Author:
Publication: The Free
Press Journal
Date: September 12,
2000
Mohammad Aqil (23), who
was arrested in Agra for planting a high-power bomb in the Sabarmati Express
which caused a big explosion on August 14 that killed 10 persons and left
65 injured, is an ISI agent and an active member of the Students Islamic
Movement of India (SIMI), according to intelligence sources.
The lad would be brought
to Lucknow for further grilling by Intelligence Bureau (IB) sleuths. It
took the security forces almost a month to nab the person responsible for
the blood-curdling tragedy on Sabarmati Express while the train was hurtling
towards Lucknow after leaving Faizabad. According to Home Department sources,
Aqil's elder brother Jameel Ahmad is also an active member of SIMI. Aqil
has confessed before sleuths that he planted a four-kg bomb on the instructions
of a fellow activist Gulzar. He is a former student of the Aligarh Muslim
University. STF sources said that ISI had used the accused as a bomb carrier
and on August 14 he carried a 4-kg timer device in a school bag and placed
it in the ill-fated bogey of the train. Akil is a resident of Faizabad.
He had taken admission in the Unani Medicine section of Tibbia College
in Aligarh Muslim University in 1997.
The accused confessed
that bomb blasts in different parts of the state were triggered off by,
ISI and Paksupported outfits like Hijbul Mujahideen and, Lashkar-e-Toiba.
The security forces are also investigating whether Akil had a hand in the
bomb blast in which the President of the Ram Janmabhoomi Trust Mahant Ram
Chandra Das Paramhans was injured.
Meanwhile, in a complaint
to the state government the Aligarh Muslim University authorities have
sharply reacted to the insinuations that there are training camps Within
the university.
Distancing themselves
from the activities of Aqil the authorities have stated in their complaint
that the alleged activities of one or more individuals who studied or are
studying in the university does not in any way reflect adversely on the
university. The insinuation is calculated to sow seeds of distrust among
the public. The AMU is an institution of national importance which has
over 25,000 students from all over the country and is freely accessible
to public at large.
Meanwhile, in Kanpur
sleuths of the Special Task Force (STF), the crack force of the UP Police
arrested more SIMI activists. The arrest sparked off widespread protests
in Muslim dominated pockets. Students forced closure of institutions specifically
demanding release of arrested SIMI leader Mohammad Asad allegedly responsible
for the Kanpur blasts. According to STF Sources here, Asad is a prize catch
but they declined to elaborate further.
State president of Students
Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) Mohammad Amir and Deputy chief of the
organisation Safdar Nagauri condemned the BJP government for hatching a
conspiracy to defame the Muslims.
The STF is worried over
the statement of Mohammad Amir that noted international terrorist Osma
Bin Laden was the ideal of Muslims the world over and Muslims of the country
should follow him. The state unit of Shiv Sena and Bajrang Dal have demanded
that criminal cases be registered against Asad.
It is learnt that SIMI
leaders are advocating plebiscite in J&K and forcible construction
of Babri Masjid. The state government is planning to ban SIMI. But it has
floated a new organization Tahreek Ahyay-e-Ummat so that its activities
could be carried on even after the ban. SIMI was formed in Aligarh Muslim
University in 1970 as the student wing of the Jamat-I-Islami Later the
Jamat dissociated itself with SIMI. And floated the Islamic Students Organisation.
At present SIMI has more
than 5000 members in the state. It has recently recruited many girls.
