The al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), founded by al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri, is being backed by the Pakistan establishment to carry out attacks in India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was informed at the Directors-General of Police meeting in the Rann of Kutch, which concluded on Sunday.
At a standalone presentation under the category ‘threats from Pakistan-backed outfits,’ the recently busted module of the AQIS was discussed threadbare.
A senior government official who attended the meeting said the AQIS, created by al-Qaeda in August 2014 and led by Indian-Maulana Asim Umar who was later identified as Uttar Pradesh resident Sanaul Haq, would be used as a mask for the next attack by Pakistan.
At a presentation for Mr. Modi, the intelligence agencies mentioned the September 2014 attack on the Mehran naval base in Karachi, for which the AQIS had claimed responsibility.
Hijack plan According to reports available with the Indian agencies, AQIS terrorists, three of whom were gunned down during the attack, had planned to hijack the naval ship of Pakistan and move it to the Indian coast to carry out attacks here.
“This was the information picked up by the agencies after the Karachi terror attack, but it all seems too boastful to us. We have credible information to show the AQIS is being backed by Pakistan authorities to launch attacks in India,” the official said.
The Indian agencies’ claim of the AQIS being linked to Pakistan assumes significance as the terrorist group was formed with the objective of targeting the governments of Pakistan, India and Bangladesh to demonstrate its clout in the face of rising competition from the Islamic State.
CBI chief calls for law to deal with organised crimes
Central Bureau of Investigation Director Anil Sinha made a presentation at the conference of DGPs, calling for a law to deal with organised crimes, changes to the Code of Criminal Procedure to handle cases of perjury and a dedicated wing of public prosecutors so that the cases do not suffer because of change in hands.
At present, there is no Central law for any kind of organised crime and the State police and agencies still rely on the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) to handle such cases, the CBI said.
The CBI also said reforms in law were required to try cases of economic offences and ponzi schemes as there were several gaps.
