Author: Vicky Nanjappa in Bengaluru
Publication: Rediff.com
Date: July 31, 2008
URL: http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/jul/31ahd4.htm
Rasool Khan Parti, 34, and Mohammad Sufiya
Ahmed Patangiya, 36, identified as masterminds behind the Bengaluru and Ahmedabad
blasts by the Intelligence Bureau and investigating agencies, are operatives
of the Bangladesh-based Harkat-ul-Jihadi-al-Islami.
Parti was originally from Hyderabad, while
Patangiya was from Ahmedabad [Images]. They now live at Gulistan near Jauhar
Chowrangi in Karachi, Pakistan, say IB sources. This is not the first time
that their names have cropped up for terror activities.
The IB says that Parti's first tryst with
crime was through the underworld. He came in contact with a don named Abdul
Latif Abdul Wahab Sheikh and later got close to 1993 Mumbai serial blasts
accused and gangster Dawood Ibrahim [Images] and moved to Karachi. In Karachi
he slowly moved towards terror operations and joined the HuJI as a commander
following the Gujarat communal riots. The IB says he along with Dawood planned
several terror attacks after the Gujarat violence.
B Raman: Is Dawood behind Indian Mujahideen?
The IB says Pathangiya was a cleric based
in Ahmedabad. He was always sympathetic to extremist elements but became active
after the Gujarat riots. He moved to Karachi where he got in touch with Dawood
and Parti, who were then planning operations in Gujarat. The IB says the two
are being sheltered by the Inter Services Intelligence and Dawood, who according
to an IB dossier lives around the same area.
Intelligence agencies came to know of Patangiya
(also known as Mufti Ahmediyan) and Parti in the murder of former Gujarat
home minister Haren Pandya in 2003. The Central Bureau of Investigation, which
is probing that case, has named the two as the main conspirators in the case.
The charge-sheet states Patangiya and Parti had also planned the murder of
several other Bharatiya Janata Party leaders in Gujarat.
Indian Mujahideen is SIMI, V2.0
Reports suggest that after Pandya's murder
the duo fled to Hyderabad, where they were given shelter by a teacher. They
stayed in Hyderabad for a couple of days before moving to Karimnagar also
Andhra Pradesh.
The IB says prior to the Pandya murder, the
Ahmedabad police had named them in the AMTS tiffin bomb blast case in Gujarat
on May 29, 2002, in which 15 persons were injured. The police had accused
them of getting arms into Gujarat and triggering off the explosions.
The duo have an impressive terror record and
are now in charge of HuJI's operations in India. Their major focus has always
been Gujarat. Both Pathangiya and Parti are directly involved in recruitment
and training activities, the IB says.