TERRORISM – 2012 (January to December 2012)

Compiled By Human Rights Documentation∗

Indian Social Institute, Lodi Road, New Delhi – 110 003, (India) Babbar Khalsa plotting big strike: Delhi Police (12 ) New Delhi: The arrest of two operatives of the Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) over a week ago has confirmed what Delhi Police have been suspecting for a while now -- that the Punjab-based terror outfit is on the lookout for a major strike to announce its revival. "Delhi Police arrested two Babbar Khalsa operatives who were planning to assassinate some political and religious leaders. We are investigating to confirm how many people are working with the group," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Ashok Chand said. Sarabpreet and Jaswinder Singh, in their early 30s, were arrested in a joint operation by Delhi Police's Special Cell and Crime Branch Dec 22. The police claimed that these operatives were planning strikes in Delhi and Punjab by reviving the BKI modules. While one was arrested in Delhi, the second was nabbed from Ropar district in Punjab. Police were on the alert after Delhi Police had found a Tata Indica car with five kilograms of RDX outside the Ambala Cantonment railway station in Haryana in October. Investigations revealed that the consignment was meant for BKI operatives and had come through Jammu and Kashmir-based terror groups. "The explosives had been brought by Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and were meant to be used by BKI in Delhi," Arun Kampani, deputy commissioner of police (Special Cell), said. Chand said: "After the end of militancy in Punjab, the remaining BKI operatives went underground. But with the recovery of the RDX from Ambala and the arrest of these two operatives it is clear that the BKI is trying to revive itself." In Punjab, the state police have been trying to keep a tab on the activities of certain modules of terrorist groups formerly active in the state during the period of terrorism (1981-1995). "We have arrested 25-30 people who were trying to revive terrorism in the state in the last few months. The masterminds of the groups are based in countries like Pakistan and Germany," a Punjab Police officer said in Chandigarh, requesting anonymity. "They have been trying to recruit new volunteers. However, we have been able to crush most of their plans," he added. (Zee News 1/1/12) Bangalore blasts: SC rejects Madani's bail plea (12 ) New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected the bail plea of Abdul Naseer Madani, arrested for his alleged role in the 2008 serial terror blasts in Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Jaipur. A bench of justices P Sathasivam and J Chelameswar, however, directed the Karnataka government to provide medical treatment to Madani, founder of Peoples Democratic Party in Kerala, at the Kottakkal Arya Vaidya Sala in Bangalore for his various health problems. The apex court passed the directions for medical help to Madani, while declining to entertain senior counsel Sushil Kumar's plea for interim bail to him to enable him undergo treatment at the Kottakkal Arya Vaidya Sala in Kerala's Malappuram district. Kumar pleaded that Madani be released on bail as he was falsely implicated and cited his acquittal in the Coimbatore bomb blast case after nine-and-half years of incarceration as proof of his innocence. He further submitted that the accused, who had to undergo amputation of one of his legs and was suffering from serious spinal problems and associated symptoms, was no threat to the law enforcing agencies. Madani’s counsel Kumar's argument, however, failed to impress the court, which observed, "in a lighter vein, we would like to say, people need not do things physically. They can do wonders even while sitting at one place".Senior ∗ This is a collection of previously published news and views from the print as well as the electronic media, whose reference marked at the end of each news items. Department of Documentation and Library (DDL) of the Indian Social Institute, New Delhi neither claims to the veracity of the facts in the news nor subscribes to the views expressed.

