Ultras find safe haven in Malda

MALDA.(India) Dec. 27. — Two of the suspected militants that Delhi Police claimed yesterday were plotting to kill leading politicians and target IT parks, railway stations and other vital installations across the country, were arrested at Kaliachak police station area in Malda district on 17 November, an official said on Tuesday . According to Malda police records, Nafiqul Biswas (26), Sohag Khan alias Hilaluddin (22) were arrested from Kaliachak on 17 November. They were residents of Pullagari and Dhanirampur villages, respectively in the Jalangi police station area close to the Bangladesh border, in Murshidabad. A third man, Md Nader Sheikh (39), who reportedly provided shelter to the duo was also arrested (under the Arms Act). On 2 December, Malda district administration had received a “production warrant” in connection with “unlawful activity” against the three persons, from the chief metropolitan magistrate (special cell), Ms Rina Singh Nag in New Delhi. “After arrest police had raided the Jalangi village and found that Sohag Khan was a Bangladeshi national and had taken shelter in Jalangi with the help of a most-wanted criminal Nader Sheikh,” said Mr Timir Banerjee , IC, Kaliachak police station. A few months ago, a hard-core activist belonging Al Badr, who was working as second in command in Kashmir valley after completing Jihadi training in Pakistan, was also arrested from a village within Kaliachak police station. — SNS

Cops foil terror plot

NEW DELHI/KOLKATA, Dec. 26. — Delhi Police today claimed to have foiled a plot to kill leading politicians and target software parks, markets and railway stations across the country with the arrest of three Pakistan-trained terrorists, including a Bangladeshi, from West Bengal and Hyderabad. Two of the suspects, Hilaluddin from Bangladesh and Bengal-based Nafiqul Biswas, were arrested from Kaliachowk, Malda. The third, Md Ibrahim, was arrested by police in Hyderabad and brought to Delhi for interrogation. The joint commissioner of police (special cell), Mr Karnal Singh, said Delhi Police had specific information that the Bangladesh-based terror outfit, Harkat-ul-Jihad, was planning to target leading politicians and sensitive locations in India. Police also had information that Nafiqul was helping the outfit arrange weapons and was providing shelter to its activists. Both suspects were found in possession of weapons when they were arrested, police claimed. Police said Hilaluddin was an activist of the Harkat-ul-Jihad and one of the conspirators in an explosion at the STF office in Hyderabad on 12 October. Mr Singh said the three militants had undergone training in Pakistan. “Interrogation revealed that the ISI has been operating terrorist camps in Baluchistan and ferrying Indians and Bangladeshis there to train them in handling sophisticated weapons and IEDs for subversive activities against India.” — SNS

Terror strikes Bangalore
Statesman News Service

BANGALORE, Dec. 28 — Suspected terrorists today barged into the campus of the Indian Institute of Sciences this evening and fired indiscriminately at a group of delegates who had just left a seminar. The attackers, who are learnt to have come in a white Ambassador around 7.30 p.m, escaped under the cover of darkness. Emeritus Professor MN Puri from IIT, Delhi, died of bullet injuries. Four other professors — Dr Pankaj Gupta, Dr Sangeeta, Dr Vijay Chandru and Dr Vijay Patelappa — were seriously injured. The injured have been admitted to a city hospital. Puri’s family came to know about the incident through a student, who had accompanied the professor to the seminar. After the attack, a tight security blanket was thrown over the city with the 100-year-old IISc cordoned off. An AK-47 rifle, three magazines of an automatic weapon and a hand grenade were seized from the site of violence, police said. A sources said the possibility of a terrorist attack could not be ruled out given the nature of the automatic weapon used and the discovery of a grenade. Bangalore and other IT hubs are on the hit list of terror groups, including the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiyyaba. When asked if this was a terrorist strike, Bangalore Police Commissioner Mr Ajay Kumar Singh said: “We cannot say anything at this stage. We have no information about how they (the gunmen) gained entry and who they were.” The Karnataka chief minister, Mr N Dharam Singh, called a high-level meeting of police and other officials here tomorrow to review security measures in Bangalore. The chief minister spoke to Union home minister Mr Shivraj Patil and apprised him of the incident, an official source said. Mr Singh, the source added, had directed the Bangalore Police to conduct a thorough investigation into the incident. In New Delhi Union home secretary Mr Vinod Kumar Duggal said: “As of now it’s not a terrorist attack.” The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, expressed shock at the firing. The attack at the IISc, Bangalore today came two days after Delhi Police said the Bangladesh-based terror group, Harkat-ul-Jehad, was planning to target software parks in Hyderabad and Bangalore. A senior police officer said tonight that the IISc had not been a “specific target” of terrorists.

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