Pulwama (J&K) : A top Pakistani terrorist of Lashker-e-Toiba involved in November 23 blasts in various courts across Uttar Pradesh was killed on Thursday along with his associate in a gunfight with the police in Pulwama district.
<b>Self-styled district commander Abdul Rahman alias Rehman Bhai, a Pakistani, and a local terrorist Moin Ahmed Mir were killed at Nikloora-Aglar village, Director General of Jammu and Kashmir Police Kuldeep Khoda told reporters here.
Police launched a search operation in the village following a tip off. During the searches, the terrorists fired from the house of one Haji Mohd Ismail Mantoo on the security men. In the fight, the two LET terrorists were killed, he said.</b>
Khoda said Rehman was involved in the November 23 blasts in Varanasi, Faizabad and Lucknow courts in which 13 people, including four lawyers, were killed.
Investigations also revealed that Rehman was closely associated with LeT cadres not only in the valley but outside the state.
<b>Rehmanâs involvement has been found in several other blasts. He and associate Abu Atif were instrumental not only in supplying in arms and ammunition to the militants in UP but also helped in spreading the network there.</b><!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Feb 16 : In Assam, security has been put on red alert following intelligence reports that ULFA militants may target leaders of a particular political party and Hindi-speaking people.
The banned outfit's plan came to light after arrest of a number of top cadres in different parts of the State. All Police Stations had been asked to step up vigil in vulnerable areas.
Meanwhile, four ULFA militants were gunned down by a joint team of Army and Police during encounters at Naphuk-Naharani gaon under Sonari Police Station in Sibsagar district this morning.
AIR Guwahati Correspondent reports that the Unified Command structure, operating in the State has finalized strategies for counter-insurgency operations against the anti-talk Garlosa Faction of Dima Halam Daogah (DHD) in North Cachar Hills district.
The Tezpur- based G-O-C of Four Corps of the Army, Lieutenant General B.S.Jaswal said certain focus areas have been identified and plans have been made to act in the hill district.
Our Correspondent says that increased subversive activities by DHD militants have jeopardized law and order besides implementation of important national projects like the East-West Corridor and conversion of rail tracks to broad gauge in North Cachar.
Power production in North Eastern Electric Power Corporation, NEEPCO's two major units-Kopilee and Khandong stopped due to militants' threat. All out-going power transmission lines from both the hydel projects are being disconnected.
The Union Cabinet Secretary K.M.Chandrasekhar, who chaired a security review meeting at Dispur yesterday, asked the Government to do whatever it takes to ensure that militants do not hold these projects to ransom.
Kohima (Nagaland), Feb.16 (ANI): National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan arrived here today from Dimapur to review the security scenario in the north east region.
Narayanan is scheduled to meet Nagaland Governor K.Sankaranarayan, his two advisers, senior civil and police officials, and 3 Corps army commanders during his two-day visit to the state.
This afternoon, he presided over a meeting of senior officials at the police headquarters.
With Nagaland going to the polls on March 5, Narayanan's visit to the state assumes significance, given that rebel militant outfits still continue to hold sway over the most remote parts.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Hyderabad, Feb. 16: The government allocated Rs 60 crore to Octopus, the new anti-terror force. Octopus was created after the Mecca Masjid blast and twin explosions in the city to counter the terrorist activities.
It will spend a major portion for buying sophisticated spying equipment, intelligence collection and forming an agency on the line of Greyhounds, the anti-Maoist force.
The police department got Rs 104 crore. The AP Police Academy, which lost land to the Outer Ring Road Project, was allocated Rs 13 crore.
<b>States don't have enough cops, firepower to fight Maoists </b>
Rakesh K Singh | New Delhi
Maoists may have waged a bloody war against the nation along the Red Corridor, but apart from the Centre's apathy, the absence of basic police infrastructure in the States is one of the main reasons behind failure in checking the growth of the Left-wing extremism.
Though the police remain the prime target, as was seen in Nayagarh in Orissa and other cases, yet they do not have enough firepower and manpower to counter the Maoist threat.
According to a Union Home Ministry report, thousands of posts are lying vacant in State police forces. These include 30,000 constables, over 7,000 sub-inspectors and about 600 Deputy Superintendents (DySPs) in Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh.
The worst affected Chhattisgarh has a vacancy of 41.90 per cent of DySPs, 49.85 per cent of sub-inspectors and 19.95 per cent for the rank of constables. Chhattisgarh has 147 DySPs against sanctioned 253 posts, 836 sub-inspectors against 1,667 posts sanctioned for the job and 21,492 constables against required 26,848 positions.
Jharkhand, the second worst affected State, has a vacancy of 33.60 per cent in the rank of DySPs, 22.09 per cent for the post of sub inspectors and 16.93 per cent slots of constables. The State has vacancies for 85 DySPs. It has just 168 officers against a sanctioned strength of 253 posts. The State has 669 vacant posts of sub-inspectors with just 2,360 officials against sanctioned 3,029 slots and unfilled 6,295 rank of constables with 30,883 actual strength in contrast to authorised 37,178 jawans.
Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand accounted for 68 per cent of the violence last year, according to the Union Home Ministry figures. Out of the 214 security personnel killed in Maoist violence till November last year, 181 were killed in action in Chhattisgarh alone.
Chhattisgarh accounted for 39 per cent of total Maoist violence in the country in 2007. Seventy per cent of the ultra-Left violence in the State were reported from Dantewada and Bijapur.
Chhattisgarh has a police-population ratio of 1: 746 against the national average of 1: 699 and in contrast to the UN-recommended ratio of 1: 450. Jharkhand has relatively better police to population ratio of 1: 611 even as the same remains way below the figure recommended by the UN.
Bihar has the worst police-population ratio with one policeman for every 1,262 persons followed by West Bengal with a ratio of 1: 1,037, Orissa with 1: 987 and Andhra Pradesh with 1: 879.
Over 1,350 incidents of Maoist violence was reported from Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Orissa and West Bengal out of which 1,126 incidents were reported from Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Orissa.
The sanctioned strength of the police forces, according to experts, is meant for peacetime policing and requires additional numbers as well specialised training for countering insurgency. Similar vacancies and poor police-population ratio exists in other affected States. With 34 Maoist outfits currently active across the country, there are only 12, 702 police stations, just one police station for every 86,000 citizens.
The Centre has asked the States to improve police-population ratio and increase the number of police stations in a time-bound manner besides imparting commando and jungle warfare training to the police personnel and strengthening of the intelligence gathering mechanisms. This apart, the Centre has also advised the Maoist-affected States for an institutionalised and coordinated attacks against the ultras.
On the contrary, the strength of the Central Reserve Police Force, the para-military force engaged in anti-Maoist operations across the country besides responsibilities in North-East States and Jammu & Kashmir has increased from 5,68,892 in 1997 to 7,51,616 in 2007.
New Delhi, Feb 24: To give paramilitary forces a decisive edge in anti-Naxal operations, special units of CRPF will soon be equipped with higher fire power, Anti-Material Rifles (AMR).
These sophisticated weapons, which are ideal for busting caves and concrete hideouts, have so far only been provided to the army. The AMRs are designed for damage and penetration.
Large calibre AMRs can also be used for remote explosive ordinance disposal. Special disrupter rounds filled with water, aerogel or foam could be developed for this role and these are the requirements the para-military forces are looking at.
"We have submitted these indigenous made rifles to the paramilitary forces for evaluation," Sadpita Ghosh, Chairman Ordnance Factories Board (OFB), an umbrella grouping of 39 Ordnance factories spread across the country, said.
He indicated that the initial offer could be up to 2,000 of these specialised rifles.
Senior CRPF officers said these weapons could also be used by forces in Jammu and Kashmir. CRPF has taken over as urban anti militancy force from BSF in the state recently.
These weapons could be real handy to forces operating against Naxals, as they use caves, rocky shelters and concrete hideouts in the jungles in Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh and parts of Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, CRPF officers said.
Army imported about 1,200 of these anti-material guns, but the induction was abruptly stopped halfway after the South African company Denel, which supplied these rifles, was blacklisted, following reports of commissions having been paid in the deal.
Ghosh said since the demand for the weapon was "considerable", the government had given its nod to produce an indigenous version of the weapon.
"We have successfully developed the rifles and are offering them to para-military as well as the army," he said.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Naxals murderers and pakisatani jehadis will not able to hide anymore in their rat holes. <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad.gif' /><!--endemo--> Bangalore techie Yahya provided technical support to terrorists, says police
24 Feb, 2008, 1322 hrs IST, PTI http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Politi...how/2809531.cms
BANGALORE: An ongoing probe by the Corps of Detectives (COD) into terror networks in parts of Karnataka has revealed that a techie arrested here recently had been providing technical support to extremists, police said.
Mohammad Yahya Kammakutty, who hails from Kozhikode in Kerala and was arrested on February 21, was actively involved with a fundamentalist outfit in his home state, they said.
An electrical engineering degree holder and former employee with GE, Yahya, joined the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) after he shifted to Bangalore eight years ago, the investigators found.
Yahya was transferring funds, weapons and other support to terrorists across the country, but sources from where he used to get them remained to be ascertained, police said.
The arrest of terror suspects like Yahya, Riyazuddin Naser, Asadullah Abubakkar and Mohammed Asif has led the police to believe that parts of Karnataka, including Bangalore, were home to "sleeper cells" run by terror groups.
Yahya had even provided shelter to some terrorists who were guided to him to receive money and weapons, police said.
He was also arranging identity cards, ration cards and other documents to terrorists, investigations have revealed, police said.