counsel MN Krishnamani and standing counsel Anita Shenoy, appearing for Karnataka, strongly opposed Madani's bail plea and treatment in Kerala on the ground that he was involved in a number of cases and posed a threat to security. (Zee News 3/1/12) Terror camp for girls across LoC: reports (12) NEW DELHI, January 4, 2012: Efforts from across the border to foment trouble through militants in Jammu and Kashmir have been detected, with reports suggesting training camps being run there including one for girls. Sources in the Army said here on Tuesday that a training camp run by the Lashkar-e-Taiba at Divalia in Muzafarrabad in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) trained some 20 girls to activate the Dukhtran-e-Taiba under a project conceptualised by Mumbai terror attack mastermind Abdul Rehman Lakhvi. Intercepts indicate that the new front is being activated since the earlier formation of women Dukhtran-e-Millat has not been successful in mobilising people as it had in the past. According to reports, the sources said, the effort is to try and infiltrate these trained cadres into India either through the Uri sector or even Nepal. Another training camp, according to other information, shows that it is located at Turbeladem in PoK in which over 400 terrorists in various groups are being trained and that the facility is being commanded by a senior officer of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). The sources said the ISI asked the LeT and other terror groups to carry out attacks against the Indian troops deployed on the LoC. These groups, the reports said, carried out reconnaissance in areas on the other side of the LoC facing the Indian forward defence locations. (The Hindu 4/1/12) Masjid blast: Rs.3 lakh for acquitted (12) HYDERABAD, January 5, 2012: In a path-breaking move, the State Government announced a compensation of Rs. 3 lakh each to 16 persons, who were tried and later acquitted in the 2007 Mecca Masjid blast case. The payment of compensation to the acquitted persons is tantamount to admission that they were falsely implicated in the terror case. In a memo order issued on Tuesday, the Government has also declared that no other cases were pending against these members. It has also decided to pay a compensation of Rs. 20,000 each to the persons, who were let off by the police after interrogation. The compensation would be paid to these persons on Friday at Jubilee Hall, Public Gardens. The order also indicated that the Government is considering payment of compensation to four persons after pending cases against them are disposed. The payment of compensation comes in the backdrop of several inquiries conducted by human rights organisations and the Andhra Pradesh Minorities Commission into the arrests after police were accused of falsely implicating Muslim youth in the blast case. Nine persons were killed in the Mecca Masjid blast on May 18, 2007 and five more later in subsequent flare up of violence and police firing. Initially, Islamic fundamentalist groups were suspected to have planned and executed the blasts. Right from pan shop owners, watch repairers, auto driver to a student pursuing Unani medicine, the police had picked up minority youth and implicated them in the case overriding objections from community elders and rights groups. However, the very basis of the police argument that, Islamist fundamentalists engineered the blast turned out to be a wrong premise, when investigations revealed that it was a Hindu fundamentalist organisation, Abhinav Bharat, that was responsible for the blast in the mosque. (The Hindu 5/1/12) 2007 blast accused arrested in Lucknow (12) Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) on Thursday arrested an alleged operative of militant outfit Mujahidin-Islam-ul-Hind (MIUH) - Aleem - who was on the run in a case of an explosion that took place in Sitapur district in 2007. One of the perpetrators was killed while another was critically injured in the blast. The explosion had taken place when the two were carrying the bomb to be planted in a Delhi-bound bus. The ATS team made the arrest from Balaganj crossing in Thakurganj area of Lucknow this noon. Additional Director General (ADG) Law & Order, Subesh Kumar Singh said that two youths - Aftab and Alam alias Naushad - were carrying the bomb in a bag on a motorcycle when it exploded suddenly.

