Author: PTI
Publication: Rediff on Net
Date: May 3, 2003
URL: http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/may/03bom.htm
Police have seized dangerous chemicals
and arms from two terrorist training centres near Mumbai following the
arrest of six activists of the Students Islamic Movement of India in the
Mulund bomb blast case.
Disclosing this at a press conference
today, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal said the militants,
who had links with the terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Tayiba, planned
to use the cache to carry out attacks at Mantralaya, Girgaum Chowpatty,
the Gateway of India, and other crowded places in Mumbai and also in south
India.
"With the arrest of six persons
over a period of time, the police have managed to get to the root of the
entire Mulund blast case, which is clearly linked to the Ghatkopar blast
case," he said. Three others wanted in connection with the case were killed
in an encounter.
The training camps were unearthed
on two hilltops some three hours' drive from Mumbai, he said. The most
important seizure was of 1kg potassium cyanide and bottles of sulphuric
acid, ammonium nitrate and nitric acid, besides four AK-56 rifles, two
pistols, and an equal number of revolvers.
The six arrested persons have been
identified as Saki Abdul Nachen, Atif Nasir Mullah, Habib Zuber Mullah,
Ghulam Sattar, Mohammed Qamil Sheikh and Farhan Abdul Malik Khot.
Those killed in the encounter earlier
were Abdul Sultan, Abdul Ali (both Pakistanis) and Mohammed Iqbal (a Kashmiri).
The arrested persons were in touch
with their associates in Pakistan and had visited that country a couple
of times, Bhujbal said.
Elaborating on the training centres,
he said the accused men had visited them on three occasions for imparting
training in the use of firearms. The places were being used for the past
two years for this purpose, he added.
At least 12 persons had received
training at the camps and police are on the lookout for the associates
of the six arrested men.
According to Mumbai Police Commissioner
R S Sharma, by unearthing the hilltop training venues, the police have
dismantled a major 'training module' of the terrorists. They are yet to
establish, however, if similar modules exist elsewhere in Maharashtra or
India.
"The evidence collected, including
some documents, clearly indicates a link between the Ghatkopar blast and
the Mulund blast," he said.
"Police have also seized compact
discs with speeches linked to the Godhra incident. The speeches by certain
religious leaders were found to be provocative and aimed at misleading
youths of a minority community," Bhujbal added.