However, police were yet to get evidence whether Yahya had plans to undertake terror activities in the state, including in Bangalore.
Srinagar: It's official. There are only around 450 terrorists operating in Kashmir, according to the state police.
Last year the police, paramilitary and army eliminated more than 460 terrorists and that success has carried over to 2008, with dozens of terrorists being killed in gun-battles across Kashmir in the last two months.
Says DGP, Kuldeep Khuda, "Recently, it was said that there are only 450 terrorists active in Kashmir. Do you think so? We can't count them on fingers but yes their presence is this much. Does it include the listed and non-listed terrorists? Absolutely.''
Police say the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, once a formidable outfit with thousands of followers, has been dented badly.
"We have killed the top leadership of the outfit including its financial chief and a number of divisional and district commanders. Their number is now between 130-160 and they are losing cadres," says IGP, Kashmir, S M Sahia.
<b>Police attribute the successes to the renewed intelligence grid and more information from local people.</b> Nearly nine people were killed in terrorist violence everyday in the 90s but that figure has now come to down to two.
Terrorist outfits, however, insist that they are still very much in business, and say dwindling numbers won't affect their morale.
It took police and security forces more than 17 years of relentless battle to bring down the number of terrorists from thousands to a few hundred.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<b>Great work down by the Indian security forces in protecting the people and the nation by eliminating the terrorists.
<i>Maloy Krishna Dhar started life off as a junior reporter for Amrita Bazaar Patrika in Calcutta and a part-time lecturer. He joined the Indian Police Service in 1964 and was permanently seconded to the Intelligence Bureau.
During his long stint in the Bureau, Dhar saw action in almost all Northeastern states, Sikkim, Punjab and Kashmir. He also handled delicate internal political and several counterintelligence assignments. After retiring in 1996 as joint director, he took to freelance journalism and writing books. Titles credited to him are Open Secrets-India's Intelligence Unveiled, Fulcrum of Evil â ISI, CIA, al-Qaeda Nexus, and Mission to Pakistan. Maloy is considered a top security analyst and a social scientist who tries to portray Indian society through his writings. </i>
Soon after the Mecca Masjid bomb blast (May 2007) and twin blasts in Hyderabad (August 25), several TV and print media friends grilled me: why should there be Jihadist attacks in the South?
Kashmir and parts of North and West India have been in the hairpin of jihadist trigger finger, but the South was a Shanthi Nilayam. Their questions took on a sharper tinge after the reported detection of jihadist training camps in Hubli and Dharwar forests, and the training undergone by some of the jihadists in Pakistan.
India, and this means entire India- North, South, East and West -- has always been a battleground. Nestled in the peninsula, the southern part of the country could not escape the advances of Islam. Those aeons old Hindu-Muslim battles need not be recounted.
Some believers in perpetual jihad (external) against Dar-ul Harb (a land ruled by infidels that might, through war, become the "Abode of Islam," or Dar-ul-Islam) still exist in India. These minuscule fundamentalists are exploited by the jihadi military regimes in Pakistan and Bangladesh through their tanzeems and intelligence agencies- the ISI and the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence.
The Southern Peninsula has been the traditional home of several Islamist groups, who continue to believe in the concept of Dar-ul-Harb.
Decades ago, in 1921, when India was basking in the Hindu-Muslim bonhomie of the Khilafat movement, the Moplas of Kerala indulged in a barbaric communal carnage under the leadership of Mohammad Haji, who had declared the end of British raj and proclaimed himself a Khalifa.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Annie Besant had commented on that sordid development, They (Moplas) murdered and plundered abundantly, and killed or drove away all Hindus who would not apostatise. Somewhere about a lakh (100,000) of people were driven from their homes with nothing but their clothes they had on, stripped of everything...Malabar has taught us what Islamic rule still means, and we do not want to see another specimen of the Khilafat Raj in India. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
(The Future Of Indian Politics: A Contribution To The Understanding Of Present-Day Problems P252. )
Volumes have been written on this sordid chapter which foreshadowed the holocausts in Jinnahâs Direct Action killings in Kolkata and the Noakahli genocide. Larger genocides were committed on the eve of escape of the British from India and the truncated Transfer of Power; now pedalled as independence.
The Southern Peninsula has a been treated as a Dar-ul-Harb or land of war, inhabited by the kafir, just like other parts of India were during the Muslim forays, after British occupation and during the process of Partition on the basis of two religion and two nation theory.
It was much later, on December 8-11, 1989, a debate was initiated in the Second Fiqh Seminar in Delhi for determining the status of India according to the Shariah. Whether India is Dar-ul-harb or not; whether the republic of India, if treated as Dar-ul-kufr, (non-Muslim land) falls in the category of those countries in which properties do not bear the character of protected property (Amwal-e-masoom), these and other related issues came under consideration at the Seminar from various angles.