While Aftab died on the spot, Naushad suffered serious injuries in the blast. The incident had taken place near Prakash petrol pump in City Kotwali police station area on May 26, 2007, he added. Singh also said that Naushad, who was arrested later, had told the police that he was member of the terrorist outfit MIUH and was carrying the bomb to be planted in Delhi-bound Shatabdi bus when it suddenly exploded in Aftab’s hand. He had then given names of Aslam, Aleem and Saleem as other members of the outfit involved in the conspiracy. The UP STF had later, in 2008, arrested Aslam and Saleem. Naushad, Aslam and Saleem are still lodged in the jail, confirmed SHO of Sitapur’s City Kotwali police station Ajeet Singh Chauhan. (Indian Express 13/1/12) Police, ED asked to take RBI help in checking terro r funding (12) New Delhi: Intensifying its drive to curb terror funding, the Government has asked the Jammu and Kashmir Police as well as the Enforcement Directorate to seek help from the RBI in monitoring transfer of funds meant for separatist groups for alleged anti-national activities, including disturbing peace in the state. With Union Home Minister P Chidambaram giving a clear direction to choke the funding of terror groups, the Union Home Ministry recently convened a meeting chaired by Home Secretary RK Singh in the national capital where broad contours of terror financing were discussed, official sources said today. The sources said that during the meeting, Enforcement Directorate officials indicated that terror groups were adopting a smart approach of transferring money in small amounts to avoid suspicious transaction by the security agencies and bank authorities. The other modus operandi used by the terror groups and separatists was that of using credit cards where they had to withdraw money once they get clearance from terror groups across the border in Pakistan, the sources said, adding some funds were even transferred through authorised money transfer agents in small amounts. At the meeting, it was decided that the police as well as the ED would seek help of Reserve Bank of India which monitors gateways of credit cards and money transfer agents, the sources said. While it would be an enormous task of monitoring the transactions, the officers were asked to detect suspicious transactions through their intelligence mechanism and later verify the same with the RBI, the sources said. The ED has in the meanwhile served summons to several people who have been booked by the police for terror financing and the process was underway to attach their properties, if any, after proving that the same was brought from the proceeds of terror funding. The ED has been talking to various security agencies and the police to gather more details about the cases and would decide as to in how many cases Prevention of Money Laundering Act could be invoked, the sources said. The Centre has been paying special attention to check illegal funding of separatists and terror groups in Kashmir and had constituted Combating of Funding of Terrorist (CFT) cell within the Union Home Ministry to monitor it. The cell works with organisations like the Department of Revenue Intelligence, Income Tax, ED, CBI and Directorate General of Customs and Central Excise Intelligence and later scrutinise information collected from central police organisations and the Financial Intelligence Unit. (DNA 15/1/12) Bru militant gunned down in Karimganj (12) SILCHAR: A suspected Bru militant was killed in an encounter with the Army at Piplapunjee near Bazaricherra in Karimganj district on Monday morning. A huge cache of arms and ammunition were found on him. A Masimpur-based army officer told TOI that personnel of 33 Field Regiment of 57 Mountain Artillery Brigade started an operation in the area early on Monday after acting on a tip-off about the presence of a suspected group of United Liberation Army of Bruland (ULAB) militants in the area. During a fierce encounter between troops of 33 Field Regiment and terrorists of ULAB near Piplapunjee, about 70 km from the border town of Karimganj, one militant was killed. Army personnel found one AK-47 rifle, a 9 mm Mauser-Weker pistol and ammunition in his possession. The body of the terrorist, along with the arms and ammunition, have been handed over to the police authorities of Bazarichera, said the officer. There were some other militants in the group. However, they managed to escape in the jungles, a source said. Bazarichera police station OC Dipankar Bora said the body of the militant was brought to Karimganj

