with Security Forces in the Lolab area
of Kupwara District while search operations entered into the fifth
day today in the neighbouring area of Trehgam. "Two unidentified
militants have been killed in the encounter going on at Maidanpora
in Lolab area. The identity and group affiliation of the militants
is being ascertained," Defence spokesman Lt Colonel J. S. Brar
said. However, sources said the slain militants were affiliated
to the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and one of them has been identified
as ‘district commander’ Zaraar Musa. The Defence spokesman also
said there has been no fresh firefight in the Zoona Reshi area under
Trehgam police station in Kupwara District but the search operations
were still going on. "The search cum sanitization operations
are continuing in the area but there has been no fresh firefight
for the last 24 hours," he added. Two militants and a soldier
were killed in the operation in the first three days.
SFs recovered a six-kilogram improvised
explosive device (IED) from a mini-bus in Baramulla district. "Troops
of 46 Rashtriya Rifles during checking recovered five to six kgs
of IED from one Matador 407 which was on way from Sopore to Baramulla,
near Saint Joseph School Baramulla," a Police spokesman said.
SFs recovered arms and explosives
during two separate search operations conducted across the Rajouri
and Udhampur Districts. Troops of the Rashtriya Rifles recovered
one pistol, 11 detonators, two IEDs, 50 Pika rounds, nine rounds
of 9 mm gun, 20 AK rounds and 90 meters at Hill Tak in Rajouri while
one .303 rifle with 10 rounds and one magazine was recovered from
Soni forest area in Udhampur.
-
April 6: Two Army soldiers were
killed in a gunfight with militants in the Lolab area of Kupwara
District. An encounter broke out between Security Forces (SFs) and
militants in the Maidanpora forests in Lolab in the evening of April
5. Four soldiers were injured in the initial gunfight, the officials
said. They said two Army soldiers injured in the encounter were
evacuated to 92 Base Hospital at Badamibagh cantonment here where
they were declared brought dead. Unconfirmed reports said a self-styled
commander of the LeT, Zaraar Musa, a resident of Pakistan, has been
killed in the encounter, which was going on till reports last came
in.
Meanwhile, the gun battle between
the SFs and holed up militants in the Zoona Reshi area of Kupwara
District entered the fourth day. Although there were no reports
of any fresh casualties on either side, the operation against the
militants was going on despite heavy rainfall in the area, a Defence
spokesman said. Two militants and a soldier have been killed in
the three days of fighting in the area close to the Line of Control.
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April 5: A LeT militant, identified
as Shahanawaz alias Chandan, was arrested by the Special
Task Force from Lalgola in the Murshidabad District. Shahanawaz,
an explosives expert, reportedly hails from Raghunathganj in Mushidabad.
Police records show that he was also involved in human trafficking
earlier.
-
April 4: An Army trooper was injured
as three LeT militants managed to escape in an encounter at Seel
area of Doda District.
-
April 3: The arrested LeT cadre,
Sarfaraz Nawaz, revealed during interrogation that the outfit plans
to target senior scientists and engineers of the Indian Space Research
Organization (ISRO), especially those working on the space programme.
Nawaz was brought to Bangalore recently from Muscat, capital of
Oman, in connection with the probe into the Bangalore serial bomb
blasts in July 25, 2008. Nawaz named a Pakistani terrorist, Jasim,
as saying that the LeT planned to send terrorists to target the
scientists, including ISRO chief G. Madhavan Nair. Jasim also named
a woman Muslim scientist from Uttar Pradesh working on the Agni
missile project as a potential target. Officials said Nawaz’s statement
had detailed accounts of how the terrorists in Kerala operated on
instructions from their leaders in Pakistan and Gulf.
Meanwhile, the Police said, "Nawaz
attended a meeting with Jasim and Ali, both members of LeT in Muscat.
Things like how to carry out terror activities in India came up
during discussions. This included attacks on top scientists. Nawaz
told us that these things were at a discussion level during meetings
in Muscat."
-
April 2: A top LeT militant, ‘district
divisional commander’ Yusuf Gujjar alias Kamran, and his two associates
were shot dead by Security Forces (SFs) at village Sarawan in the
Kishtwar District. Deputy Inspector General of Police (Doda range),
Hemant Kumar Lohia, said that SFs launched a search operation at
Sarawan at 10 am after securing specific information about the presence
of three top militants, including Yusuf Gujjar, in the area. During
the encounter that ensued after a search operation was launched,
all three of them were killed. Unconfirmed reports said that a Territorial
Army trooper, Zafarullah, who had deserted his battalion in March
2009 and joined the LeT outfit, was also present in the area. His
killing in the operation has not been confirmed so far by the SFs.
It has, however, been confirmed that Zafarullah had joined Yusuf
Gujjar’s group after deserting the Army. Recoveries made from the
incident site include one AK-56 rifle with three magazines, four
grenades, six Chinese grenades, one pistol and a large quantity
of ammunition.
Yusuf Gujjar alias Kamran had taken
over as ‘district divisional commander’ of the LeT two years ago
after the killing of his predecessor Lal Din Gujjar. Since then,
he had been instrumental in recruitment of local youths in the LeT,
extortion and other militant activities across Kishtwar District,
including attacks on SFs. With this, a total of six LeT militants
have been killed in the Keshwan belt of Kishtwar District in the
last fortnight.
In another incident, three militants
shot at and seriously injured two brothers, Mohammed Ashraf and
Mukhtiar Ahmed, in their house at Bei Nullah under the jurisdiction
of Dharamshal Police station in Rajouri District. The militants
escaped after the firing.
Meanwhile, the Army arrested three
over-ground workers (OGW) of the LeT from the Bharat area in Doda
District. They were identified as Ghulam Mohi-ud-Din Malik, Ghulam
Qadir, and Noor Mohammed. Recoveries made from them include 50 AK
rounds, one Chinese grenade, two electronic detonators and one Kenwood
radio set. Further, another OGW, identified as Ghulam Nabi Malik,
was arrested by the SFs from Baggi Nullah in Doda.
In addition, a LeT militant, identified
as Shabu Ahmed alias Amaar, surrendered before the SFs at Udianpur
in the Doda District. He handed over one .303 rifle with one magazine
and 74 rounds, one Chinese grenade and one anti-personnel mine at
the time of surrender.
-
April 1: A LeT militant, identified
as Bilal Ahmad Koley, was arrested by the Security Forces (SFs)
at Mohripora in the Anantnag District. A Police spokesman said one
pistol, one pistol magazine and two hand grenades were recovered
from his possession.
-
Pakistan has failed to deliver on
its promise that it would not allow its territory to be used by
terrorists to attack India, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said,
accusing Islamabad of taking “no effective action” to tackle anti-India
groups. Describing Pakistan as the “epicentre” of world terrorism,
he said the Government in Islamabad was either not able to control
terrorists or was “not willing to control them.” Dr. Singh, who
is in London to attend the G20 summit, urged the international community
to hold Pakistan to its commitment to rein in terrorists. “The world
has a responsibility that Pakistan lives up to the promise that
it will not allow its territory to be used to promote acts of terror
directed against India,” he said.
-
Asked why he thought that the LeT,
which was responsible for the Mumbai attacks in November 2008, regrouped
so quickly and appeared to be “menacing” India again in Kashmir,
Singh said: “It is because the promises that the government of Pakistan
have made to control terrorism and all its instrumentalities, they
are either not able to control them or they are not willing to control
them ... In the past, it has been our experience that there are
elements in the armed forces of Pakistan, some segments of the ISI
[Inter-Services Intelligence] involved in perpetrating acts of terror,
particularly the attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul. We have
been told that the ISI in Pakistan has a different mindset. I hope
that is right.” The Prime Minister also stated, that “We are victims
of terrorism and we hope that whatever the world community plans
to do they will pay adequate attention that terrorism ceases to
be a problem in Afghanistan as well as Pakistan. We all know the
epicentre of terrorism in the world today is Pakistan. The world
community has to come to grips with this harsh reality.”
-
March 30: E. T. Zainudheen alias
Abdul Sattar, who was a key operative in the suspected terrorist
network having links with the LeT, was sent to the Police’s Special
Investigation Team (SIT) custody till April 13 for interrogation
in connection with the ongoing investigation into the operations
of terrorist recruitment modules in the State.
-
March 29: SFs killed a self-styled
commander of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) in Lolab area of Kupwara
District, taking the death toll of militants and security force
personnel to 32 in the past 10 days of counter-insurgency operations,
officials said in capital Srinagar. The SFs launched a search operation
in the Potushahi area of Lolab following information about the presence
of militants in the area, the officials said. In the ensuing encounter
between the two sides, LeT ‘commander’ Abu Bakr was killed. The
officials said the operation was still in progress.
