Author: Santosh Singh
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: December 6, 2011
URL: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/the-madhubani-connection/884410/0
When Gayur Ahmed Jamali and Mohd Adil alias
Ajmal were picked up from Darbhanga and Madhubani respectively 10 days ago,
it was the sixth big arrest with terror links in this area bordering Nepal
in the past five years.
Bihar shares a 625-km border with Nepal, of
which 73 km falls in Madhubani district. This is a largely porous border,
and with families on either side having relatives or land on the other side,
it is easy to cross over unnoticed.
The first inkling of the emergence of a Madhubani
module came in October 2005 when an Intelligence Bureau and Delhi Police team
swooped down on the Jaynagar telephone exchange along the Indo-Nepal border.
A look at call records of the earlier few years showed that the 125-km stretch
from Raxaul in East Champaran district to Jaynagar in Madhubani reported the
most number of ISD calls of the six Bihar districts bordering Nepal. Basopatti,
Jaynagar and Laukaha reported some 500 ISD calls, mostly to and from the Gulf
countries, in 2005. Intelligence agencies found that two dozen youths of Madhubani
villages had left homes and not been back for a long time.
RJD Bisfi MLA and prominent Muslim leader
from Madhubani Faiyaz Ahmed refused to talk about the arrests, saying, "These
are tricky matters. Please spare me."
Madhubani BJP MLA Ramdev Mahato said the "open
Nepal border" was "bringing terror to this region". "Terrorists
have been luring misguided youths who want shortcuts in life," Mahato
said, adding that terror has no religion. The arrests:
July 20, 2006: A Mumbai ATS team (of which
the late Hemant Karkare was a part) came to Basopatti village and arrested
Mohammed Kamal Ansari in connection with the Mumbai serial train blasts. Investigations
later revealed that Kamal, a former bicycle puncture repair man, had come
in contact with Shah Bano, based in Janakpur, Nepal, who ran an NGO working
in rural development but was believed to be associated with the Lashkar-e-Toiba.
This was the first known case of the LeT trying to recruit youths from Nepal
and Bihar. Shah Bano is alleged to have recruited Kamal for the LeT, said
an IPS officer. She remains at large.
November 12, 2007: A resident of Gandhwar
village (under Sakri, the same place from where Gayur was arrested), Mohammed
Sabauddin alias Farhan was arrested in Lucknow for the Rampur CRPF camp attack
case and the Jaipur science conference firing. Sabauddin had done Bachelor's
in Pharmacy from Aligarh Muslim University. His acquaintances said he had
been a very sharp boy and a good cricketer. Sabauddin's father Mohammed Abdul
Qadir is a samiti member in the Brahmin-dominated panchayat. Though acquitted
in one case, Sabauddin, a suspected Lashkar commander, is facing trial in
other cases. He is believed to have recruited several youths from Madhubani
and Janakpur in Nepal.
July 9, 2008: UP ATS team arrested a Jaynagar
resident in Lucknow for alleged links with the Sarojini Nagar blast in Delhi
in 2005. Pappu Khan is a resident of Andra village of Jaynagar.
October 14, 2008: The UP ATS team arrested
Mohamed Khalil, another Jaynagar resident, from Lucknow for the Delhi serial
blasts.
August 17, 2009: Omar Madani, a Basopatti
resident but operating from adjoining Mahua village of Nepal, was arrested
from Mehrauli, Delhi, where had gone to allegedly "deliver a target"
to Lashkar links. A respected teacher, it was tough to narrow down on him,
said a senior police officer. Madani was accused of training terror recruits.
November 24-25, 2011: Gayur Ahmed Jamali and
and Mohd Adil alias Ajmal arrested, blamed for attacks in Pune, Bangalore,
Delhi.
According to Jamali's neighbours, police treaded
with utmost caution on his arrest, never telling the family about his alleged
terror links. Said a senior Madhubani police officer: "We do get tip-offs
from IB at regular intervals but we have to very cautious as any unwarranted
arrest can cause communal tension."