Civil Hospital later in the day and an autopsy was done. The Army officer said operations were on in areas near the Assam-Tripura border for the past one year as the militant outfit is active in those places. "The Army, in its endeavour to restore normalcy in Karimganj and Hailakandi districts, carried out the operation against ULAB. The operation displays the sheer courage of troops and their daredevilry to undertake operations in the dense jungles of the border district. This special operation deserves special commendation as this has dealt another severe blow to the outfit and other anti-national elements," said an officer of 33 Field Regiment. (Times of India 17/1/12) LeT 'commander' killed near LoC (12) Poonch: A self-styled top commander of Lashker-e-Tioba (LeT) was today killed in a fierce gunbattle near the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir. Acting on a tip off about militants infiltrating in Chak Banola (Chatral) forest belt in Mendhar tehsil of Poonch district, troops of 39 Rastriya Rifles (RR) and Special Operation Group (SoG) of Police launched a cordon and search operation early today, Defence PRO S N Acharya told PTI. As the militants fell into a trap, they fired at the troops, he said, adding a fierce gunbattle broke out when the securitymen retaliated. In the encounter, one militant was killed and two others were trapped as the operation was on till late evening, he said. The deceased militant has been identified as Abu Abrar alias Abu Wasem alias Mistri - one of oldest LeT commanders operating in the area, Senior Superintendent of Police Poonch Ashkoor Wani said. Some arms including an AK rifle and ammunition were recovered from the spot, he added. Describing the killing of the terrorist as a "great success" for security forces, police said it would give a severe blow to the outfit in the area. They said the militant belonged to Pakistan and was active and Rajouri and Poonch areas for several years and kept on shifting from one place to another. This is first terrorist killing this year, they said. Inspector General of Police Jammu, Zone Jammu, Dilbag Singh appreciated the job done by the searching team and said they would continue such operations in future to frustrate the evil designs of anti-national elements. (DNA 19/1/12) 13/7 case cracked, say Mumbai cops, Delhi doubtful (12) Mumbai/New Delhi: The anti-terrorism squad (ATS) of the Maharashtra Police on Monday claimed to have cracked the triple blasts case of July 13, 2011 here with the arrest of two suspected operatives of terror outfit Indian Mujahideen (IM). The blasts had killed 27 people and left more than 130 injured. ATS chief Rakesh Maria told mediapersons that the two men — Naquee Ahmed, 22, and Nadeem Akhtar Sheikh, 23, were members of IM’s module in Darbhanga, Bihar. They have been booked for murder, conspiracy and using banned explosives. In Delhi, central intelligence and police officers said the arrests by the Mumbai police had botched up their joint effort to catch more important IM members with Naquee’s help. “He was an important link to (IM mastermind) Yasin Bhatkal and two Pakistani associates, Waqas and Tabrez, who executed the serial blasts in Mumbai and the blast outside the Delhi high court in September,” a Delhi Police officer complained. Bhatkal and those who planted the bombs at Mumbai’s Zaveri Bazaar, Opera House and Dadar are still absconding. Maria said the police had applied for transfer of custody of a third accused, Haroon Rashid Naik (33) of Mumbra, who is alleged to have been the financial brain behind the blasts and is in jail since his arrest in August 2011 in a fake currency racket case. Releasing a fresh photograph of Bhatkal, Maria said he had given Naquee Rs 1.5 lakh to carry out the blasts and had called Nadeem to New Delhi and given him a cloth packet containing detonators and explosives. Nadeem passed on the packet to the planters. “Naquee and Nadeem stole the two scooters used for the blasts at Zaveri Bazaar and Opera House. Naquee provided the SIM cards used by the accused and helped Bhatkal get a room at Habib building in Byculla. He also paid for the room,” Maria said. “Two others were the planters at Zaveri Bazaar and Opera House. We also have a fair idea of the planter at Dadar,” he added. (Hindustan Times 23/1/12) 1855 ultras lay down arms in Assam before Chidambar am (12)

Guwahati: Congratulating Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi for the massive surrender, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram assured those who surrendered that they would be treated with honour and dignity. K Anurag reports. Counter-insurgency efforts in Assam on Tuesday received a shot in the arm with 1855 militants belonging to nine insurgent groups based in the state, including four Adivasi outfits, laid down arms in the presence of Union Home Minister P Chidambaram in Guwahati. Welcoming militants to peace and reconciliation, P Chidambaram said, "The government of India always welcomes militants to the path of peace. We believe that in a democracy everybody's voice has to be heard, everyone is entitled to live in peace and harmony and brotherhood. There is no problem that can't be resolved through dialogue, no hurdle that can't be