The Seminar called upon the Islamic Fiqh Academy to set up a committee consisting of Ulama and Jurists, and those well versed in contemporary political science, constitutional law and laws relating to International relations, to decide the status of India. Till now the debate has not been settled. It is presumed India continues to be a Dar-ul-Harb, a country which is an active battleground.
The best interpretation of Dar-ul-Harb can be found in Ghiyasu 'l-Lughat dictionary, Qumas and Fatawa Alamgiri, vol. ii. Pp. 854 etc. We need not enter into a debate here.
While Kashmir and several other parts of India have been under the hairpin triggers of the jihadis from Pakistan, Bangladesh and other Salafi, Wahhabi and Deobandi fanatics, the southern part of the country often broke the veil of stoic placidity with bomb blasts and attacks at regular intervals. Several explosions and attacks were made at Coimbatore (1998), Indian Institute of Science and the RSS office in Tamil Nadu (1993). Starting from February 26, 2001 intermittent blasts have taken place on November 21, 2002; October 28, 2004, November 4, 2004, October 12, 2005, May 7, 2006, May 18, 2007 and August 25, 2007 in Andhra Pradesh.
The Southern Peninsula is described by the Islamic revivalists as a part of Hyderistan; a Muslim land with Hyderabad as nucleus. Maulana Kifayet Ali floated this theory in early thirties in his Silsila-I-Jamait-I-Vahdat Umam Islam. (Quoted by S. A. Latif in The cultural Future of India, Pp 1-18. Inquisitive readers may refer to my book: Fulcrum of Evil-ISI, CIA Al Qaeda Nexus).
Besides the Jamait-e-Islami, Jamait al Salafiya, Tablighi Jammat, Ahl-e-Hadith and SIMI, several regional militant organisations had sprouted in the States of Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. The prominent militant organisations are:
<b>Muslim Defence Force:</b> formed in Saudi Arabia by Abu Hamza of Hyderabad, it has units in Andhra, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Intelligence reports link this organisation with Lashkar-e-Toiba and Harkat-ul-Jihad- al Islami.
<b>Indian Muslim Mohammedia Mujahideen:</b> Formed by Azam Ghori. The organisation has several units in Andhra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
<b>Al Ummah:</b> Formed by S A Basha, is the most active jihadist force is active in Tamil Nadu, Andhra, Kerala, Karnataka. It has connectivity with the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence of Bangladesh (DGFI) and the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), Lashkar-e-Toiba, HuJI, Jaish-e-Mohammad and SIMI.
<b>Deendar Anjuman: </b>Formed by Hazrat Maulana Sayed Siddique Kibla. The Andhra based organisation had earned notoriety with the suspected participation of Mohammad Mohiuddin in serial bombings. It has expanded activities in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The Government of India banned the Deendar Anjuman in April 2001, after it was linked to the serial blasts at places of worship, including churches, a temple and a mosque, in Andhra, Karnataka and Goa. The Andhra Pradesh government too banned the organisation and sealed its offices at Hyderabad, Vijayawada and other places. About 40 Deendar activists were involved in criminal cases in Andhra Pradesh.
Kerala and Tamil Nadu also boast of several fundamentalist and pro-jihadist organisations, which are engaged in acts of subversive and communal violence. Most important outfits are: Islamic Service Society, National Development Front, Muslim National Development Front, Peopleâs Democratic Party, All India Jihad Committee, and Tamil Muslim Munnetra Kazagham and the outfit floated by Palani Baba. The Manitha Neethi Paasarai (MNP), another militant outfit surfaced after Al Umma was banned for its execution of Coimbatore serial blasts. The MNP is involved in conversion of low-caste Hindus and training them in Jihadist activities. It is active in Theni and Coimbatore districts, which are close to Kerala borders. Its linkages with the NDF of Kerala have been substantiated.
The Popular Front of India (PFI), a coordinated efforts between three organizations â Karnataka For Dignity (KFD), Karnataka, Manitha Neethi Pasarai (MNP), Tamil Nadu, and National Development Front (NDF), Kerala was launched on February 16 last year in Bangalore. A majority of the leaders of this new front belong to the banned SIMI. The decision to launch Popular Front of India (PFI) was taken at a conference of KFD, MNP & NDF held on 22nd November 2006 at Calicut. The leaders of PFI include, K.M.Shareef, President of KFD, Gulam Muhammed, leader of MNP and Abdur Rahman Baqari of NDF had decided to confine their activities to South India. The PFI was suspected of involvement in communal violence in Mangalore and several places in Kerala. It is the first umbrella organisation of the SIMI related Wahhabi and Salafi Islamists in Southern India. In the coming years, it might replicate the roles of the Pakistani-brand militarised Deobandism in the peninsular states.
Several dissertations are required to analyse and explain the working mechanism of these pro-jihadist and separatist organisations in the South.
