Author: Ravik Bhattacharya
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: August 26, 2007
URL: http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=252968
[Note from the Hindu Vivek Kendra: Such links
have been under the scan every time a terrorist attack has taken place in
India over the last two years. It is, therefore, correct to conclude that
these statements are only for public consumption. The tragedy is that the
'secular' media is hand in glove with this programme of hoodwinking the people
that the authorities are serious about tackling the menace of terrorism. And
the intellectuals will start their shrill campaign that Muslims must not be
targetted in the investigation - meaning that for every Muslim arrested, at
least six Hindus must also be arrested, to maintain the demographic balance.
It does not matter that the Hindus in this case are completely innocent. Secularism
in India demands such an action. And since it would be heartless to arrest
an innocent Hindu, the police will arrest no one!]
In the aftermath of Saturday's twin blasts
in Hyderabad, the police is once again looking at West Bengal, considered
the hub of Bangladesh-based militant groups, for clues.
A similarity in the modus operandi has been
detected with the May 18 Mecca Masjid bomb blast, which killed 9 people. Also,
an alleged Laskar-e-Toiba (LeT) operative, Sameer, alias Nayeem, was arrested
by the West Bengal CID from the Indo-Bangla border in April this year, in
connection with the Mecca Masjid blasts. Moreover, a sim card attached to
one of the unexploded bombs in Mecca Masjid was bought from Asansol, Burdwan
in West Bengal.
Hyderabad Police Commissioner Balwinder Singh,
who is also heading the investigation team, told The Indian Express: "We
are not ruling out the Bengal connection, though it is too early to pinpoint
who was behind the incident. One of the areas our initial findings have pointed
out is Bangladesh-based militant outfits with their networks in West Bengal.
There are some similarities with the earlier blasts, but give us some time
to investigate and the guilty will be booked. If necessary, we will send a
team to Kolkata."
Meanwhile, the West Bengal CID is in constant
touch and is sharing information with the Hyderabad Police and the Anti-Terrorism
Squad (ATS) of the Mumbai Police. "In April, we arrested Sameer in connection
with the Mecca Masjid blasts and have shared information with both the ATS
and Hyderabad police," said Bhupinder Singh, ADG CID.
The CID is also interrogating one Osman Ghani,
who was arrested on August 22 by the BSF from the Petrapol border, to find
out if he has any connection with the perpetrators of the blast. It has been
learnt that Ghani visited Hyderabad a few times recently.
Meanwhile, ATS Mumbai is also sending a team
to Hyderabad to coordinate and help in the investigation of the blasts. "We
are sending an expert team to Hyderabad to assist and coordinate with the
police team there," Param Vir Singh, DCP Mumbai Police, told the Indian
Express.
The West Bengal CID, a special investigation
team of the Hyderabad Police and ATS Mumbai also worked together during the
Mecca Masjid blasts.
Sameer is one of four suspected LeT cadres
caught by the BSF in Bongaon, North 24 parganas, near the Bangladesh border
in April. The CID took him in custody and interrogated him before he was handed
over to ATS Mumbai. He was also brought to Hyderabad. During a narco-analysis
test, Sameer reportedly told the Mumbai Police he had transported RDX to Hyderabad.
The police also arrested Shoaib Jagirdar, a close associate of Sameer, from
Jalna in Maharashtra on May 25. The city police found that he had tried to
help Sameer obtain a fake passport. The case is at present being probed by
the CBI and Sameer is in judicial custody. The Hyderabad Police believed that
Bangladesh-based Harkat-ul Jihad Al Islami was behind the blast and activist
Mohammed Shahed, alias Bilal, a native of Hyderabad, was its mastermind. Bilal
also masterminded the suicide blasts at the police commissioner's task force
office in October 2005. He visited Kolkata often and stayed at Rajarhat and
Bangur, according to the police. Both in Saturday's blasts and the Mecca Masjid
blasts, militants are believed to have triggered the explosives using very
sophisticated technology. According to the police, a phone call from anywhere
in the world to the mobile phone attached to the IED is enough to trigger
the blast. In both cases, the police managed to defuse the bombs.