crossed through talks and no knot that can't be untied with patience," he said. The nine militant groups, which have laid down arms, include four Adivasi militant groups – Adivasi People's Army (APA), Adivasi Cobra Military of Assam (ACMA), Birsa Commando Force (BCF), Santhal Tiger Force (STF), and All Adivasi National Liberation Army (AANLA). The rest of the militant groups include Hmar Peoples Convention (HPC-D), Kuki Liberation Army (KLA), Kuki Revolutionary Army (KRA) and United Kuki Defence Army (UKDA). The militants deposited assorted arms and ammunition during the surrender ceremony held at Indira Gandhi Stadium in Guwahati. (Rediff 24/1/12) Open to dialogue with militants: Gogoi (12) Guwahati, Jan 24: Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi Tuesday appealed to the anti-talks faction of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) led by Paresh Barua to join the ongoing peace process. Speaking at a surrender ceremony in Assam's main city of Guwahati where 676 militants laid down weapons in the presence of union Home Minister P. Chidambaram, Gogoi said: "Today again I appeal to Paresh Barua faction of the ULFA to join in the peace process. Our doors are open. Join in the peace process." "But we will deal firmly with those who continue to indulge in violence. We are going to be very hard against those who have taken a hard line. We are not going to tolerate militants taking law in their hands," Gogoi added. He welcomed the surrender of militants of nine outfits, saying it was a step forward in solving the three decade old insurgency in the state. Lauding the central government's support in combating militancy, Gogoi said that while 827 people, including civilians and security personnel, were killed in terrorism-related incidents in the state in 2000, only 28 civilians were killed last year. (IANS) (New Kerala 24/1/12) IM recruited 36 youths in Bihar: Cops (12) MUMBAI: The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has begun to contend with a new breeding ground for terrorists, namely Darbhanga district in Bihar. The banned Indian Mujahideen (IM) recently indoctrinated and recruited youths there. "It's worrisome, because Bihar is a state where there is huge unemployment and youths are moving to metros to get any odd job they can find. Such youths can become easy prey for criminals, particularly the underworld and terror outfits," said a senior police official. IM's founder members have always dodged investigating agencies by shifting their recruiting grounds from Maharashtra to UP and now Bihar. The Mumbai police said this is also in keeping with the IM's avowed aim of spreading the net as wide as possible to cause maximum damage. ATS chief Rakesh Maria said that the IM first recruited youths from Cheetah Camp in Trombay, then Kondwa in Pune, then Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh and now Darbhanga in Bihar. Police said IM founding member Yasin Bhatkal had indoctrinated and trained as many as three dozen youths in Darbhanga. "Bhatkal also made Bihar a base at which he could receive hawala money through Pakistan via Dubai. He also helped Pakistan's ISI circulate counterfeit notes in India by first landing them in Bihar," said Maria. The two arrested men, Naqi Ahmed and Nadeem Akhtar, have been accused of facilitating, aiding and abetting Bhatkal and two Pakistanis in the 13/7 blasts. Both Naqi and Nadeem hail from Deora Bandhauli, Darbhanga district, Bihar. Earlier, the Delhi police had arrested six IM members, including Qateel Siddiqui, for the Chinnaswamy Stadium and Delhi high court blasts. They too are from Darbhanga. "In 2008, when the

Mumbai crime branch arrested 21 IM members for 11 blasts, including the Ahmedabad and Jaipur blasts, IM founding member Riyaz Bhatkal and his associates went underground. At the same time, the Delhi police carried out the Batla House operation in which IM man Atif and a police inspector were killed. IM's key members, like Riyaz Bhatkal, Mohsin Choudhary, Iqbal Bhatkal, Abu Rashid, Dr Shanuwaz, Bada Sajid and Salman, fled to Pakistan. Yasin Bhatkal sheltered with his friend Gayoor Jamali at Darbhanga," said an ATS officer. Jamali is one of the six held in Delhi. (Times of India 25/1/12)