-
March 27: A teenaged militant of
the LeT, Qazi Abdul Majeed, laid down arms in the Doda District.
Another militant of the LeT outfit
was reported to have escaped from outskirts of Doda town after taking
shelter in a house for the night.
-
March 26: A day after the Army ended
the Hafruda-Chowkibal operation in Kupwara District, the militants
made an unsuccessful attempt to enter the Valley from Gurez sector
in Bandipora District. One militant has been killed in the encounter
so far, Defence spokesman Lt Col J. S. Brar said. Official sources
said a group of militants, whose number has not be ascertained yet,
tried to cross into the Indian side of the Line of Control (LoC)
from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) at Baktoor under the jurisdiction
of Izmarg Police post, 12 kilometers from Gurez. This is the second
infiltration attempt by militants in north Kashmir in the past week.
Meanwhile, a fresh encounter occurred
in the Hachamarg area of Handwara. One of the militants, who had
managed to escape the Army operation, had taken refuge in a house
in the area. The militant was killed after a brief gunfight and
one AK assault rifle was recovered from his possession.
In another encounter, Security Forces
(SFs) killed a top ‘commander’ of the LeT, identified as Abdullah,
a resident of PoK, at village Dorsoo in the Kupwara District.
The intelligence sources said that
the LeT is planning to infiltrate its trained cadres through the
fenced borders in Rajasthan and Punjab to carry out subversion during
the general elections scheduled to be held in April and May 2009.
An unnamed Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) official said, "The
LeT, which lost 17 of its cadre in an encounter with Army in Hafruda
forest area of Kupwara District in J&K in the past few days,
may try to push in its men through the fenced border — the way it
did in Kanachak in Jammu sector last year. Their plan is to send
small batch of jihadis for quick action in Rajasthan and Punjab,
instead of focusing only on the Kashmir Valley."
-
March 25: The Army said that the
major infiltration bid foiled near the Line of Control in Kupwara
District was possible due to the accurate and absolute human intelligence
provided by sources from across the LoC and within the Valley. "We
had accurate and absolute human intelligence from across the LoC
and from our side as well about this infiltration bid. As many as
17 militants have been killed in the encounter while eight soldiers
including an officer made the supreme sacrifice," Brigadier
General Staff of Army’s Srinagar-based 15 Corps, Brigadier Gurmeet
Singh, told reporters. He said most of the slain militants were
foreigners and essentially affiliated with the LeT.
Giving details of the operation,
he said contact was initially established at three places - two
in general area Drangyari in Shamsabari ridge of Chowkibal and another
in Haphruda forest. "The operation is still in progress as
searches are being conducted in the area. Although majority of the
terrorists have been killed, the remnants, if any, will also be
eliminated," he said adding the number of infiltrating militants
as per the intelligence input was close to the number killed in
the operation. He said there was no exchange of fire in the area
since the evening of March 25 and only combing operation was going
on. The cache of arms and ammunition recovered from the site of
operation included 23 AK 47 rifles, 17 grenades, three UBGLs, 10
radio sets of various makes, two GPS equipments, water bottles,
maps, snow gear, ice axes, rations, jihadi literature, medicine
and some Indian currency.
The officer refuted claims by the
LeT that 30 soldiers were killed in the gun battle that lasted over
five days. He said "We have lost eight of our soldiers. The
rest of the information is not true." Brigadier Singh also
said infiltration at this time of the year was expected as the snow
starts melting along the LoC. According to him, "We have inputs
that a large number of militants are waiting across the LoC to cross
over to this side. We are prepared to deal with them." He added
that at present around 300 to 400 militants were active in the Valley.
A spokesman of the LeT claimed that
the firefight was still going on in the area. "We have lost
12 men while 30 soldiers have been killed and 60 others injured,"
he claimed.
Not ruling out Pakistan army''s
support to terrorists involved in the Kupwara encounter, the Army
chief General Deepak Kapoor said the LeT was still active in Pakistan
despite the action that Islamabad claims to have taken against the
outfit. He said that about 40 to 50 terror camps were operational
across the LoC and terrorists are waiting for an opportunity to
infiltrate. "The fact that there are camps on the other side
obviously indicate that the possibility of involvement (of Pakistan
army) cannot be ruled out," Kapoor told reporters in New Delhi.
-
March 24: Six militants were killed
in the fresh exchange of fire between the suspected LeT militants
and SFs in the forests near the LoC in Kupwara District as the operation
entered its fifth day. The death toll in the ongoing operation,
which has been extended from Chowkibal to Hafrada in the Vilgam
area of Handwara, has now risen to 25 including 17 militants, seven
soldiers and an Army Major. "Six militants were neutralized
during exchange of fire today. With this the total number of militants
killed in the operation since Friday has risen to 17," Defence
spokesman Lt Colonel J S Brar said. He said a huge cache of arms
and ammunition has been recovered from the area in which the operation
was going on for the last over 108 hours. "The recoveries include
17 assault rifles, 13 AK magazines, 207 AK ammunition rounds, four
Under Barrel Grenade Launchers (UBGL) and 21 UBGL grenades,"
he stated. One Kenwood radio set, a Thuraya satellite phone, two
Global Positioning Systems (GPS), three map sheets, three matrix
sheets, two have sacks and Rupees 9200 Indian currency have also
been recovered from the area, he added.
-
March 23: The gun battle between
infiltrators and Army in the forests of Kupwara District entered
its fourth day as SFs shot dead five more suspected LeT militants
while four soldiers also died, taking the death toll in the ongoing
operation to 19. "A total of 11 militants have been killed
in the operation so far which began in the early hours of Friday
in Chowkibal area near the Line of Control (LoC) in Kupwara district,"
a Defence spokesman said in capital Srinagar. He said while two
militants were killed in early morning firefight, three more were
shot dead in the afternoon. Four soldiers were also killed in the
exchange of fire between the two sides. "Five militants and
four soldiers were killed in today''s gun fight alone," he
added.
Mohammad Ajmal Amir Iman alias
Kasab, the lone arrested LeT militant in the November 26 Mumbai
terrorist attacks, acknowledged before the trial judge that he was
a Pakistani national and also accepted the proposal of a Government-provided
lawyer to defend him.
-
March 22: Four Army soldiers, including
an officer of the rank of Major, and a suspected LeT militant were
killed in the ongoing gun-battle between Army and a group of infiltrators
along the LoC in Kupwara District, taking the death toll in the
operation to 10. "Major Mohit Verma and three soldiers laid
down their lives while valiantly fighting the infiltrators in Kupwara
district," a Defence spokesman said in capital Srinagar. He
said one militant was also killed in the exchange of fire between
the two sides. The encounter has now entered into its third day
and the operation has been going on for more than 60 hours now.
The encounter began in Ragwar forests of Chowkibal area near the
LoC in Kupwara District the small hours of March 20 and has now
spread to Hafrada forests in the adjacent Vilgam village of Handwara
area in the District as the militants have reportedly shifted from
Ragwar to Hafrada, taking advantage of the terrain.
-
March 21: The death toll in the
ongoing encounter near the LoC in Kupwara District went up to five
as two more suspected LeT militants were shot dead by the Army.
"Two more militants who tried to infiltrate into this side
of Line of Control in the wee hours of yesterday have been killed.
The death toll of militants in the ongoing operation has now gone
upto five," a senior Army official said.
-
March 20: The Army foiled an infiltration
bid near the Line of Control (LoC) in Kupwara District, killing
three militants while four Army personnel sustained injuries in
the gun-battle which was still continuing. Police sources in capital
Srinagar said the Army laid an ambush in Rangwar forest area following
specific information about a group of 10 to 12 militants infiltrating
into Kashmir valley from Pakistan occupied Kashmir. The troops established
contact with the infiltrators in the wee hours of the day following
which an encounter ensued. Thus far, three militants have been shot
dead while at least two others are still engaging the Security Forces
in the area which has a dense forest cover. Official sources believe
the militants are affiliated to the LeT. Four Army personnel sustained
injuries in the encounter. This is the first major infiltration
bid by militants in Kashmir valley in 2009 as the passes across
the LoC were closed due to heavy snowfall during the winter.
-
March 18: The Bhakra Nangal Dam
located on the Punjab-Himachal Pradesh border is on the radar of
terrorist outfits, including that of the Pakistan-based LeT, intelligence
sources said in Chandigarh. Intelligence inputs spoke of a possible
terrorist attack on the dam, the sources said adding security had
been beefed up around the vital installation. Taking note of the
possible strike by terrorist outfits, including the LeT, security
agencies reportedly held a meeting with the Bhakra Beas Management
Board. Adequate Security Force personnel had been deployed to foil
any terrorist attack, the sources added.
