India News Online » News Analysis » Indian Politics » 

Friday terror blasts rock Uttar Pradesh

	November 26, 2007

Terrorists struck at three places in Uttar Pradesh on Fri¬day, Nov. 23 resulting in the death of at least 16 people and injuring about 60. Six bombs planted by the terrorists went off in or near court complexes in the state capital, Lucknow, Faiza¬bad and Varanasi shortly after 1.15 p.m. All the explosions occurred in courts where suspects linked to recent terror strikes have been attacked or denied representation by lawyers, suggesting that the blasts were intended as an act of reprisal.



The modus operandi of the terrorists was the same as used in the recent Gorakhpur bomb blasts. The explosives were planted on bicycles and were synchronised to go off at about the same time. Experts say that this shows that a terror outfit with extensive links in the state carried out the blasts.



The worst affected was Varanasi where 12 people died. Four people died in Faizabad. Several people were injured in both these places as also in the state capital, Lucknow.





——————————Box————————



Were the serial blasts an act of reprisal ?



Experts and observers say that there is a strong possibility that Friday’s terror strikes in Uttar Pradesh were meant as an act of reprisal against alleged beating of terrorists involved in earlier incidents by lawyers.



Pakistani nationals Mohammad Abid, Mohammad Yusuf and Mirza Rashid, who police say were members of a Jaish-e-Mohammad module assigned to assassinate Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi, were beaten up by Lucknow lawyers when they were produced in the court on November 18.



Five other Jaish terrorists, alleged to have been involved in a 2005 attack on the Babri Masjid complex, were denied repre¬sentation by Faizabad lawyers. Their counterparts in Varanasi refused to defend Mohammad Waliullah, a cleric charged with facilitating the 2006 bombings of the city railway station and the Sankat Mochan temple.



However, investigators said, the operation might also have been timed to capitalise on the protests against Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen, a trenchant opponent of Islamists in her country.

—————————Box ends here————



The blasts triggered a near stampede at the explosion sites with many of the injured bleeding profusely seen running for their lives. Police ferried the injured and the dying to hospi¬tals. Lawyers were among those killed in Varanasi.



Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati visited the court premises in Lucknow and Faizabad where the explosions had taken place. Later she said that the State Government had not received any alert from the Centre about the possibility of terror strikes. She said the intelligence agencies of the central government had failed to carry out their responsibilities effec¬tively.



——————————Box———————





HuJI, Jaish key suspects



Security agency sources in New Delhi say that the needle of suspicion in the Uttar Pradesh serial blasts point to the Harkat-ul-Jehadi Islamia (HuJI) and the Jaish-e-Mohammad. They said it could be a revenge for assault of its members when three arrested JeM militants were manhandled by lawyers in Lucknow.





Probe to focus on Harkat



Local television stations said they had received an e-mail from a terrorist group unknown till now, Indian Mujahideen, claiming responsibility for the bomb attacks in three court complexes in Uttar Pradesh.



Officials said the name resembled the Indian Muslim Mohamma¬di Mujahideen, a Lashkar-e-Taiba front organisation which carried out strikes in Andhra Pradesh in 1998.



However, intelligence sources in New Delhi said investiga¬tions were likely to focus on HuJI, a Bangladesh-based terror group involved in a string of recent strikes in Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan. In May, police seized almost 30 kg of explosives before they were delivered to a HuJI cell.



While the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad has no institu¬tional relationship with the HuJI, both are linked by theological affiliations and draw much of their cadres from the Students Islamic Movement of India.



————————Box ends here——————-



Both the state government and the Centre have announced ex-gratia payment for the kin of those killed in the blasts.





Nation-wide alert sounded



Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who is in Uganda attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, has condemned the terror blasts in Uttar Pradesh and announced ex-gratia for the next of those killed and the injured. The Uttar Pradesh police has released sketches of three suspects believed to be behind the blasts. Two sketches were prepared on the basis of accounts of eyewitnesses in Faizabad, another was released after question¬ing eyewitnesses in Lucknow.



Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil informed the Lok Sabha on Nov. 23 that a nationwide alert has been sounded in the wake of the Uttar Pradesh blasts. He made a statement after demands from leader of the Opposition L.K. Advani. He said there was no information about the involvement of any group in the blats so far.



Minister of State for Home Sriprakash Jaiswal has gone to Varanasi to make an on the spot assessment of the situation. Union Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta told reporters that all states have been advised to step up vigilance.



Leaders of different political parties have condemned the terror strikes. Congress president Sonia Gandhi expressed shock and grief over the loss of innocent lives. She said such das¬tardly acts were a sign of cowardice and frustration.



Condemning the blasts, Vice-President Hamid Ansari said that such acts of terrorism should be thwarted through our national resolve to maintain peace and harmony and counter all disruptive forces. The CPI(M) said it was a matter of “grave concern” that terror elements were targeting courts, knowing fully well that a large number of people would be present there.



