Author: Vicky Nanjappa
Publication: Rediff.com
Date: October 3, 2008
URL: http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/oct/03terror.htm
The blasts at Agartala have raised concerns
among Intelligence Bureau officials that the latest incident may be a new
pattern in the war against India.
IB sources say that the nexus between terror
outfits in the northeastern part of the country and the Bangladesh-based Harkat-ul-Jihad
Islamiya has been brewing for sometime now.
HuJI which is alleged to have played the key
role in the Hyderabad twin blasts and the blasts at Ajmer has set up nearly
25 training camps in the northeast. Over the past few years, Students Islamic
Movement of India too is alleged to have sent its members for training to
some of these camps.
IB reports state that the Lashkar-e-Tayiba
was trying to take strategic advantage of India's porous border with Bangladesh
in order to carry out terror activities. The LeT was finding it increasingly
difficult to penentrate into India through the western side and hence set
up HuJI based out of Bangladesh to enter the country through the eastern side.
The strategy adopted by HuJI was simple. They
took advantage of the fact that there was growing unrest in the northeastern
states and thanks to this several terror outfits had come up. However the
problem that the NE based outfits faced was the supply of arms and also men
to execute attacks.
The HuJI in coordination with the LeT used
this an opportunity to destablise India. In association with rebel groups
in the northeast, and the United Liberation Front of Asom in particular, training
camps were set up. While the arms and ammunition and to a large extent the
men were provided by HuJI the internal groups focused more on providing logistic
support.
The main entry point is Assam which shares
a porous border with Bangladesh. Infiltrations are easier through this side
since the ULFA provides logistical support. Reports suggest that there are
nearly 1.5 crore Bangladeshis living in the northeast.
IB sources also say that the income levels
of these Bangladeshis is very low and taking advantage of this fact, terror
groups use them as sleeper cells. Over the years the sleeper cells or the
tanzeems as the Bangladeshis call them have been set up extensively in Assam
and Tripura.
The work undertaken by these sleeper cells
includes gathering intelligence, shallow penetration and trans-border operations,
deep penetration itinerary operations and specific sabotage and subversion
operations.
The IB says that while northeastern states
have always been troubled by internal unrest, the latest blasts at Tripura
was more of an announcement by external forces to show their might in India.
The IB warns that security agencies have to
constantly be on the lookout and deal with the issue with utmost seriousness.
A clean up operation of illegal migrants in northeast is the need of the hour
since most of them are actively involved in the tanzeems that have been set
up over there.