-
March 17: 185 people from Kerala
were selected by the LeT and provided preliminary training at camps
conducted in various centres in Kannur and Ernakulam. The Special
Investigation Team (SIT) probing the terror link to Kerala obtained
this information from three Kashmiri youngsters, identified as Fiyaz
Ahammed (26), Sajad Ahammed Reshi alias Hanzulla and Shabbir Ahammed
Tali alias Abu Saquib (20).
These three youngsters took part
in the terror camp organised by the LeT in Kupwara and Dorusa forest
areas in Kashmir during October 2008, along with a five-member team
from Kerala. The Lashkar camp had 17 members, including seven Pakistanis
and three Kashmiris. Yasin, Fayaz, Shakeer alias Rahim and Fayiz
who were killed in encounters with the Police in Kashmir and Abdul
Jabbar, who had escaped the scene, constituted the militants’ team
sent from Kerala to Kashmir. “The Malayalis joined the camp in the
second week of September. Shakeer alias Rahim was their leader.
He could speak Urdu,” said Fiaz Ahammed. Shabbir Ahammed Tali told
the Police that 180 more youngsters were waiting in Kerala after
the preliminary training to join the Jihad. “One Ustad had indoctrinated
them,” said Tali.
-
March 14: Three top militants of
the LeT outfit, including a Pakistani national, were shot dead by
a combined force of the Army and Police during an encounter at village
Sarwa in Keshwan area of Kishtwar District. Two LeT militants were
shot dead by troops in a separate encounter at Handwara in the Kupwara
District. Two AK-47 rifles and some ammunition were recovered from
the encounter site. A financial coordinator of the LeT, identified
as Nazir Ahmed, was arrested from Pangai village under Thanamandi
tehsil in the Rajouri District. INR 50,000 hawala money was recovered
from his possession.
-
March 10: The central nervous system
for the next major terrorist attack on the US soil lies in Pakistan,
said senior US officials and lawmakers. Two key US officials - Director
of the National Intelligence and Director of the Military Intelligence
- told the Senate Armed Services Committee that Pakistan had allowed
Taliban to operate freely from Quetta while the tribal areas had
become a “central nervous system” for al Qaeda. US lawmakers and
officials also said that the LeT has the ideological commitment
to replace al Qaeda as the next major terrorist group in the world.
They said the Pakistani establishment and intelligence agencies
had taken some measures against the LeT recently but were not co-operating
fully with the United States in dealing with this threat. The committee
was also told that LeT had supporters among the Pakistanis living
in the United States who could abet its efforts to carry out a terrorist
attack in North America.
“The central nervous system for
the planning (of an attack on the US soil) would emanate from Fata,”
said Senator Evan Bayh, an Indiana Democrat, during a hearing on
current and future worldwide threats to the national security of
the United States. Earlier, chairman of the Senate Armed Service
Committee, Senator Carl Levin, said that the Afghan Taliban forces
under Mullah Omar operated with impunity from Balochistan, crossing
unhampered into southern Afghanistan while al Qaeda was based in
FATA from which attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan itself are launched.
Lt-Gen Michael Maples, Director
of US Defence Intelligence Agency, noted that while “strategic rivalry”
with India drove Pakistan’s defence strategy, al Qaeda was using
FATA to recruit and train operatives, plan and prepare regional
and transnational attacks, disseminate propaganda and obtain equipment
and supplies. General Maples warned that while Pakistan has taken
important steps to safeguard its nuclear weapons, “vulnerabilities
still exist”.
-
March 9: Investigators have not
found any concrete evidence so far of involvement of LeT in the
terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore on March
3 and see the evidence of a ‘foreign hand’ behind the incident,
Interior Adviser Rehman Malik told the National Assembly Standing
Committee on Interior. The committee is reported to have discussed
the law and order across Pakistan, the Lahore terrorist attack and
efforts for the release of abducted United Nations official John
Solecki. Rehman Malik said the investigation into the Lahore attack
was moving in a positive direction and the leads gathered so far
provide sufficient evidence of involvement of a foreign hand in
the terrorist attack. The committee expressed displeasure over the
security arrangements made for the visiting team and termed the
incident a security lapse. The committee members said the Government
should have provided extra security to the guests because there
were intelligence reports of a possible attack.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka rejected reports
that India might have been involved in the terrorist attack against
its national cricket team in Pakistan. Foreign Minister Rohitha
Bogollagama said "From our point of view, there is no Indian
involvement… India has helped us in our counter-terrorist efforts.
I do not see a need for India to target the Sri Lankan cricket team."
A review board of the Lahore High
Court (LHC) extended the detention of the chief of the Jama’at-ud-Da’awa
(the LeT front), Hafiz Mohammed Saeed, and three other of its top
leaders for 60 days while releasing two leaders. The board, comprising
Justice Mian Najam-uz-Zaman, Justice Fazal-e-Miran Chauhan and Justice
Syed Shabbar Raza Rizvi, issued this order after the Home Department
produced sufficient evidence against Hafiz Saeed and his associates
and sought extension in their detention. The detention of Ameer
Hamza, Col (retd) Nazir Ahmed, and Mufti Abdur Rehman Rehmani, has
also been extended for 60 days. The board observed that the data
produced before the board was sufficient for extending the period
of their detention. The board further ordered the Punjab Government
to provide subsistence allowance of PKR 25,000 to the families of
the detenus while they would be kept at various places already declared
sub-jails. In the cases of Qazi Kashif Niaz and Qari Yasin Baloch,
the board opined there was no cogent evidence/material produced
by the Home Department to justify extension in their detention.
Under Article 10 (4) of the Constitution,
the chief justice of the High Court concerned would appoint a review
board consisting of a chairman and two other persons, each of whom
is or has been a judge of the High Court. The detention period of
all detenus was to expire on March 9 midnight. In December 2008,
the Interior Ministry had ordered detention of eight LeT leaders,
including Hafiz Saeed, on suspicion of involvement in the Mumbai
terrorist attacks in November 2008.
-
March 8: An important Students Islamic
Movement of India (SIMI) leader, Sarfaraz Navaz, who reportedly
funded the Bangalore serial bomb blasts on July 25, 2008, confessed
during his interrogation that the LeT was behind the July 25, 2008
Bangalore bomb blasts. Sarfaraz, who hails from Ernakulam in Kerala,
was earlier arrested by the Research and Analysis Wing (R and AW)
from Muscat in Oman on March 3. He was sent to Police custody till
March 14. According to Police Commissioner Shankar Bidari, Sarfaraz
collected about INR 320000 from like-minded people ahead of the
bomb blasts. He also took part in reconnaissance of various spots
and attempted to send a suspected terrorist involved in the blast
across the border to train with the LeT in Pakistan. “Sarfaraz has
links with LeT and has been in touch with Wali a.k.a. Rehan, a key
member of LeT. We are sure that some more men will be picked up
based on information provided by him,” the Commissioner said. Sarfaraz
reportedly completed a three-year course (1995-98) at Nadwat-ul-Ulema
(Institute of Islamic Scholarship) in Lucknow and joined as office
secretary at the SIMI head office in New Delhi in 2000. Subsequently,
he kept in touch with SIMI leaders from Kerala as he traveled to
Muscat and Oman for work.
-
March 6: The Kolkata Police arrested
a suspected LeT explosives expert, identified as Abu Taher alias
Mohammad Zakaria, at Sealdah railway station when he was stepping
out of Lalgola Passenger train. Taher confessed that he had fled
to Rajshahi in Bangladesh in 1997 after carrying out low-intensity
blasts in Delhi, Ludhiana in Punjab and Rohtak in Haryana. Taher
is reportedly close to the LeT’s Bangladesh chief, Abdul Karim Tunda,
who had sent him to LeT headquarter in Muridke near Lahore in Pakistan
to be trained in handling explosives. Officers said the suspect
had entered Murshidabad in West Bengal from Bangladesh in earlier
this week. He was apparently booked on a north India-bound train,
raising suspicion of a secret mission.
Meanwhile, after questioning Taher,
the Police arrested one of his associates, Abdus Sadique, from Suti
in Murshidabad.
The Special Task Force (STF) sources
said that the LeT has opened a new wing to create unrest in India’s
Northeast and the Districts of West Bengal bordering Bangladesh.
This was discerned after interrogation of Abu Taher, a senior STF
officer said. "The Lashkar-e-Taiba had opened a new wing named
Tanzeen-e-Mohammedi, especially to create unrest in Northeast and
the Districts of West Bengal bordering Bangladesh. Abu Taher was
specially deputed by the LeT to develop a strong organisation for
the purpose," the officer said. "Taher got the funding
from Abdul Karim Tunda, the Pakistan based LeT operative who came
to Kolkata to recruit people for his organisation," he added.
