Author: Vicky Nanjappa in Bengaluru
Publication: Rediff.com
Date: July 29, 2008
URL: http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/jul/29ahd9.htm
The Indian Mujahideen was conceived at a meeting
of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba and the Harkat-ul-Jihad-i-Islami, held in Kotli, Pakistan
occupied Kashmir, on May 3, which was attended by top leaders of the terror
outfits.
The terror masterminds had a simple agenda:
An 'Indian' feel to the 'misinterpreted concept of jihad'.
Intelligence Bureau officers now confirm that
the Jaipur, Bengaluru and Ahmedabad blasts were planned jointly by the Lashkar
and Harkat at the Kotli meeting.
The decision to trigger a series of blasts
across India, within a short span of time, was taken at the meeting.
Both the Lashkar and Harkat decided it was
once again time to prove a point -- that they still had the upper hand over
India's security agencies.
At the same time, the Students Islamic Movement
of India, which was playing the role of executor, was facing considerable
heat from the agencies. The Harkat and Lashkar deemed it safe to carry out
the attack under the signature of the Indian Mujahideen.
Although the name of this outfit has floated
around since the serial blasts in Uttar Pradesh, security agencies did not
take it too seriously, terming it a hoax.
Three men, instead of a single commander,
would be in charge of the operation, it was decided at the Kotli meeting,
say Intelligence Bureau sources. The Lashkar, Harkat and ISI agreed that it
was too dangerous to entrust one man with charge of the entire operation.
They had learnt their lesson after Shahid Bilal became synonymous as the face
of terror in India.
Bilal had carried out several terror attacks
successfully -- including the blasts at Mecca Masjid, Hyderabad, Ajmer.
Security agencies believe that the Jaipur,
Bengaluru and Ahmedabad blasts were undertaken by Mufti Sufiyan, Rasool Khan
and Sohail Khan respectively.
The three men, who were allegedly behind the
Haren Pandya murder, were directed to split into three groups and undertake
the operations, and to operate as the Indian Mujahideen.
Although the initial plan was to use RDX in
the attacks, they decided against it since smuggling the explosive was both
time-consuming and cumbersome.
Since it was necessary to strike soon and
in quick succession, the terror outfits agreed to put together explosives
using materials available in the market.
According to the IB, after Saturday's Ahmedabad
blasts the three men have all fled to Pakistan, where they had sought refuge
immediately after the Haren Pandya murder in March 2003 as well. When the
heat was off they had returned to India and lived under various pseudonyms,
focusing primarily on recruiting Muslim youth for their terror mission, till
July 26.
IB reports suggest the trio had imparted preliminary
training to over 29 youth, before sending them to Pakistan for further indoctrination.
The youths were taught to handle explosives, use e-mail and browse the Internet.
