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Terrorists strike at Ajmer shrine

	October 15, 2007

Terrorists suspected to belong to Pakistan-backed HuJI struck at one of the country’s most secular shrines at Ajmer - the Dargah of the 12th century Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chish¬ti - on Oct. 11 just after evening prayers, killing two persons as thousands were breaking their day long Ramzan fast. A hidden bomb ripped through the shrine triggering a near stampede as terrified men and women ran for cover, many of them bleeding.



Sources said the low-intensity bomb was placed in a lunch box under a neem tree in Begami Dalan yards from the shrine.



“We have recovered some mobile instruments, so we think some sophisticated device was used, but an investigation is going on,” said Ajmer additional police chief Lalit Maheswari.



The blast, which also injured 17 people, came days ahead of Id, one of the holiest dates of the Muslim calendar, and Union Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta asked all states to intensify vigil as the festive season draws near.



A red alert has been declared in Rajasthan, with emphasis on religious places.



The blast came around the same time militants stormed a police camp in Kashmir, firing guns and throwing grenades.



In Ajmer, eyewitness Gulam Kibriya said panic-stricken people ran in all directions. “The three main exit points were naturally jammed with everybody trying to rush out at the same time.”



With the Ramzan month on, sources said the shrine was packed with at least 5,000 people.



Divisional Commissioner Deepak Upreti said one of the vic¬tims has been identified as 45-year-old Mohd Shoaib from Mumbai, one of whose affluent residents had earlier donated money to decorate in gold a part of the shrine.



The shrine, which contains the tomb of the Sufi saint, known as a benefactor of the poor, is one of the most important pilgri¬mage sites for Muslims in India. Seen as a symbol of communal harmony, it also draws people of other faiths, among them politi¬cians and celebrities.





Second explosive found, new leads point to HuJI



A second live explosive was found in the shrine during a massive combing operation on Oct. 12, suggesting that those planting the bombs had planned an extensive destruction. The police have detained six persons, including two persons of Ban¬gladeshi origin for interrogation.



Investigators have discovered that the mobile phone cards used to build the unexploded bomb were part of a set of Subscrib¬er Identification Modules purchased to execute the Mecca Masjid bombings in Hyderabad.



CBI detectives found that the Harkat ul-Jihad-e-Islami terror cell, which executed the Mecca Masjid bombings, purchased seven mobile phone SIM cards from West Bengal and Jharkhand in the weeks before the May 2007 terror attacks.



Of these, five SIM cards - three for the Airtel network and two for Hutch - were purchased from a retailer in Malda.



Now, Rajasthan police officials have found that the SIM card recovered from the unexploded device found in the Ajmer shrine is one of the five purchased by the HuJI in Malda - the first con¬clusive evidence that the same terror cell carried out both bombings. The phone recovered in Ajmer is also of the same make as that used in the Mecca Masjid strike - a Nokia 3310 device.



Detectives from the CBI earlier established that several phones were purchased by the HUJI cell - which carried out the Mecca Masjid strike - from a retailer in Faridabad, Uttar Pra¬desh.



In both the Mecca Masjid and Ajmer terror strikes, the bomb-maker who fabricated the explosive devices had the phone’s speak¬er connected to a detonator implanted in nitroglycerine-based industrial explosive.





Crackdown on HuJI sleeper cells likely



With the role of the Harkat-ul-Jehadi Islami (HuJI) becoming evident in the Ajmer blast, security agencies are chalking out a strategy to initiate action against sleeper agents of the organi¬sation all over the country.



“If the need arises we will not hesitate to seek help from neighbouring countries to crack down on HuJI top brass hiding in neighbouring countries”, said a Home Ministry official. HuJI has emerged as a bigger threat to internal security than J and K outfits, admitted an official of an intelligence agency.



Backing the claims of the Rajasthan Police that terror outfit HuJI might be responsible for the blast at the Ajmer Dargah, Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil said on Saturday that “investigations were leading towards the borders”. Patil, who was on a visit to the dargah, however, refused to divulge any further details, saying he had full confidence in the investigative agencies.



“The Centre is ready to provide help if the state authori¬ties need it. However, after my talks with the senior police and state officials here, I know for sure that the investigation is moving in the right direction,” said Patil while addressing a press conference.



Additional Director-General of Police (Crime) A K Jain said, “We are working on specific leads and interrogating several people. However, nobody has been arrested as yet.” When asked about a team of Rajasthan Police on a visit to Hyderabad, he said, “Our teams are moving in different directions, working on different leads. Not just Hyderabad but other places as well.”





New strategy needed to tackle terror : PM



Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said that the country has to think of a different strategy to deal with terror strikes. Replying to a question about recurring blasts at the HT Leader¬ship Summit on October 12, Dr. Manmohan Singh said, “Terrorists have the advantage of surprise. Therefore, we have to think of a different approach to deal with them.”



Admitting to a difficult internal security situation, he called upon people not to despair. “We have to mobilise all our resources and defeat their machinations. There is no lack of firmness and purpose.”



The Prime Minister disagreed with a suggestion that the peace process with Pakistan had slowed down because of Islama¬bad’s internal problems. He said as neighbours, it was inevitable for both countries to pursue the quest for friendly relations.



“In the past three years, we never had such an intensive dialogue on all outstanding issues. If the process appears to have slowed down, it is not due to internal problems in Pakistan. I do not want to comment on their internal affairs,” he said when a Pakistani journalist asked whether the process had slowed down or even halted in recent months due to the turmoil in Islamabad.



“We are committed to finding pragmatic, practical and viable solutions. I have spoken repeatedly that the destiny of India and Pakistan is closely inter-linked. And without it, we can’t think of a prosperous South Asia.”