Speaking on the antecedents of Taher, the officer said he was not
only involved in the November 26 Mumbai terrorist attacks, but also
had links with several serial bomb blasts across the country in
2008. According to STF sources, Tunda paid INR 50,000 to Taher for
his job apart from funding for the organisational purpose. Taher
had reportedly recruited nearly 30 persons from the Bangladesh bordering
Districts of North 24-Parganas, Coochbehar, Malda, North and South
Dinajpur, Murshidabad and Nadia, the STF source said. "We
have definite proof that he was not only involved in the blast in
Guwahati, but also had a plan to conduct a series of blasts in the
North-Eastern states," the source added. Two passports, including
one of Bangladesh and one of Pakistan, were recovered from Taher.
-
March 5: The former US National
Intelligence Officer for the Near East and South Asia, Paul R. Pillar,
said there is an undeniable link between the banned outfit LeT and
the Pakistan Government, which saw it as a useful tool to keep insurgency
brewing in Jammu and Kashmir. "Lashkar-e-Taiba, or LeT, is
an Islamist Pakistani group that has gotten, certainly in the past
and there''s a question about how much it still has in the present
cooperation and sponsorship from elements of the Pakistani Government
itself", Pillar said. "The Government saw it as a useful
tool, particularly with regard to confronting the Indians in Kashmir
and keeping an insurgency in Kashmir brewing", he added. "The
official sponsorship is no longer there. The remaining question
is to what degree there may be individuals or elements, particularly
in the Pakistani military, that may have some continued relationship
with the group," Pillar added.
Meanwhile, Pillar also said that
LeT shares the general ideology in many respects of al Qaeda, although
operationally they have been focused more on Jammu and Kashmir and
now in Pakistan itself.
-
March 4: Investigations into the
November 26 Mumbai terrorist attacks have revealed that Mazhar Iqbal,
a resident of Mandi tehsil (revenue division) of Punjab province
in Pakistan, was code-named as Abu Al Qama by the LeT, official
sources said. The central security agencies and the Federal Bureau
of Investigation (FBI) carried out detailed interrogation of LeT
terrorists arrested worldwide to know the identity of Abu Al Qama.
The other LeT terrorist identified by the security agencies was
Zarar Shah whose actual name is Abdul Wajid, a resident of Sheikhpura
District of Punjab province in Pakistan, the sources said. About
the role of the two terrorists in Mumbai attack, sources said that
Iqbal alias Abu Al Qama alias Amjad had been responsible for training
the terrorists who carried out the strikes in Mumbai. Iqbal, who
reportedly is in-charge of LeT operations in India except Jammu
and Kashmir, is wanted in other cases including the Red Fort encounter,
attack on Akshardham temple in Gujarat and serial bombings on the
eve of Diwali festival in 2005 in national capital Delhi.
-
March 3: A team of the Research
and Analysis Wing (R & AW) tracked down an absconding accused
in the Bangalore serial blasts case in Muscat, and sneaked him out
of Oman, since India doesn't have an extradition treaty with that
country. Sarfaraz Nawaz, 32, who allegedly played a major role in
financing the Bangalore blasts, had reportedly sought refuge in
Muscat. Investigating officials told Rediff that an R and AW team
managed to track down Nawaz in Muscat. They added that Nawaz was
''smuggled into'' Bangalore on a chartered aircraft and the Bangalore
Police are currently questioning him. Abdul Sattar, the prime accused
in the case, had revealed Nawaz''s role in the serial blasts during
his interrogation. Nawaz was reportedly close to Riyaz Bhatkal,
a key LeT operative, who later took over the charge of the Indian
Mujahideen.
-
March 1: A Special Police Officer
(SPO), Fallail Singh, was shot dead by militants at Kastigarh in
the Doda District. Official sources said the SPO had been attached
with the Rashtriya Rifles (10th Battalion) and was on a ‘secret
mission’ to locate a hideout of the militants in the upper reaches
of Kastigarh when he was abducted by militants of the Lashkar-e-Taiba
(LeT) outfit in the evening. He was subsequently shot dead in captivity
and the militants escaped with his weapon.
-
February 28: According to investigators
of the November 26, 2008 Mumbai terrorist attack, the Pakistan-based
LeT had plans to set up an operational base in a rented accommodation
in the posh Colaba area in south Mumbai in early 2008 to coordinate
the 26/11 terror plan. The plan could not materialize because of
some reasons, and finally the base was set up in Room Number 14
at Batatawala Chawl in Nagpada, also in south Mumbai.
-
February 27: Naval Chief of Staff
Admiral Nauman Bashir said he had no proof that Mohammad Ajmal Amir
Iman alias Kasab - the lone LeT militant arrested after the Mumbai
terrorist attacks of November 2008 - used Pakistani waters to reach
India. “I do not have any proof, so I cannot confirm that claim,”
said Nauman while addressing a press conference in Karachi, Daily
Times reported. “The Indian navy is much larger than ours, and if
Ajmal Kasab had gone from here, then what were their coastguards
doing and why they did not stop the terrorists?” the naval commander
was quoted as saying by AFP. Nauman declined further comment on
the Mumbai attacks. “There are many questions about the Mumbai attacks
which need to be answered and until then, we cannot make any comment,”
he said.
The Government of India rejected
the Pakistan Navy chief’s claim. “The dossier handed over to Pakistan
was irrefutable and solid on facts,” Home Minister P. Chidambaram
was quoted as saying at a press conference. The Union Minister of
External Affairs, Anand Sharma, also rejected the naval chief’s
claim, and said Pakistan was engaging in ‘multiple speak, duplicity
and denial’ and had ‘created this confusion’.
The Delhi Police filed two fresh
chargesheets in connection with the September 13, 2008 Delhi serial
bomb blast case, registered at Connaught Place and Tilak Marg Police
stations. The two chargesheets accused Abu Al-Kama, a Pakistan-based
LeT ‘commander’, who is suspected to be involved in the 2005 Sarojini
Nagar and other bomb blasts in Delhi, and was termed as one of the
conspirators. The two chargesheets also named Indian Mujahideen
(IM) terrorists, Mohammed Saif, Zeeshan Ahmed, Zia-ur-Rehman, Saquib
Nissar, Mohammed Shakeel, Mohammed Sadiq Sheikh, Quamuddin Kapadia
and Mohammed Hakim, as the accused. According to Police, the bombs
at Central Park in Connaught Place, which claimed three lives and
left 39 injured, were planted by accused Saif, Zia, Sajid and Khalid.
Out of the four, Sajid and Khalid are still absconding. The Police
also claimed that the bombs recovered from a dustbin near India
Gate were planted by Mirza Shadab Beg and Shahzad, who are still
at large.
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February 26: Security Forces arrested
a LeT militant, identified as Bashir Ahmed Nayak, from Mandwas Kothi
in the Mendhar area of Poonch District. He was arrested from the
house of Abdul Hamid, brother of LeT militant Rahmat Ullah.
In another incident, troops recovered
two AK rifles, two magazines, 103 rounds of AK, 437 Pika rounds,
26 hand grenades, nine UBGL grenades, three disposable rocket launchers
and ration items during search operations in Mendhar.
-
February 25: The Mumbai Police filed
a chargesheet against 47 accused persons in the case of November
26, 2008 Mumbai terrorist attack. The 47 include 35 wanted LeT terrorists
from Pakistan, the lone arrested terrorist Mohammed Ajmal Amir Iman
alias Kasab and arrested Indian nationals Fahim Ansari and Mohammad
Sabahuddin. The 11, 280 pages chargesheet includes the names of
trainers, people aboard Al-Husseini (the ship which sailed from
Karachi carrying the terrorists), those involved in purchasing boats,
and those who were present at training and lodging sites. At a press
conference in Mumbai, the Joint Commissioner (Crime) of Police,
Rakesh Maria, named top LeT leaders Zaki-ur-Rahman Lakhvi, Abu Hamza,
Abu Kaahfa, Zarar Shah and Hafiz Mohammed Saeed among the 35 listed.
The wanted list also has names of two Pakistan army personnel, including
a Major-General. However, it had to be ascertained whether these
two belonged to the army or to the LeT hierarchy, Maria said. The
chargesheet contains 2202 witness statements, including those of
officers of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation. It incorporates
forensic evidence, fingerprint reports, and documentary and oral
evidence collected in India and abroad. Transcripts of communication
among the terrorists and their handlers, CallPhonex and Global Positioning
System (GPS) records, and purchase and sale details of the Yamaha
outboard motor also constitute the evidence.
Meanwhile, Maria said that the terrorist
attacks were the handiwork of the LeT. The role of its marine wing
was established after the trawler Kuber was taken over. However,
the chargesheet did not mention any role of Pakistan’s external
intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
According to the chargesheet filed
by the Mumbai Police, maps of target locations of the November 26,
2008 Mumbai attacks were handed over to the LeT commanders in Nepal.
Nepal was chosen for exchanging the maps because it was a rendezvous
point for the LeT, said Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Rakesh
Maria, adding, with no visa restrictions on the entry of Indians
into Nepal, it was a convenient transit venue for the outfit’s activities.