In the north, west and east, the main militant bodies are the SIMI, Ahl-e-Hadith, units of HuJI, and active modules of Lashkar-e-Toiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (Sunni), Jundullah, Harkat-ul-Mujahideen and Al Badr. Assam and Manipur have over a dozen indigenous militant bodies patronised by the ISI and the DGFI. The Southern Peninsula has always looked towards the north, like they did during initial Muslim invasions, for discovering the footprints of HuJI, Lashkar, SIMI and other Pakistan related outfits. Over three-dozen youths from the south had undergone training in Pakistan and Bangladesh. The respective state intelligence units have not paid adequate attention to the home-grown militant bodies, which have been infiltrated by the ISI and the DGFI (through Bangladeshi infiltrators in the mega cities). They have overlooked ISI infiltration from Sri Lanka and Maldives and from the Middle East, through expatriate workers. Along with dollars and dinars, they bring in ideological baggage and brainwashed Islamism and jihadist ideology.
It is time for the state governments (irrespective of prism or other ism) and intelligence units to evaluate the extant jihadist groups, which aim at establishing âliberatedâ pockets and link up with the jihadists in Gujarat, Maharashtra and other parts of India beyond the Vindhyas.
<b>This is not an alarmistâs war cry. It is high time for the South to know the enemies within. </b>
<i>The author is a former Joint Director, IB, with vast experience in handling Pakistani and Bangladeshi Jihadi thrust in India. He can be reached at maloy_d@hotmail.com. </i>
<i>The views expressed in the article are of the authorâs and not that of Sify.com.</i>
The Union Government has not received any reports from any State Government for issuing Photo Identity Cards mandatory for citizens of neighbouring countries residing in these States. But the Government proposes to issue Multi-purpose National Identity (smart) Card (MNIC) to the citizens in the country.
The project envisages providing unique National Identity Number (NIN) to each person in the National Population Register (NPR). However, keeping in view the complexities involved both in the processes and technology, a pilot project has been under implementation on an experimental basis covering a population of 30.95 lakhs in the selected areas in 12 States and 1 Union Territory; namely Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Pudducherry. Under the pilot project, identity (smart) cards are being issued to the citizens of age 18 years and above.
The production and distribution of identity cards has been undertaken through Central Public Sector Undertaking (CPSUs). This was to be completed by July, 2007. But due to time taken in sourcing or raw materials and stabilization of rejects during personalization, this has taken time and <b>will be completed by March, 2008.</b> An amount of Rs. 44.36 crores has been sanctioned for the pilot project.
<b>It is proposed to decide on the implementation of the scheme in the entire country in the light of the experiences gained and lessons learnt from the pilot project.</b>
This information was given by Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs Shri Manikrao H. Gavit in reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Some of the good work initiated by the NDA is being followed up by the UPA. This will prevent illegal immigration to India and the inflitarion of terrorists.
A Notification amending the Foreigners Order, 1948 for implementing Advance Passenger Information System (APIS) from 1st April, 2008 has been published in the Gazette of India on 24.01.2008.
As per this Notification, the country representative/station manager of an airline landing in India shall provide information about the passengers on board and crew in electronic form, within fifteen minutes of taking off of the aircraft from the port of embarkation outside India, to the immigration authority at the port(s) of landing in India.
The details of the passengers viz. name, gender, date of birth, nationality, passport details etc. are to be provided to the immigration authorities. <b>APIS will facilitate expeditious immigration clearance coupled with enhanced security screening of the passengers.</b>
This information was given by Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs, Shri Sriprakash Jaiswal in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Another step in the right direction for increased airline security and faster immigration clearance.
BEHRAMPORE: In a joint operation on Tuesday, Military Intelligence Group (MIG) and CID arrested seven persons - suspected to have terror links - from Behrampore.
Of them, six hail from Kashmir and one is from Beldanga in Murshidabad. Fake notes of Rs 40,000 were seized from them. Intelligence sources believe they have connections with extremist groups in the Valley.
MIG officials said the fake notes had been sourced from Bangladesh and were being dispatched to Kashmir for circulation in villages in the Valley. It was suspected that the gang had been engaged in smuggling in fake currency for quite some time. The aim was to destabilize Kashmirâs economy.
<b>While it is suspected that the porous Bangladesh border was being used by jihadi groups to send militants to Kashmir, now it has been revealed that it was also being used for dispatching fake currency notes to J&K.</b>
On Monday, four men - identified as Hafizul Rahaman Sheikh (37) from Beldanga and Manjur Ahmed (31), Ferooz Ahmed Lone (28) and Mohammad Yousuf (33) from Kashmir - checked in at Mayur hotel around 6 pm,â said an MIG source. The men had put up at room number 305.
But unknown to them and the hotel staff, a team from MIG and CID also put up at room number 306 of the same hotel. Around 10 am on Tuesday, when the four were planning to check out, the MIG-CID team caught them red-handed with fake notes worth Rs 40,000.