Garo rebel group GNLA declared terrorist outfit (12 ) Shillong, Jan 31 : The Indian government Tuesday declared the Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA), a rebel outfit operating in western part of Meghalaya, a terrorist outfit under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. "The government has approved and declared GNLA a terrorist due to its growing terror activities in certain parts of Meghalaya," Shambu Singh, joint secretary (northeast) in the union home ministry, told IANS. The central government had sought the views of the Meghalaya government before declaring the GNLA as an outlawed outfit. "Since we have already declared this organisation (GNLA) as terrorist outfit, the government would also soon impose a ban on this organisation on completion of all formalities," Singh said. The GNLA, which is headed by police officer-turned outlaw Champion R. Sangma, has unleashed a reign of terror in the three impoverished districts of Garo Hills in the western Meghalaya. More than 20 people, including security personnel, have been killed in the Garo Hills in the last one year by GNLA rebels. This month alone, five people were killed while two engineers of the government-run Meghalaya Energy Corporation Limited were abducted by GNLA rebels. The GNLA had earlier slapped extortion demands ranging from Rs.5 lakh to Rs.1 crore on government officials, ministers, legislators and businessmen. (IANS) (New Kerala 1/2/12) Terrorist tag angers NSCN (12) Kohima, Feb. 2: The National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah) today strongly rebutted the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for using the term “terrorist” against the outfit. In a statement issued by NSCN (I-M) leader A.Z. Jami, the outfit charged the NIA with trying to sabotage the ongoing Naga peace process with the Centre. “It must be viewed as a serious breach of trust and lack of sincerity on the part of the government of India. It has come as a great shock to the NSCN in particular and Nagas in general,” Jami said. He said the NSCN was formed based on the universal human rights principle of the right to self-determination adding that it was wrong on the part of the Centre to allege that the Nagas were fighting against India as NSCN still advocates a political approach towards resolving the political issue with New Delhi. “The NSCN is not a terrorist organisation at all. It has never adopted any kind of terrorist means to achieve its desired goal,” the NSCN spokesman claimed. He said Naga militants had never attempted to kill any civilian though more than 250,000 Nagas have been killed by the Indian security forces. “The NSCN is an internationally recognised political organisation. The government of India had embarked upon political talks recognising us as a political entity,” he added. Jami asked the NIA not to distort the history and undo the well-meant political stand taken by various Indian political leaders to hammer out an acceptable and honourable solution to the decade-old Indo-Naga political problem. The ban on the NSCN was lifted on November 18, 2002, by the Centre. Jami said therefore, it was wrong on the part of the NIA to brand the NSCN a terrorist group. He said after 15 years of peace talks it would be wrong for the Indian government and the NSCN to hurl false allegations against each other, adding that it was the desire of the people that there should not be a roadblock towards the peace process. Jami said his outfit was committed to seek a solution through peaceful means, but added that the NSCN would never accept the term “terrorist”. He said more than 80 rounds of talks had been held since the NSCN was committed to seek a solution through peaceful means. (Telegraph 3/2/12) Alleged terrorist arrested in the Capital (12)

NEW DELHI, February 4, 2012: An alleged founding member of terror outfit Indian Mujahideen has been arrested by the Delhi Police at Nalanda in Bihar. The accused, a civil engineer, was on Friday produced in a city court that remanded him to 15 days' police custody. According to police sources, Tariq (31) is an IM ideologue and had previously been living in a house at Shahin Bagh here. However, when the Special Cell team smashed an IM module with the arrest of six suspected terrorists last year, he went underground. “His name cropped up for the first time during their interrogation,” said an officer. The police zeroed in on the suspect and acting on a tip-off on his movement in Bihar, arrested him and brought him to Delhi. The police have allegedly seized a laptop and a mobile from his him . During interrogation, Tariq told the interrogators that he had joined the now banned Students' Islamic Movement of India way back in 1998 when he was in Bihar. Tariq subsequently got enrolled in the civil engineering course at a Bhatkal institute in Karnataka, where he allegedly met Shahrukh and Bhatkal brothers, Riaz and Iqbal, and together they purportedly founded the Indian Mujahideen in 2003. The police have obtained his custody for questioning . (The Hindu 4/2/12) Manipur-based militant outfit's member held (12) KOLKATA, February 5, 2012: The Special Task Force of the Kolkata Police here on Saturday arrested one person who is alleged to be a member of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) — a Manipur-based extremist organisation operating in the northeast. “We have arrested Dhiren Singh, who is a resident of Assam. Thirty rounds of cartridges were recovered from him,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Task Force), Bastav Baidya told The Hindu . He was arrested from the Maidan area of the city. Mr. Baidya, however, refused to give more details on the arrest. Police sources said Singh came here to establish links with members of the Communist Party of India (Maoist). According to reports, the group, with the help of the Maoists, was trying to spread its base in the northeast and West Bengal. The accused was produced in a city court and was remanded in police custody till February 16. Intelligence inputs available with the security agencies indicate that the United Liberation Front of Assam has planned a series of major strikes with the help of the Manipur-based PLA and the Maoists. (The Hindu 5/2/12) Centre extends ban on SIMI for two years (12) Centre extends ban on SIMI for two years New Delhi: The Centre has extended by two more years the ban imposed on Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), which has links with Pakistan-based terrorist outfits including Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and its front, Indian Mujahideen. The Home Ministry has issued a notification in this regard after the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, approved the proposal of extending ban on SIMI. The ban would come into effect from this month end for a period of two years, government sources said. SIMI was declared outlawed in 2001 when it came to light that the outfit was involved in a series of terrorist activities. The group was continuously having close contacts with LeT and carrying out several terror strikes along with Indian Mujahideen. Though SIMI had challenged the government's move in various courts and also before the Special Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act tribunals on a number of occasions, it did not get any relief. Last month, the Home Ministry had issued an advisory to Delhi and Rajasthan Police, saying controversial author Salman Rushdie may be targeted by SIMI activists if he attended the Jaipur Literary Festival. (Zee News 9/2/12) '2008 Mumbai terror attacks monitored-managed live by planners from Pak'(12) Islamabad, Feb 13 : The 2008 Mumbai terror attacks were reportedly monitored and managed live by planners from a rented house in the North Nazimabad neighbourhood of Karachi. The attack carried out by 11 gunmen had killed 166 people in Mumbai. The planners not only watched the terror unfold via cameras carried by the attackers, they provided them live instructions to engage Indian security personnel and inflict maximum damage, The Express Tribune quoted sources privy to investigations, as saying. Pakistani and Indian investigation agencies have found as many as 35 people to be involved in

the siege at landmarks in India's financial capital while Indian authorities have been able to trace the exact location of the 'base camp' of the attack in Karachi, sources added, while discussing a Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) report on the attacks. According to the report, these terror suspects provided logistic and financial support to the gunmen who carried out the attack. The extensive report includes names of the captain and crew of boats that carried the attackers to Mumbai, financers of the operation, the facilitators in Karachi and those who provided logistical support and technology. The attackers were purportedly trained at sea near Thatta and had even made preparatory trips to Mumbai, unnoticed by the Indian navy, sources added. The investigations, however, refute claims made by Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley, one of the leading planners of the Mumbai attacks. Headley had testified earlier that Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) had coordinated with each other for the attack, adding that the ISI had provided military and moral support to the group. (ANI) (New Kerala 13/2/12) Samjhauta Express case: NIA arrests ‘bomb planter’ (12) New Delhi: In a significant breakthrough into the 2007 Samjhauta Express blast case, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested one person, identified as Kamal Chauhan, from Indore on Saturday. Chauhan was flown to Delhi on Sunday from where he is likely to be taken to Panchkula where the agency will seek his remand from the NIA court. The blast had left nearly 70 dead and 100 injured — most of them Pakistanis. According to the NIA, Chauhan, a resident of Moorkheda village near Indore, is alleged to be one of the conspirators in the case. He is suspected to be one of the persons who planted the briefcases loaded with explosives on February 18, 2007. “We will question him regarding his association with Sunil Joshi,” said a top NIA official. Joshi had allegedly procured the two suitcases used in the twin blast from a shop in Indore. During its investigations and especially after the arrest of Swami Aseemanand, the NIA had claimed that the blast was the handiwork of saffron terror outfits. The other key