The role of two Indian nationals, Fahim Ansari and Mohammad Sabahuddin,
is the only instance of local involvement in the case as per the
chargesheet. Nine maps were prepared by Ansari, which were handed
over to Sabahuddin in Kathmandu in Nepal some time in January 2008.
The latter in turn passed them on to LeT operatives, identified
as Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and Abu Kaahfa. The chargesheet states:
“Both the arrested accused, viz. Fahim Mohammed Yusuf Ansari and
Sabahuddin, were in constant touch with each other through e-mail
messenger. Sabahuddin is termed as a very important functionary
of the LeT in India.”
-
February 23: An over-ground worker
of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) was arrested from Yaripora in the Kulgam
District. Some explosives and two hand grenades were recovered from
his possession.
-
February 22: The officials of the
United States’ Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) questioned
two LeT militants, Fahim Arshad Ansari and Shahbuddin, arrested
by the Uttar Pradesh Police in 2008, and confronted them with the
lone surviving terrorist of Mumbai multiple attacks, Mohammed Ajmal
Amir Iman “Kasab”. During the questioning, Ansari, a resident of
Navi Mumbai, allegedly told his interrogators about his training
in Pakistan, including the 21-day ''Daura Aam'' (ordinary tour)
basic combat course which was followed by a rigorous three-month
advanced ''Daura Khaas'' (special tour) and later by ''Daura-e-Ribat''
(intelligence course).
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February 19: Security Forces arrested
a LeT militant from Guder village in the Kulgam District and recovered
a hand grenade from his possession. A Police spokesman said the
arrested militant has been identified as Sabzar Ahmad Bhat, a resident
of Ukai in Kulgam.
The Intelligence Bureau has warned
at least six State Governments of potential Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT)
attacks against power grids and hydro-electric projects across the
country, Times of India reports on February 19. According to the
report, the LeT has recently collected information regarding these
projects and grid stations.
Mumbai was one of the 320 worldwide
locations on the list of potential targets for commando-style terror
strikes. The report suggested that the LeT, the outlawed terrorist
group that planned much of the attack from Pakistan, “had ambitions
well beyond causing mayhem in India”. “Western intelligence agencies
have accessed the computer and email account of Lashkar’s communications
chief, Zarar Shah, and found a list of possible targets, only 20
of which were in India,” report mentiond. Two of the November 2008
attack’s key planners – Shah and Lashkar’s operations chief, Zakiur
Rehman Lakhvi – are now in police custody in Pakistan, it said.
The report also said “there has
been some speculation that raids in Spain which netted 12 men –
an Indian and 11 Pakistanis – were a result of the investigations
into Lashkar’s role in the Mumbai attacks”.
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February 18: The Police arrested
a LeT militant, identified as Mohammed Yasin, from the Batote town
of Ramban District on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway. Yasin
was en route from Doda to Banihal to deliver a Chinese pistol with
seven rounds and three SIM cards to the LeT ‘district commander’
Abu Moosa in Banihal forests, Senior Superintendent of Police Sunil
Dutt said.
-
February 17: The Mumbai Police filed
a 1,809-page chargesheet against 21 militants of the Indian Mujahideen
(IM) who engineered bomb blasts across the country since 2005. The
accused have been charged under sections 3 (1) (ii) for offence
invoking punishment for not less than five years 3 (2) for conspiring
and abetting an offence and 3 (4) relating to punishment for being
part of an organised crime syndicate, of the Maharashtra Control
of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) 1999. Sections 295 (A) (damaging
a place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class),
505 (2) (statements conducing public mischief), 507 and 506 (II)
(relating to criminal intimidation), 120 (B) (criminal conspiracy),
121 (waging war against the country), 122 (collecting arms for waging
war) and 286 (negligent conduct with respect to explosive substances)
of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) have been applied. They are also
charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) 1967
the Information Technology Act 2000, and the Arms Act. Most of the
accused are from Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh and are well-qualified
professionals.
The chargesheet states, “The Indian
Mujahideen wanted to have bases in Mumbai and Maharashtra and therefore
hired premises (in Sewree Cross Lane, Mumbai) and in Ashoka Mews
and Kamaldeep Apartment at Kondhwa (Khurd) in Pune. Regular meetings
were held at these premises for planning and carrying out terrorist
operations and to harbour their members.” The IM, an offshoot of
the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), was responsible for
bomb blasts in Ahmedabad, Delhi, Jaipur, Surat and Hyderabad. The
IM’s media cell had its headquarters in Pune, conducted recces of
places, hacked Wi-Fi networks in the city and sent threatening emails
under its banner and from the email id ‘ [email protected]’
before and after the blasts, the chargesheet added. Six persons
are wanted in the case, including the masterminds Riyaz Bhatkal
alias Roshan Khan alias Aziz alias Ahmadbhai his brother Iqbal Bhatkal
alias Mohammad bhai, and Amir Raza, the head of the IM.
In addition, the chargesheet states
that Raza was assisted by the SIMI and LeT. He formed the Sahabbuddin
Brigade for attacks in the south, Mohammad Gajnavi brigade for attacks
in the north, Shaheed-al-Zarkavi brigade for attacks on VVIPs and
media groups. Riyaz gave the orders to the militants while Iqbal
played a key role in indoctrination. Non-bailable warrants have
been obtained for 13 militants in the chargesheet.
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February 13: The US asked the United
Nation to declare a Pakistani national, Asif Kasmani, as an international
terrorist, for his involvement in the February 2007 Samjhauta Express
bomb blasts. Kasmani is considered to be a link between the LeT
and al Qaeda. The reasons cited by US to get Kasmani declared an
international terrorist are his involvement in the Samjhauta Express
blasts. 66 persons, including some Pakistani nationals, were killed
and 13 others injured in explosions in two coaches of the Delhi-Attari
special train on February 19, 2007.
-
February 12: Pakistan acknowledged
for the first time that the Mumbai terrorist attacks were partly
planned in Pakistan and that it has arrested six suspects, including
the “main operator”. In its first detailed response to the dossier
provided by India, Pakistan said criminal cases had been registered
against nine suspects on charges of “abetting, conspiracy and facilitation”
of a terrorist act. However, it said more evidence is required from
India, including DNA samples of Ajmal Kasab, the lone LeT militant
arrested during the attack, to establish his identity.
Addressing a press conference in
Islamabad, Interior Adviser Rehman Malik told the media that FIR
No: 01/009 had been lodged with the Special Investigation Group
in the Federal Investigation Agency against nine suspects. The Pakistani
investigators have identified Hammad Amin Sadiq as the alleged ‘mastermind’
of the whole conspiracy. Malik said the cases against nine persons
had been registered under the Anti-Terror Act and the Cyber Crime
Act and they would be tried under these two sets of laws. He said
six of the nine accused named in the FIR have already been arrested
and being interrogated, two have been identified but not arrested
so far while investigations are still under way into the possible
involvement of the ninth accused. He identified those arrested as
Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, a LeT ‘commander’ who was arrested from Muzaffarabad
soon after the Indian Government alleged that the LeT was responsible
for the Mumbai attacks, Javed Iqbal, who was arrested from Barcelona
in Spain, Hammad Amin Sadiq, believed to be the main operator belonging
to southern Punjab, Zarar Shah, Mohammad Ashfaq and Abu Hamza. The
name of Ajmal Kasab is reportedly not included in the FIR.
He also said some of those arrested
by the security agencies of Pakistan for possible involvement in
the Mumbai attacks belong to the LeT. Malik said Javed Iqbal, who
was based in Barcelona, was the person who paid $200 for the ‘Internet
Domain’ that was also used for communication and planning for the
Mumbai attacks. “Having ascertained the involvement of Javed Iqbal,
we somehow lured him into coming to Pakistan and he was arrested
on his arrival,” Malik said. He also said the e-mail sent by ‘Deccan
Mujahideen’ claiming responsibility for the Mumbai attacks was believed
to be prepared and sent by Zarar Shah, who was responsible for communication
link in the whole operation. Mailk disclosed that the money to fund
these attacks was transferred from Pakistan and was received in
Italy. This money transaction was made through a Pakistani bank.
He also said after thorough investigations by the Pakistani security
and intelligence agencies it was learnt that these alleged terrorists
operated from two bases — one inside Karachi and the other outside
but not very far away from Karachi. He also disclosed that the terrorists
used three boats for traveling to Mumbai, one named ‘Al-Hussaini’
and the other ‘Al-Ghaus’. For communication, they used ‘Call Phonic’
system and they also bought Indian cell phone SIMs for communication
from inside India. He also pointed out that the satellite phone
connection that was used for communication during the Mumbai attack
was registered in the Middle East and not in Pakistan.