âThe four said they had come from Siliguri on a business tour,â said a source from Mayur hotel. They apparently had plans to reach Kolkata on Tuesday afternoon. But the hotel staff found their activities dubious.
<b>Jayanta Haldar, a managing partner of the hotel, said: âWe suspected they might have connections with extremists. So, we informed Behrampore police station today morning. But we had no idea that MIG and CID were already here, following them. By the time police reached our hotel, MIG had already nabbed them.â</b> {Great Work <!--emo&:beer--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cheers.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='cheers.gif' /><!--endemo--> }
âThree associates of those arrested tried to flee after getting wind of the raid. The three - Abdul Najeed Wani (26), G H Hasan Dey (37) and Sayad Mudasi Bakrad (27) - had put up at Royal Hotel just beside Mayur. But they could only go as far as the Behrampore bus stand where they were nabbed,â said an MIG source. They had given an Old Delhi address at the hotel.
MIG officers said they had been following the Kashmiri men right from Delhi since last week. The Kashmiri men reportedly belonged to Hyderpur village of Badgaon district. They will be produced in court on Wednesday.
Srinagar - 6 Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists were arrested by security forces from Pattan area of Baramulla district, official sources said today. The terrorists were arrested from different parts of Pattan area last night.
They have been identified as Gulzar Ahmed Ganai, Gulzar Ahmed Lone, Mohd Altaf, Altaf Rashid, Gulam Muhi-deen Wani and Bilal Ahmed Bhat. Huge quantity of arms and ammunitions were recovered from the arrested terrorists.
The recoveries include one ak rifle, six magazines, 2010 ak rounds, one ubgl, one ubgl grenade, two pistols, three pistol magazines, six IED circuits and one wireless set.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Jehadis feeling the heat. <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Mumbai, Mar 12 (ANI): The Maharashtra's Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) gunned down two terrorists and recovered explosives from their possession in Maharashtra's Thane district late on Tuesday evening.
"The terrorists were gunned down on the Kashimeera-Bhayandar Road," a senior ATS offical said.
Two kilogram of RDX, fake currency notes in lakhs and two firearms were seized, he added.
The two were identified as Mohammed Ali and Babu and are citizens of Bangladesh.
Mumbai, Mar 12 (PTI) The two suspected terrorists gunned down in an encounter in neighbouring Thane district could be "couriers" handing over a consignment of fake currency and RDX explosives to a local contact, a top ATS official said today. "It seems they have some local contacts and we will work on information from various sources to conduct raids on suspected hideouts," Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) chief Hemant Karkare told reporters.
The two were gunned down by ATS last evening. <b>A senior police officer said information networks were strengthened following an input around 15-20 days ago that three Bangladeshis had slipped into the country and could possibly carry out subversive acts at the National Stock Exchange building and some nuclear installations in the city.</b>
According to Karkare, the Pune unit of the ATS received a specific tip-off that a Bangaldeshi will be coming to hand over a RDX consignment to a contact in the Kashimira area in the neighbouring Thane district after which the trap was laid. Police asked them to surrender but they fired at the officers and were killed in retaliatory fire yesterday.
<b>A Bangladeshi passport was recovered from one of them identifying him as Mohammed Ali while the second was identified as Babu, also suspected to be a Bangladeshi. Two kg explosive suspected to be RDX, fake currency with the face value of over Rs 10 lakh and two factory-made firearms were recovered from the duo.</b>
"The recovery of fake currency is surprising and was by chance," Karkare said. He, however, said it is difficult to ascertain the group to which the duo belonged but the ATS suspects they could be from HuJI as they hail from Bangladesh.
Silchar, Mar 13 (UNI) Assam Rifles personnel apprehended three Manipur-based Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) militants from Jhoragool village in Cachar district of Assam yesterday.
AR sources today said acting on a tip-off the jawans cordoned off a house at Jhoragool village under Sonai circle of Cachar district and managed to nab the three along with a number of weapons and explosive devices.
The three have been identified as PLAâs self-styled captain M Khomdam Singh alias Surjit(40), Sergeant Major Tomba Singh alias Ibanga(37) and Chonthong Khomba Singh(44).
Khomdam and Tomba are residents of West Imphal and Thoubal districts of Manipur respectively, while the third belongs to Cachar district of Assam.
Security forces have recovered one 9 mm pistol, one magazine, 11 live bullets, 200 grams of explosive, two detonators and one Nokia mobile handset.
Officials said the arrested were handed over to Sonai police station today after grilling them for 24 hours.
<b>Shillong, March 13: For the first time, the Border Security Force (BSF) has handed over a list of 141 camps of Indian militants with their exact locations inside Bangladesh, 116 militants and 198 sympathisers to its Bangladesh counterpart BDR.
