The Hindu : Front Page : U.P. terror cells remain elusive

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Saturday, Nov 24, 2007
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U.P. terror cells remain elusive

Praveen Swami

Court complex attacks demonstrate resilience of State’s Islamist networks

— PHOTO: PTI

Blasted: The body of a victim of Friday’s bomb blast at Faizabad in Uttar Pradesh. Simultaneous blasts occurred in Varanasi and Lucknow.

NEW DELHI: Friday’s court complex bombings in Uttar Pradesh have provided new evidence of the resilience of Islamist networks in the State.

Based on past experience, as well as the bomb-fabrication techniques used to carry out the strikes, the Uttar Pradesh police believe their investigation will more likely than not lead to Bangladesh-trained elements of the proscribed Students Islamic Movement of India.

Upheld

In July last year, the Supreme Court upheld the proscription of the SIMI, rejecting claims that it was not involved in terrorism. Despite years of legal and police efforts to contain the proscribed organisation, however, the networks it spawned have continued to provide fresh recruits and logistical support to Islamist terror groups operating against India.

Before it was banned in 2001, the SIMI had developed a close relationship with the Jamaat-e-Islami in Bangladesh, as well as its students wing, the Islami Chhatra Shibir. Dozens of SIMI cadre later used those linkages to train with the Harkat ul-Jihad-e-Islami, a Bangladesh-based organisation set up by veterans of the anti-Soviet Union jihad in Afghanistan.

While the SIMI has never provided institutional support for violence, and denies that it has links with organisations like the HUJI, several of its HUJI-trained cadre are believed to have participated in recent terror strikes in Uttar Pradesh. “In effect,” says a Lucknow-based intelligence official, “the HUJI and the Lashkar-e-Taiba polish the grain that the SIMI provides.”

Mohammad Waliullah, a Phulpur-based cleric now awaiting trial for his role in the Varanasi twin bombings of March 7, 2006, had been an ansar, or full-time cadre, before the organisation was banned. He had earlier been arrested in 2001, along with three of his brothers, on charges of harbouring Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorists who had intended to carry out strikes in Uttar Pradesh.

Among Waliullah’s closest associates was Mohammad Zubair, a Bhagpat cleric, who police say provided logistical support to the three still-unidentified Bangladesh nationals believed to have carried out Varanasi bombings. Again a one-time SIMI ansar, Zubair was shot dead near the Line of Control in the Handwara area of Jammu and Kashmir soon after the Varanasi attacks.

Jalaluddin Mollah, a West Bengal-based HUJI operative who played a key role in organising the bombing of the Shramjeevi Express near Jaunpur in 2005, also joined the terror group after working as a SIMI ansar. While still a SIMI member, Mollah received training at an Islami Chhatra Shibir-run training camp near Ukhia, Bangladesh.

Operating under the code-name ‘Babu-bhai’, Mollah is alleged to have made several deliveries of military-grade explosives to HUJI cells in northern India. According to the Uttar Pradesh police’s counter-terrorism Special Task Force, Mollah also used SIMI’s networks to recruit almost two dozen men for training at HUJI-run camps in Bangladesh.

The Uttar Pradesh police say these recruits were the product of underground drives conducted by senior SIMI leaders. Among them, the police believe, was Mohammad Aamir, who surrendered before a Kanpur court last April. Mohammad Salman, Mohammad Rehan and Shariq Fahim, all of whom are believed to have spent time with the HUJI in Bangladesh, also participated in SIMI recruitment.

The SIMI’s wide geographical reach and close-knit networks were instrumental in enabling Islamist terror groups to develop all-India capabilities. Mollah, for example, reported to Dhaka-based Munir-ul-Islam, a ranking HUJI commander who also controlled the Andhra Pradesh-centred networks run by one-time Hyderabad resident Mohammad Shahid.

Shahid, who operated under code-name ‘Bilal,’ disappeared from a Karachi safe house several weeks ago, sparking suspicion that he has been killed. The cell’s Pakistan-based second-in-command Mohammad Amjad is, however, thought to have carried out the recent serial bombings in Hyderabad and Ajmer. Both operations are thought to have involved logistical support from former SIMI members.

Maharashtra investigators found that suspects linked to a May, 2005 explosives haul in Aurangabad also had long-standing associations with the SIMI. Zabiuddin Ansari and Rahil Sheikh, both of whom are also wanted for their alleged role in the 2005 Mumbai serial bombings, were SIMI activists with links to Mohammad Azam Ghauri, a Hyderabad resident who helped found the Lashkar-e-Taiba in India.

The HUJI has often used these cross-state and transnational linkages to evade detection. Last year, following the arrest of Bangladeshi HUJI operatives Anishul Murshlin and Muhibbul Muttakin, the Delhi police learned that Shahid’s mentor, Asad Yazdani, had overall charge of the Shramjeevi Express bombing in Uttar Pradesh. Yazdani was later killed in a shootout with the Delhi police.

Common aims

SIMI cadre in India also helped establish cooperative relationships between the HUJI and the Lashkar, which share common aims but are divided on theological issues. Despite his Lashkar links, Sheikh despatched several recruits for training with the HUJI in Bangladesh. Conversely, the Lashkar is known to have used HUJI-linked SIMI cadre for operations in India.

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