Malik said the findings have already
been shared with India. The Indian high commissioner in Islamabad
was called to the foreign office and the report was handed over
to him officially. “We also have forwarded a set of 30 questions
for which we would need answers as early as possible to support
and further the investigation process on our side. We have asked
the Indian government to provide us the DNA samples of the lone
surviving terrorist, Ajmal Kasab, to ascertain his nationality,
as we don’t have any record of the individual with Nadra (National
Database Registration Authority)… At the same time we would like
to have the statement given by Ajmal Kasab to the Indian investigators,
how this group of terrorists managed to sneak past the Indian security
and intelligence agencies guarding their coastal lines, and how
these nine persons managed to travel in a small boat and reach the
Indian coast.”
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February 10: The local Taliban leadership
has decided to send its militants to Islamabad as a reaction to
the military operations in Darra Adamkhel and Swat Valley in the
NWFP and in this regard chalkings on the walls of Islamabad are
already appearing. Many religious scholars in Islamabad have also
received messages from the Taliban that they have only two options,
either to support the Taliban or leave the capital or they will
be considered collaborators of the “pro-American Zardari government”
which, they claim, is not different from the previous Musharraf
regime. The Taliban have also reportedly accused some militant leaders
of the tribal areas and some leaders of the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba
(LeT), Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM) and Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM) of
trying to stop youngsters from fighting the Pakistani forces. Taliban
have declared all these “pro-Pakistan” Jihadis as their enemies.
The names of Maulvi Nazir from South Wazirastan, Hafiz Gul Bahadur
from North Waziristan, Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, Maulana Farooq Kashmiri
and Syed Salahuddin have been included in the hit lists of the Taliban,
who have threatened some HM leaders in Swat and Dir to leave the
areas as soon as possible. In addition, another Taliban leader in
the Mohmand Agency, Maulvi Omar Khalid, has threatened LeT cadres
to leave the tribal agency or face death. Khalid has claimed that
these militants are only interested in fighting against the foreign
troops in Afghanistan or against India.
-
February 9: Army personnel shot
dead a Lashkar-e-Taiba militant after a brief encounter at Kalihand
Top in the Doda District. The slain militant was identified as Bashir
Ahmed, a 22 year-old resident of Tantna in the same District. One
Self Loading Rifle and two magazines were recovered from his possession.
Bashir Ahmed was reportedly operating in different parts of Doda
for the last one and a half years.
The Lashkar-e-Taiba said it has
no plans of expanding its operations to the United States or Britain
and the outfit posed no threat to Western World. "The CIA report
issued after Mumbai attacks which describes Lashkar-e-Taiba as a
threat to the US and Britain is baseless, misleading and far from
truth. CIA should not get swayed by the Indian propaganda,"
LeT spokesman Abdullah Ghaznavi said in a tele-statement. Ghaznavi
claimed the LeT had no network in the US or the UK and has no intention
of starting armed actions in these countries. "We have made
it clear time and again that LeT had no role in the Mumbai attacks.
India wants to sabotage the freedom struggle of Kashmiri people
by getting it labeled as terrorism at international level,"
he said.
-
February 8: The Central Intelligence
Agency (CIA) has told US President Barack Obama that British-born
Pakistani terrorists, who have extensive contacts with the LeT,
are the biggest threat to the US. American intelligence chiefs have
told the president that the CIA has launched a vast spying operation
in Britain to prevent a repeat of the 9/11 attacks being launched
from Britain. It said intelligence chiefs believe that a British-born
Pakistani extremist entering the US under a current visa waiver
program for all Britons is the most likely source of another terrorist
attack on the American soil. A former CIA officer who had advised
Obama told Sunday Telegraph that the CIA had stepped up its British
operations after the November 2008 attacks in Mumbai by the LeT,
which has an extensive web of supporters in Britain, and is now
as big a threat to the US and Britain as al Qaeda.
-
February 3: The Jama'at-ud-Da'awa
(JuD, the LeT front) released the appeal it had made to the United
Nations pleading its innocence and claiming that it has no link
with al Qaeda, Taliban or the Mumbai terrorist attacks. The appeal
signed by JuD chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, was released on the eve
of UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon's visit to Pakistan. The appeal
said the UN had taken a hasty decision in proscribing the JuD, its
chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed and others members and termed the UN
decision detrimental to the interests of Pakistan. It said that
millions across the country were directly or indirectly benefiting
from JuD's services particularly in the areas of health, education,
water, sanitation, rehabilitation and particularly the provision
of
food and shelter to the homeless.
Saeed requested the UN Secretary General to mobilize his good offices
for the lifting of sanctions and delisting of all JuD entities.
"We categorically make it clear and declare that Jamaat ud
Dawa is neither an associate of Al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden nor the
Taliban, hence the embargo imposed is materially in contradiction
to that set out in their rules and highly unjustified under the
international law of human dignity and freedom," Saeed said.
He said the UN Security Council's decision was not based on any
solid evidence and relied entirely on the one-sided story of the
Indian lobby, which was devoid of any material facts provided by
an independent and impartial international judicial system. "Jamaat
ud Dawa or Hafiz Muhammad Saeed have never ever supplied, sold or
transferred arms or any related material to Al Qaeda, Osama Bin
Laden or Taliban and recruited any one for or on behalf of Al Qaeda,
Osama Bin Laden or Taliban nor have supported their acts or activities
or any of their cell, affiliate, splinter group or even derivative
group thereof," he said.
-
February 1: Three Lashkar-e-Taiba
militants were killed in a 10-hour long encounter with the SFs in
the forest area of Handwara in Kupwara District. A joint team of
the Special Operations Group of Police and troops of Rashtriya Rifles
launched search operations in the forest area of Wadar Bala in the
early hours following specific information about presence of militants
in the area. In the ensuing encounter three unidentified militants
were killed. Two AK-56, one AK-47, one pistol, nine magazines and
large quantity of ammunition besides ration and logistic materials
were recovered from the hideout, which is perched in a snowbound
area at a height of 2700 meters above sea level, said a Defence
spokesman.
-
January 31: A woman, Shah Bano Begum,
who was earlier gang raped by four LeT militants, caught hold one
of them inside Bhaderwah Police Station in the Doda District during
identification parade and assaulted him, resulting in the intervention
of Police Officials. The woman reportedly forced Police to register
a rape case against four LeT militants including the arrested one,
Imtiyaz Ahmed, a resident of Nalthi are in Bhaderwah. Three others
were identified as Ashiq Hussain alias Abu Umair, a LeT ‘area commander’,
Mohammed Ashraf alias Abu Jehadi and Mudassar Hussain alias Abu
Furqan, residents of Dhandi and Chakka villages of Bhaderwah.
-
January 30: A Pakistani investigation
into the Mumbai terrorist attacks of November 2008 has shown they
were not planned in Pakistan, the Pakistani High Commissioner to
Britain told an Indian television news channel. "Pakistani
territory was not used so far as the investigators have made their
conclusions," Wajid Shamsul Hassan told NDTV in an interview.
Hassan said the nationality of Ajmal Kasab, the lone LeT militant
arrested during the attacks, did not necessarily prove the hand
of Pakistan in the attacks. "He does come from Pakistan, that
doesn’t mean that Pakistan has sponsored whatever he carried out
in Bombay… We are waiting for the report to be finalised, and once
the report comes, it will make everything crystal clear. We do not
think that evidence is credible," said Hassan. Hassan also
said Pakistan’s examination of the Indian dossier would show its
‘non-involvement’ in the attacks and questioned the veracity of
the Indian information, saying it ‘could be fabricated’.
-
January 28: LeT 'commander' Abu
Hamza was killed in a 16-hour gun-battle in the Amargarh area of
Sopore town in Baramulla District. Official sources said Hamza was
holed up inside the house of one Akbar Lone since the evening of
January 27 when the area was cordoned off by the SFs following specific
information about his presence in the village. One soldier, identified
as Sohan Lal Sharma of the Rashtriya Rifles (52nd Battalion), was
also killed in the encounter and another soldier was injured in
the initial firing by the slain militant. One AK 47 rifle and four
AK magazines were recovered from the encounter site.
Another Lashkar 'commander' Abu
Abdul Rehman was killed by the SFs in the Bakihara area of Handwara
in Kupwara District. Four SF personnel were wounded in the encounter.