The list was handed over after a three-day meeting between the two forces, which ended on Thursday.</b>
After the meeting, BSF Inspector-General (Assam-Meghalaya, Cachar and Manipur Frontier) P K Mishra told reporters, âBDR was taken aback when we pointed out specific names, locations of militants and insurgent camps in Bangladesh and could not contradict our claims.â
The BSF claims have been made on the basis of information provided by surrendered chairman of the Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) Julius Dorphang â who had taken refuge inside Bangladesh â and seven NSCN (I-M) cadres.
âWe have sought an outright assurance from BDR to trace these militants and launch a crackdown on the camps,â Mishra said.
<b>Mishra said the Bangladesh Army raid on September 13, 2007, in Balaghat that led to the arrest of an Assamese man and seizure of 32,000 rounds of ammunitions and a few kilogrammes of RDX was an instance of Indian militants using Bangladesh to smuggle arms and ammunitions into India.
âThough BDR admitted to the arrest, they failed to brief us on follow-up action,â he added.</b><!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
GUWAHATI, MARCH 13: While the Congress-led regimes in Assam and at the Centre continued to maintain that infiltration from Bangladesh was not a big problem, its <b>official data, laid on the floor of the state Assembly on Wednesday, revealed that over 42,000 persons have been identified as âillegal migrantsâ in the state between 1985 and 2007.</b>
<b>However, what is more alarming is the official admittance that of the 42,896 illegal migrants identified during those 22 years, the Government could deport only 2,221 of them to where they had come from. The rest of themâ40,675 to be preciseâhave gone unnoticed.
âAltogether 42,896 persons have been identified as Bangladeshi infiltrators in the state since the signing of the Assam Accord in 1985 and till December 31, 2007,â Bhumidhar Barman, Minister for Implementation of Assam Accord said in the Assembly. He was replying to a question by Ramendra Narayan Kalita of the Asom Gana Parishad.
He said while 12,846 were identified and confirmed as Bangladeshi infiltrators by the tribunals established under the Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunals) Act â an Act that was struck down in 2005, the remaining 30,050 were identified under provisions of the Foreigners Act of 1946.
âIt has been possible, however, to actually deport only 2,221 of them,â the minister said, without citing any reasons thereof. While 1,547 of them were deported by serving expulsion orders on them, 667 were expelled by serving âQuit Indiaâ notices, Barman said.</b>
The Government, through replies in the Assembly in the past, had always maintained that most of the persons identified as âinfiltratorsâ actually disappeared from the places where they were during identification and mingled with the local population, thus making it impossible for the police to locate them.
Meanwhile, Barman on Wednesday also informed the Assembly that the deadline for updating the National Register of Citizens (NRC), which is intended at identifying Bangladeshi infiltrators in Assam, has been postponed till December, 2009.
The minister said while the state Government had completed the preliminary works for updating the NRC of 1951, but was yet to send its views to the Registrar General of India on the modalities for accomplishing the task.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Kolkata: West Bengal police have been in hot pursuit of some positive leads on a burgeoning fake currency racket operating out of Bangladesh for channelling funds to terrorist groups like Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) to carry out subversive activities across India.
The latest arrest of four men including three Kashmiris, charged with possessing fake currencies, has blown the lid out of the racket, with authorities <b>obtaining some vital clues of an on-going international counterfeit currency racket operating out of Bangladesh.</b>
This is being largely sponsored by the Pakistan-based terrorist modules to fund strikes across the Indian soil, sources told Deccan Herald here on Sunday.
âWe have evidence to believe that these fake currencies are being dumped into India from Bangladesh through agents. The Kashmiris came here to collect the counterfeit currency,â a senior police official revealed.
âSeveral Pakistan-based terrorist modules, namely Lashkar-e-Toiba, use these bogus currencies to fund their subversive activities in Kashmir and other parts of India. Police have been on the trail of some agents to unearth details of the cross-country network.â
Four including three Kashmiri linkmen, were arrested early this month from Berhampur in Murshidabad district with counterfeit notes worth several lakhs. After prolonged interrogation, police learnt that a number of local youths has been involved in this fake currency racket in Murshidabad district.
Hafizul Rahman, a local youth of Beldanga area in Murshidabad, and three outsiders â Mansur Ahmed, Mohammad Yusuf and Firoz Ahmed â were arrested and were produced before a local court which remanded them in police custody.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Now Bangladeshis are turning to printing fake currency after their islamic economy failed spectacuarly.
Srinagar: A self-styled battalion commander of the Hizb-ul Mujahideen was eliminated in an encounter with security forces in Bandipora district of Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday.
The terrorist has been identified as Muneer Ahmed Lali.
Sub-divisional police officer Sumbal Harmeet Singh said following specific information regarding presence of the terrorist at Bazipora Ajas, the police along with Rashtriya Rifles personnel reached the area.
The terrorist then fired indiscriminately at the security personnel who retaliated, triggering an encounter.
The "marked deterioration" in Pakistan's internal situation has serious implications on the overall security and peace of the region, the annual report of the Ministry of Defence has said.