“No effort should be spared to unearth the conspiracy behind the dastardly acts of terror and punish the culprits. Intel¬ligence agencies should be strengthened to uncover such nefarious designs and take preventive action,” the party’s Politburo said in a statement.



Blaming the Union Government for the blasts, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said the government’s soft policies had failed to check the spread of the menace of terrorism. Party president Rajnath Singh, said, “the terrorists have become bolder. The situation is now a matter of deep concern.”



CPI leader D. Raja said fundamentalism and terrorism of any shade posed a grave threat to the unity and harmony of the coun¬try.



“Such blasts are taking place in other cities like Hydera¬bad. It raises serious questions about the coordination between the Centre and States in matters of intelligence gathering and coordination,” he said.











________________Box——————-





Kandahar hijacker behind plot to kidnap Rahul Gandhi



Security and intelligence agencies have been carrying out raids across the country to neutralise a support cell of the Jaish-e-Mohammad set up to conduct high profile kidnappings and for using the hostages as a bargaining chip for the release of Lashkar and JeM operatives imprisoned in India. Intelligence agencies believe that the Uttar Pradesh police busted a sleeper cell of the JeM created by the Pakistan-based terrorist outfit to abduct Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and some others, but the support cell is still active.



Security agencies believe that IC-814 principal hijacker Ibrahim Athar, referred to as “chief” during the hijack, has reappeared on the Indian terror scene as the mastermind, facili¬tator and trainer of the foiled Jaish-e-Mohammed operation to abduct Rahul Gandhi.



Younger brother of Jaish head Maulana Masood Azhar, the dangerous Athar is learnt to have imparted training to the three militants - Mohammed Abid, Yusuf and Mirza Rashid - nabbed by UP police. While Rahul Gandhi was the main target, the other two high profile politicians on the list were former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Leader of the Opposition L K Advani.



It is learnt that the three operatives have revealed that they were imparted training for close to three months under personal guidance of Athar at a camp near Sialkot in Pakistan. They were shown videos of these leaders and some other lower profile politicians as part of their training programme.



Security agencies have been receiving inputs on groups like Jaish working on such a plot since last year. The Centre has ordered a complete security review of Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul after such inputs.



It was Athar who had successfully carried out the hijacking of Indian Airlines plane IC 814 along with four others in Decem¬ber 1999 to Kandahar. Sources in the Home Ministry said that although the three arrested JeM terrorists were also trained for the post-abduction coordination in case the “support cell” failed to maintain links with their masters, the task was mainly assigned to three four jihadis - who are still at large - along the lines of what the IC-814 hijackers had done eight years ago.











Terror groups targeting oil assets



There are reports that the National Security Advisor M.K. Narayanan has written to the Cabinet Committee on Security Af¬fairs that the country’s high value oil assets are being targeted by a nexus of the underworld and terror groups such as the Jaish-e-Mohammad.



Quoting several instances where containers and carriers of Indian oil have been targeted for hijack in Maharashtra, the report is categorical in asserting that the most wanted terrorist don Dawood Ibrahim, is behind this.



Commercial gain appears to be the main motive while target¬ing strategic assets is in line with the operational framework of the jehadi groups who have significantly increased their opera¬tions in Mumbai and in other parts of Maharashtra.



Security forced have also uncovered kidnap plots against senior officials of the oil companies. The latest security review carried out by the Intelligence Bureau (IB) has suggested that round-the-clock security be provided to them.



Contrary to popular perception that Dawood Ibrahim has been marginalised, he is still active and with the help of the ISI coordinates with the jehadi groups. The D-company has carried out several joint operations with the JeM in vulnerable Mumbai.





Ten years jail term for Lashkar terrorists



Four suspected Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists have been sen¬tenced to ten years rigorous imprisonment after being found guilty of conspiring to carry out bomb blasts in New Delhi during the Republic Day celebrations in 2002.



Bilal Ahmed Mir, Mohd Afzal Kumhar, Adil Nazir Keen and Ansar Ahmed, all belonging to Anantnag in Jammu and Kashmir, were held guilty by Special POTA Judge Additional Sessions Judge Ravinder Kaur under provisions of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA), the IPC and the Explosives Substances Act.



“It has been proved that all accused are guilty of terrorist act, as they were possessing such a huge quantity of explosives, besides Rs 34 lakh in cash,” the court said, while also imposing a penalty of Rs 1.25 lakh each on them.



According to the prosecution, the four convicts, who planned to set off blasts using RDX at the Republic Day parade and its rehearsals, were nabbed by the crime branch from a private hotel at Kotla Mubarakpur in New Delhi on January 14, 2002 following information from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the US.



Over 5 kg of RDX, detonators and Rs 34 lakh in cash, sent to them by a Dubai-based hawala operator, were seized from them, the prosecution said.



The court, however, refused to accept the claim that the four accused were members of banned terrorist outfit LeT, saying that there was nothing on record which could link them to the organisation. It convicted them under Sections 121-A and 122 of the IPC.