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January 27: Hundreds of students
protested as a Government official took over administrative control
of the JuD headquarters in Muridke. The protest, organised for the
second day, came as a senior official from the Punjab Government,
Khaqan Babar, started his job running the schools and hospital at
the JuD headquarters. About 500 students from a school in the sprawling
JuD compound in Muridke gathered outside the main office and chanted
slogans against the Government. "The Government has occupied
the school illegally," they said. Witnesses said the protesters
were school boys aged eight to 18, and students from a JuD-run madrassa
(seminary). Protesters also gathered on the main highway linking
provincial capital Lahore to the national capital Islamabad. They
blocked the traffic for about half an hour before dispersing peacefully,
police said. They carried banners and placards condemning "Indian
pressure" and demanding that the Government lift a ban on the
JuD.
-
January 26: More than 200 protesters
demonstrated against Pakistan’s appointment of an administrator
to oversee the headquarters of Jama’at-ud-Da’awa (JuD), the LeT
front. “Death to America”, “Death to Israel and Jews”, shouted the
protesters, carrying banners and placards that read: “Cancel administrator’s
appointment,” “Remove the ban on the Jamaatud Dawa” and “We condemn
the UN resolution.” Abu Ehsan, a former JuD administrator, while
criticizing the January 25-takeover said, “This is a wrong step.
First the government, under American and Indian pressure, placed
a ban through the UN and now the Punjab government has... We strongly
condemn this action and ask the government to review its decision.”
The provincial Government of Punjab
has taken over the Muridke headquarters of the JuD, appointing an
administrator to run the schools and medical facilities on the premises,
and renaming it Punjab Welfare Institute, The Hindu reported. The
Punjab Government on January 25 named Khakan Babar, a senior official
in the provincial Government, as the chief administrator of the
assets at the Markaz-e-Taiba, an extensive facility located outside
the provincial capital Lahore. He will report to the Lahore District
Commissioner. “(The administrator’s) job is to ensure that the schools
and dispensaries in Muridke can continue to function, and at the
same time ensure that the other purposes for which it was being
used don’t function,” said Pervaiz Rashid, an adviser to Punjab
Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif.
-
January 25: Personnel of the Border
Security Force foiled an attempt by a suspected suicide squad of
around four LeT militants, who were trying to infiltrate into Indian
side of the border under Kanachak sector of Jammu District. After
an encounter, militants reportedly managed to exfiltrate into Pakistan.
"Timing of the infiltration attempt was clearly aimed at making
an attempt to disturb Republic Day celebrations in the City tomorrow,"
sources said.
-
January 24: Two suspected LeT militants
were shot dead by Security Force (SF) personnel during an encounter
in Handwara area of Kupwara District. "Two militants were killed
in a joint operation by Police and Army at Shah Nagri in Handwara,"
official sources said. Some arms and ammunition were recovered from
the encounter site.
-
January 23: Two arrested LeT cadres,
identified as Fahim Ansari and Mohammad Salahuddin, were remanded
to Police custody till February 5 in connection with the November
26, 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks.
-
January 22: Germany held the Pakistan-based
LeT responsible for the November 26, 2008 Mumbai terrorist attack
but refrained from stating if other groups having al Qaeda links
could also be involved, reports The Hindu. "Based on whatever
investigations we have conducted till now, we feel it is Lashkar
that is responsible for these attacks," president of Germany’s
Federal Police, Joerg Ziercke, told journalists In New Delhi. Ziercke
also said that the LeT was active in Germany also but it did not
pose any "operative risk". Adding there were two or three
persons with suspected links with the LeT, who had undergone training
in tribal areas of Pakistan but no investigation could be conducted
there. Ziercke also conformed that Germany’s elite commando unit
GSG9 would cooperate with its Indian counterpart, the National Security
Guard, (NSG) in training of personnel and counter-terrorism efforts.
On the investigation of the attack, Ziercke told that Germany would
be interested in the outcome of the investigations as three German
nationals were killed in the Mumbai carnage, saying, "The Federal
Prosecutor-General of Germany has already initiated legal proceedings."
-
January 21: The special investigation
team of the Kerala Police probing the alleged terror links in the
State filed a chargesheet against 22 alleged terrorists before the
Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM) Court in Thalassery.
The accused have been charged under various sections of the Unlawful
Activities (Prevention) Act. While four of the 22 accused were shot
dead by the Security Forces in Jammu and Kashmir, the whereabouts
of five others, identified as Naseer, Shafas, Ibrahim Moulavi, Sabir
alias Ayub and Umar Farooque, is yet to be ascertained. The Court,
however, granted bail to Jaleel who was the first to be arrested
on October 19, 2008 in connection with the investigation. The accused
was granted statutory bail on the ground that no chargesheet was
filed against Jaleel who had been in custody for the past 92 days.
According to the chargesheet, Sainuddin,
who was arrested from Hyderabad, capital of Andhra Pradesh, on January
20, 2009, had organised activities for recruiting youth with the
intention of sending them to get arms training from the LeT in Jammu
and Kashmir and in Pakistan to wage war against India. He had organised
youth under the guise of the activities of ‘tariqat’ (a school of
Sufism) meetings at Neerchal, Kanhangad, Malappuram, a Makham shrine
at Mudikkal Kaniyapuram and the dargah (shrine) of Jamiya Nooriya
in Hyderabad. The accused had been engaged in conspiracy since March
2006 to carry out subversive activities in the country, the chargesheet
said. The chargesheet also added that the group had decided to send
Fayaz, Fayiz, Abdurrahim, Yasin and Jabbar for training in Pakistan
and they had joined the LeT and undergone training.
-
January 18: A top Lashkar-e-Taiba
'commander' was arrested by Police from Sartangal bazaar in the
Bhaderwah town of Doda district. Senior Superintendent of Police
Prabhat Singh said Imtiyaz Ahmed alias Saidullah was detained by
a Police party which identified him while roaming in the market.
Saidullah is a close associate of LeT 'district chief' Ashiq Hussain.
From his possession, Police recovered one Chinese pistol, one HE-36
grenade and six pistol rounds.
-
January 14: Mohammad Ahsan Dar,
a top militant and one of the founders of the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen
(HM), was arrested by Police in the Bandipora District. Dar, a close
associate of Hizb chief Syed Salahuddin, was co-ordinating activities
of the LeT, HM, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Harkat-ul-Mujahideen
(HuM), Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG, North Kashmir),
Abdul Gani Mir, said in Baramulla. Acting on specific information
that Dar had returned from Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) and was
co-ordinating the activities of different militant outfits, the
Jammu and Kashmir Police arrested him in the early hours while he
was trying to sneak into Sumbal area from his home town Pattan,
he said. Dar, self-styled chief commander of Muslim Mujahideen,
offered no resistance while being arrested, Mir said. The DIG said
Dar had parted ways with the HM following differences with the top
leadership of the outfit and founded Muslim Mujahideen in 1992.
However, he remained close to Salahuddin, who also heads the United
Jihad Council (UJC) – an amalgam of militant outfits active in the
State. Dar, who is in his 50s, was arrested in 1993 and released
in 1999 after six years in detention, Mir said, adding he had also
visited Pakistan and has remained in close contact with the ISI
and other Pakistani agencies. He has reportedly been regularly receiving
funds from them.
According to preliminary investigations,
Dar had infiltrated into the Kashmir valley and was active since
last one year. Dar had organised various attacks on Security Forces
and was trying to give a fresh impetus to militant activities within
the State and in the rest of the country. He had infiltrated into
India via the Bangladesh border. Some incriminating documents have
been recovered from him and further investigations are on, the DIG
said.
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January 13: Two hardcore militants
of the LeT and HM outfits and two Police personnel were killed during
an encounter at Lallu Khetar in the Kalakote area of Rajouri District.
Inspector General of Police (Jammu), K. Rajendra, said a team of
Special Striking Reserve and Police launched a search operation
at Lallu Khetar at 3.30 pm (IST) after receiving inputs about the
presence of militants in the area. In the ensuing encounter that
lasted for approximately 90 minutes two militants and two Policemen,
Mushtaq Ahmed and Nissar Hussain, were killed. At least two militants
managed to escape taking cover of the forest area. The slain militants
have been identified as Ashfaq, a HM ‘commander’, and Abu Talha,
a LeT ‘commander’. Both of them were operating in different parts
of Rajouri district for past several months and were involved in
many subversive activities. Two AK-56 rifles, two magazines, 37
rounds, four hand grenades, one radio set, one mobile telephone
and several incriminating documents were recovered from the incident
site.
In another search operation, Police
arrested two over-ground workers of the LeT outfit from Upper Thathri
area of Doda District and recovered INR 20,000 worth Hawala money
besides four SIM cards of two private telecom companies from them.
They have been identified as Waseem Raza and Najam-ud-Din Gujjar.
They were reportedly heading towards a forest area to deliver the
money and four SIM cards to some LeT commanders when they were arrested
by police.