The report says that the assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto, was a "serious setback" for the stability of the region.
The annual report, which was tabled in Parliament on Thursday, goes on to say that with an ongoing proxy war, the "instability in our neighbourhood" could fuel "disturbances for our internal security" as well.
However, the report is silent on China and merely says that a policy of "constructive engagement" is being followed to resolve border issues. Referring to Myanmar as a country of "strategic significance", the report says that India wants to ensure a "peaceful periphery."
"The political reform and national reconciliation process initiated by the Myanmar government should be taken forward expeditiously in a broad based and inclusive manner including Aung San Suu Ki and various ethnic groups," the report says.
On the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, the report says that violence has been brought down considerably but despite assurances, terrorist activities continue to be supported from across the border.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
New Delhi, March 21 - Three prominent sect leaders in Punjab - Ashutosh Maharaj, Gurmit Ram Rahim Singh and Baba Piara Bhaniarewala - are on the hit list of Khalistan terrorist forces that are trying to regroup with the help of overseas funds and the Pakistani intelligence agency, say Indian security officials.
These Sikh militant forces include the Khalistan Commando Force (KCF), the Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), the Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF), and the Bhindranwale Tigers Force of Khalistan.
Wednesday's arrest of two BKI associates in Jalandhar, Punjab, who were allegedly planning to kill Baba Piara Bhaniarewala only underlines the looming threat.
'Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and its terrorist cells are plotting to trigger sectarian violence in Punjab,' a senior intelligence official told IANS on condition of anonymity.
'They are not only providing shelter to them in our neighbouring country but Khalistan outfits like the BKI is training with Pakistan based terror-outfit like Laskher-e-Taiba (LeT).'
Sikh militancy raised its head in Punjab in the 1980s, but security forces comprehensively stamped it out by 1993, forcing many of its leaders to flee the country.
But Khalistan militant groups are now conspiring to eliminate Ashutosh Maharaj of Divya Jyoti Jagaran Sansthan at Noormahal, Baba Gurmit Ram Rahim Singh of Dera Sacha Sauda and Baba Piara Bhaniarewala in Ropar and the heads of other religious sects in Punjab that have a large following.
The BKI has reportedly set up a common office with the LeT in Nankana Sahib in Pakistan.
'The BKI and other such outfits, which consistently receive a substantial amount of overseas funding and support for militant groups, from Khalistani operatives in Germany, US, Britain and Canada, have plotted to murder Ashutosh Maharaj, Baba Ram Rahim and Baba Piara Bhaniarewala to give momentum to their campaigns of a separate state by triggering sectarian violence,' the official added.
Following the intelligence inputs, the Indian high commission in Ottawa has raised concern with the government here over activities relating to Khalistan movement in Canada.
The officials said these extremists were trying to win the support of Punjab youths by targeting the three sect leaders, who have been accused of making people 'deviate from Sikh religion'.
These sects largely sprang up in the aftermath of militancy, and their spiritual heads amassed enormous wealth when they got funds to rebuild gurdwaras.
According to an estimate, there are over 8,000 Deras in Punjab, each headed by a sant or chief. About one third of the state's population patronises these Deras, which are believed to corner 90 percent of religious donations.
Radicals consider the Deras a major threat and challenge to the Sikh religious establishment. They have been organising campaigns against the Dera Sacha Sauda - a group regarded as 'heretic' by orthodox Sikhs.
Its head Baba Ram Rahim has been accused of blasphemy and hurting Sikh sentiments by dressing up as the 10th Sikh Guru Gobind Singh.
Baba Ram Rahim, who enjoys Z-plus security cover, also faces two cases of murder conspiracy and one of alleged rape, and is being tried in a special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Ambala.
Similarly, followers of the Divya Jyoti Jagaran Sansthan at Noormahal have had several serious run-ins with Sikh groups that object to the 'samagams' or meetings held by it all over Punjab, where besides projecting himself as a reincarnation of Sikh gurus, Ashutosh also allegedly criticises mainstream Sikhism.
In 1998, Baba Piara Bhaniarewala allegedly provoked Sikhs by writing his own Granth, which he called the 'Bhavsagar Samundar Granth', and encouraged followers to burn copies of Sikh scriptures.
On Dec 31 last year Delhi Police had arrested four BKI militants and foiled an attempt to kill Baba Piara Bhaniarewala at his sect in Punjab, while their two associates were arrested Wednesday in Jalandhar to execute the plans.
'BKI chief Wadhawa Singh and Jagtar Singh Tara - both based in Pakistan and protected by Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) - had hatched a conspiracy to eliminate religious leaders after collecting funds in Germany and the US,' Karnal Singh, Joint Commissioner of Police (Special Cell), said.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->
--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad.gif' /><!--endemo--> Bangalore techie Yahya provided technical support to terrorists, says police