Police raid Muslim slums in bomb probe
Mon Jul 17, 2006 11:04 PM IST15
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Reuters
By Krittivas Mukherjee
MUMBAI (Reuters) - Police officers scoured Mumbai's slums and largely Muslim ghettos on Monday, looking for suspects in last week's railway network bombings and pursuing several leads.
Hundreds of people, mostly minority Muslims, have been questioned and dozens detained since the July 11 blasts on crowded commuter trains and platforms that killed 181 people and wounded hundreds.
But no formal arrests have been made so far in the incident that has set back a budding rapprochement between nuclear-armed rivals India and Islamic neighbour Pakistan.
On Sunday, central and state government officials said investigations were making good progress, but on Monday a senior officer involved in the probe was more cautious.
"There are leads. Some are still being pursued; some have yielded no results," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"The raids will continue. Muslim-dominated areas are under our scanner."
Police in Mumbai believe Indian Muslims could have carried out the bombings, possibly members or former members of the Students' Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), banned in 2001 for allegedly trying to stir up religious unrest over the U.S.-led war on terror.
But officials suspect the attacks may have been organised by the Pakistan-based Islamist militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba or even by members of Pakistan's military spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
An angry New Delhi has put off peace talks with Islamabad, saying Pakistan was not doing enough to stop the activities of anti-India militants on its soil. Islamabad has denied any connection with the bombings.
Media reports said two men, of Pakistani or Kashmiri origin, had been arrested in Nepal and handed over to Indian authorities. But Nepali and Indian police denied the reports. "We think someone beyond the borders could have been involved," K.P. Raghusvanshi, Mumbai's anti-terrorism squad chief, told reporters.
"A lot of people are within the scope of investigation. But local participation is bound to be there when such a big thing happens."
Six days after the string blasts, police confirmed that a concoction of RDX, a powerful plastic explosive, ammonium nitrate and fuel oil had been used to cause the explosions.
MORE ATTACKS?
President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam visits Mumbai on Monday to meet those wounded in the seven rail explosions.
Lashkar has long operated in troubled Indian-ruled Kashmir, but is believed to have expanded its area of operations. The group has denied any role in the blasts.
Though no breakthrough has been announced or anybody named, Indian media published photographs of two people they said were among the leading suspects and who had fled the country.
Police said they were also scanning people who had returned from the Persian Gulf region in the recent past.
"Investigations proceed in many directions. We can't give you details of those now," Mumbai police chief A.N. Roy said.
On Sunday, officials had said they expected a breakthrough in investigations within a week.
Police said they were also probing an e-mail sent to an Indian TV channel from a group calling itself "Laskhar-e-Qahhar", claiming it was behind the attacks. The group said it was "associated" with al Qaeda.
In the e-mail, it said the attacks were reprisals for Indian rule in Kashmir and the 2002 riots in <span style='color:red'>Gujarat where over 2,500 people were killed, mostly Muslims, human rights groups say.</span>
<i>The count from 1000 has increased to 2500 just like that.</i>
But as police rounded up Muslims, the chief cleric of India's biggest mosque in New Delhi, Ahmed Bukhari, said the authorities were not being impartial.
<span style='color:red'>
"In the wake of the Mumbai blasts, innocent Muslims are being harassed," he said in his speech to the congregation after prayers on Monday evening.
"The needle of suspicion is falling on innocent Muslims and police are taking them away without any proof. The real culprits are going scot-free. I can say with conviction no Muslim can be behind the Mumbai blasts."</span>
(Additional reporting by Nigam Prusty in NEW DELHI)
Mon Jul 17, 2006 11:04 PM IST15
Printer Friendly
Reuters
By Krittivas Mukherjee
MUMBAI (Reuters) - Police officers scoured Mumbai's slums and largely Muslim ghettos on Monday, looking for suspects in last week's railway network bombings and pursuing several leads.
Hundreds of people, mostly minority Muslims, have been questioned and dozens detained since the July 11 blasts on crowded commuter trains and platforms that killed 181 people and wounded hundreds.
But no formal arrests have been made so far in the incident that has set back a budding rapprochement between nuclear-armed rivals India and Islamic neighbour Pakistan.
On Sunday, central and state government officials said investigations were making good progress, but on Monday a senior officer involved in the probe was more cautious.
"There are leads. Some are still being pursued; some have yielded no results," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"The raids will continue. Muslim-dominated areas are under our scanner."
Police in Mumbai believe Indian Muslims could have carried out the bombings, possibly members or former members of the Students' Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), banned in 2001 for allegedly trying to stir up religious unrest over the U.S.-led war on terror.
But officials suspect the attacks may have been organised by the Pakistan-based Islamist militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba or even by members of Pakistan's military spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
An angry New Delhi has put off peace talks with Islamabad, saying Pakistan was not doing enough to stop the activities of anti-India militants on its soil. Islamabad has denied any connection with the bombings.
Media reports said two men, of Pakistani or Kashmiri origin, had been arrested in Nepal and handed over to Indian authorities. But Nepali and Indian police denied the reports. "We think someone beyond the borders could have been involved," K.P. Raghusvanshi, Mumbai's anti-terrorism squad chief, told reporters.
"A lot of people are within the scope of investigation. But local participation is bound to be there when such a big thing happens."
Six days after the string blasts, police confirmed that a concoction of RDX, a powerful plastic explosive, ammonium nitrate and fuel oil had been used to cause the explosions.
MORE ATTACKS?
President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam visits Mumbai on Monday to meet those wounded in the seven rail explosions.
Lashkar has long operated in troubled Indian-ruled Kashmir, but is believed to have expanded its area of operations. The group has denied any role in the blasts.
Though no breakthrough has been announced or anybody named, Indian media published photographs of two people they said were among the leading suspects and who had fled the country.
Police said they were also scanning people who had returned from the Persian Gulf region in the recent past.
"Investigations proceed in many directions. We can't give you details of those now," Mumbai police chief A.N. Roy said.
On Sunday, officials had said they expected a breakthrough in investigations within a week.
Police said they were also probing an e-mail sent to an Indian TV channel from a group calling itself "Laskhar-e-Qahhar", claiming it was behind the attacks. The group said it was "associated" with al Qaeda.
In the e-mail, it said the attacks were reprisals for Indian rule in Kashmir and the 2002 riots in <span style='color:red'>Gujarat where over 2,500 people were killed, mostly Muslims, human rights groups say.</span>
<i>The count from 1000 has increased to 2500 just like that.</i>
But as police rounded up Muslims, the chief cleric of India's biggest mosque in New Delhi, Ahmed Bukhari, said the authorities were not being impartial.
<span style='color:red'>
"In the wake of the Mumbai blasts, innocent Muslims are being harassed," he said in his speech to the congregation after prayers on Monday evening.
"The needle of suspicion is falling on innocent Muslims and police are taking them away without any proof. The real culprits are going scot-free. I can say with conviction no Muslim can be behind the Mumbai blasts."</span>
(Additional reporting by Nigam Prusty in NEW DELHI)