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January 12: A LeT terrorist, identified
as Safique Iliyas alias Deepak, was arrested by the West Bengal’s
Criminal Investigation Department (CID) from Malda District. Safique
was later produced before the Magistrate’s Court at Jangipur in
Murshidabad District and the court remanded him to 14-days Police
custody. Safique, a resident of Rajshahi in Bangladesh, was instructed
to spy on the movement of Army personnel in Siliguri, CID officials
said. “Safique crossed over to India on January 3 and was sheltered
in the house of Haji Akhtar Hussein at Harishchandrapur in Malda
District. We arrested both on a tip-off,” Siddh Nath Gupta, Deputy
Inspector-General (Operations) of CID, said in Kolkata on January
13. Safique had planned to set up a shop near the Army establishment
in Siliguri to ute his job, Gupta said, adding “Safique had confessed
that he helped two Lashkar-e-Taiba men to cross over to India via
the international border in the State last year. One of them, Sikandar-e-Azaam,
was later arrested by the Jammu and Kashmir Police in June.” The
Delhi Police had reportedly arrested him in 1998 on the charge of
transporting RDX from Bangladesh to Uttar Pradesh during 1997-98.
He was lodged in the Tihar jail till 2003, before being granted
bail and escaping to Bangladesh. Nine pre-activated SIM cards, fake
Indian currency worth INR 50,000 and a forged voter identity card
were recovered from him.
Meanwhile, two LeT militants, identified
as Fahim Ansari and Mohammad Sabahuddin, who were arrested by the
Uttar Pradesh Police for carrying out an attack on a CRPF Group
Centre in Rampur on January 1, 2008, and who are allegedly involved
in the November 26, 2008-terrorist attacks in Mumbai, were remanded
to Police custody till January 23.
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January 10: The house arrest of
Jama’at-ud-Da’awa (a front for the Lashkar-e-Taiba [LeT]) founder
Hafiz Mohammed Saeed has been extended for another 60 days, Punjab
Additional Home Secretary Usman Anwar said. "His house has
already been declared a sub-jail where he will spend the rest of
the detention period," Anwar said, adding that the Punjab Government
extended the detention on orders from the federal Government.
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January 9: The Punjab Police have
included names of four Jama’at-ud-Da’awa (the front organisation
of LeT) leaders, including Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, in a list of leaders
of banned groups. The Police also issued a list of 30 suspected
militants involved in extremist activities. Police sources said
other Jama’at-ud-Da’awa leaders put on the list were Abdur Rehman
Makki, Abu Hashim and Ameer Hamza, the channel added. Three people
mentioned in the 30-name list were category ‘A’ - most wanted –
and carried PKR 40 million as head money.
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January 8: Police said it has arrested
two over-ground workers of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) outfit from
Khalloen in the Pulwama District and recovered arms and ammunition
from their possession. A Police spokesman said the duo has been
identified as Abdul Hanan Najar and Shabir Ahmad Bhat. One hand
grenade, 15 rounds of AK ammunition, a tent of foreign-make and
three woolen blankets were recovered from their possession.
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January 7: The Pakistani Government
confirmed that Mohammad Ajmal Amir alias Ajmal Kasab – the lone
LeT militant arrested during the Mumbai terrorist attacks on November
26, 2008 – is a Pakistani. “The initial investigations have confirmed
that Ajmal Kasab, involved in the Mumbai terrorist attacks, is a
Pakistani national. Further investigations are under way,” Foreign
Office Spokesman Muhammad Sadiq said. Sources in the foreign ministry
said security agencies analysed the information India had gathered
and shared with Pakistan, and concluded in a preliminary probe that
Kasab is a Pakistani. Pakistan had earlier said its National Database
and Registration Authority had no record of the man. Sadiq confirmed
that the Interior Ministry had given the information to the Foreign
Office. But he denied Pakistan would provide official support to
Ajmal Kasab. “Kasab has committed a heinous crime. He will not be
provided any official support or consular access,” the spokesman
said.
Meanwhile, the Information Minister
Sherry Rehman said that “Ajmal Kasab is a Pakistani. Further investigations
are under way.” Earlier, a high-ranking Government official told
Dawn that the preliminary investigation had provided enough information
to conclude that the man at present in India’s custody was from
a Punjab village, and perhaps belonged to a militant group that
was bent upon destabilising the region by undermining the peace
process.
Answering a question about consular
access to Kasab, a senior official said the militant had damaged
Pakistan ‘like no other’. “We are not yet sure when to ask for consular
access. We may not ask for it. He is involved in a heinous crime,”
the unnamed official said.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Yousuf
Raza Gilani sacked his National Security Adviser Major General (retd)
Mehmud Ali Durrani for giving a statement on Mohammad Ajmal Amir
alias Ajmal Kasab, the lone LeT militant arrested during the Mumbai
terrorist attacks on November 26, 2008, without taking him into
confidence. Before the formal announcement, Prime Minister Gilani
told Geo News on telephone that Durrani had given a statement to
an Indian news channel regarding Ajmal Kasab without taking him
into confidence. Gilani said that Durrani’s statement had tarnished
the country’s image. “So I decided to sack him,” he told Geo News.
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January 6: Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh blamed the Pakistan-based LeT for the Mumbai terrorist attack
and pointed out that there was enough evidence to show that the
attack was executed with military precision and also had the support
of some official agencies of Pakistan. Speaking at a conference
of Chief Ministers on internal security in New Delhi, the Prime
Minister said terrorism was largely sponsored from outside the country,
mainly from Pakistan, which “utilised terrorism as an instrument
of State policy.” “We must convince the world community that States
that use terrorism as an instrument of foreign policy must be isolated
and compelled to abandon such tactics. We must engage vigorously
in debates to press the point that ‘soft’ support for terrorism
cannot any longer be endorsed,” Singh stated.
While admitting that India’s problems
were compounded by the fact that “we have a highly unpredictable
and uncertain security environment in our immediate neighbourhood,”
he said the Governments in some of our neighbouring countries “are
very fragile in nature.” He cautioned that the “more fragile a Government,
the more it tends to act in an irresponsible fashion. Pakistan’s
responses to our various demarches on terrorist attacks are an obvious
example.” Emphasising the need for co-operation with the States
and allaying their apprehensions, Singh assured the Chief Ministers
that all anti-terror initiatives would be undertaken with the “closest
possible interaction” with the State Governments and their apparatus.
“We do recognise that it is not possible to effectively fight terror
without the whole-hearted co-operation of the Police machinery at
all levels,” the Prime Minister said, adding, an effective coastal
command was also being created.
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January 3: The Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI) of the US gave the evidence to Pakistan, indicating
the involvement of terrorists including the LeT handlers based in
its territory in the Mumbai multiple terror attacks. The London-based
daily reports that the evidence proves that the strikes were orchestrated
by militants based in Pakistan. The report adds that Zarar Shah,
a communications specialist of LeT, confessed during his interrogation
in Pakistan that he advised the terrorists over phone as the attacks
unfolded.
The FBI had decoded Skype calls
over the internet between the terrorists in the two five-star hotels
and a Jewish centre in Mumbai with their LeT controllers in Pakistan,
identified as Zarar Shah, Abu Hamza and Abu Qafa, said the report.
During the conversation, the men were also instructed to kill the
entire Israeli national held captive in the Jewish hostel, but to
spare all the people belonging to Muslim community, it added.
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January 2: The LeT rejected a report
that one of its leaders had acknowledged the group’s involvement
in the multiple terrorist attacks in Mumbai on November 26, 2008.
The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed officials, reported on December
31, 2008 that Pakistani authorities had obtained a confession from
a senior LeT member. The suspect, identified as Zarar Shah, allegedly
told investigators he had played a key role in the planning of the
November attacks. "Lashkar-e-Taiba rejects the Wall Street
Journal report," its spokesman Abdullah Ghaznavi said in an
email statement. "India has failed to furnish any evidence
of Lashkar-e-Taiba’s involvement in the Mumbai attacks and America
is now trying to help it out," he claimed. No evidence could
be found "on the scene of the crime, and now there is an effort
to manufacture evidence thousands of miles away," he added.
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January 1: According to India’s
Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon, less than two weeks after
it was banned by the United Nations, the LeT front Jama’at-ud-Da’awa
is active, CNN-IBN reported. Menon said the JuD is now operating
under a new name. He also said the JuD has a new Website, which
is being used to collect money to fund terrorist activities. Speaking
to All India Radio, Menon rejected Pakistan’s offer of joint investigation
into the Mumbai terror attacks on November 26. The JuD may be planning
to rename itself as ''Tehreek-e-Hurmat-e-Rasool'' (Movement for
defending the honour of the Prophet) to avoid restrictions which
Pakistan could be forced to impose on it because of UNSC sanctions.
The indication that JuD may be thinking of changing its name reportedly
came as some senior cadres of the outfit recently organised a rally
in Pakistan under the banner of Tehreek-e-Hurmat-e-Rasool.
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