suspects — Sandeep Dange, Ramchandra Kalsangra and Ashok alias Ashwini Chauhan — are still on the run on whom the NIA has announced rewards ranging from Rs 2 to 10 lakhs. Chauhan’s name does not figure among those declared proclaimed offenders by the NIA. Officials said that his custodial interrogation will provide vital leads, particularly about the three missing accused persons and the sources of explosives. The arrest comes as a major achievement for the NIA. The case had been put on the back-burner as there had been no significant movement. None of the accused could be arrested, and the NIA suffered a setback after Assemanand retracted his statements. (Indian Express 13/2/12) Israel embassy car blown up in Delhi (12) New Delhi, Feb. 13: International covert war leaped from Oscar-season television screens to the middle of India’s most protected zone this afternoon when a suspected “magnetic bomb” blew up an Israeli embassy car near the Prime Minister’s house. The wife of the Israeli defence attache suffered grievous injury, three others were wounded and Israel bluntly accused Iran and its protégé Hezbollah of engineering the attack, which was preceded by the discovery and deactivation of a bomb in an Israeli embassy vehicle in the former Soviet republic of Georgia. Iran, over which India has refused to fully toe the West’s line, denied responsibility for the attacks. Hezbollah made no comment. The New Delhi blast was not that powerful but dramatic images of the Toyota Innova bursting into flames and the explosive background to the episode ensured that the attack assumed a global profile. The blast comes at a time Israel, which considers Iran’s nuclear programme an existential threat, is said to be preparing for a strike on Iranian nuclear facilities. The modus operandi of the New Delhi attack was almost identical to the one in which a young nuclear scientist, Mustafa Ahmadi Roshan, was assassinated in Iran a little over a month ago by alleged Israeli agents as part of the secret war on Tehran’s nuclear programme. According to preliminary investigations, a biker wearing a red helmet and a brown jacket stuck a magnetic device on the car, following which it exploded around 3.15pm on Aurangzeb Road, not far from the Prime Minister’s 7 Race Course Road home. A magnetic device or “sticky bomb” and bike-borne planters were involved in

last month’s attack on the Iranian scientist. Tal Yehoshua Koren, 42, the wife of Israeli defence attache Col. Yossi Refaelov, was on her way to pick up her two children from the fortress-like American School run by the US embassy. Yehoshua Koren, who also works at the Israeli embassy, underwent two “major surgeries” at a private hospital and her condition was said to be “critical but stable”. “She has shrapnel injuries because of the blast,” said Deep Makkar, who heads the international patients division at Primus Super Specialty Hospital. The doctor said shrapnel “has penetrated her spine and her liver”. The three other injured are the Innova driver Manoj Sharma, 42; and two occupants of a nearby car, Arun Sharma, 60, and Manjit Singh, 78. They were being treated for injuries at different hospitals. Tweets of an eyewitness suggested the lady wanted to go to the embassy after the blast. Driver Manoj also said: “I just felt the fire and I came out... and then brought out madam. I then put her inside an auto and went with her to the embassy.” Delhi police commissioner B.K. Gupta did not say today’s strike was a terror attack. He said an eyewitness “saw a person on a motorcycle sticking some kind of a device on the back of the car.” As the motorcycle moved away, “a mild blast took place in the back of the car”, he said. “The blast could have been triggered with a remote-control device,” Gupta said. An indication that the Delhi blast could be a part of targeted attacks on Israeli staff came when a foreign ministry spokesperson said in Jerusalem that a bomb was found in Tbilisi, too. Authorities in Georgia said an explosive device was planted on the car of a driver for the Israeli embassy. Shota Utiashvili, spokesperson for the Georgian interior ministry, said the driver noticed a package attached to his car’s undercarriage and called the police. A grenade was found in the package and it was defused. In what appeared to be a precautionary move, Israel’s ambassador to Egypt was held in the VIP lounge at Cairo’s airport for four hours while police dogs sniffed two embassy cars waiting for him. He later left for home under tight security and the lounge was thoroughly searched. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed Iran. “Today we witnessed two attempts of terrorism against innocent civilians,” Netanyahu told lawmakers of his Likud Party in Jerusalem. “Iran is behind these attacks and it is the largest terror exporter in the world.” Netanyahu linked the incidents to allegations of similar but foiled attacks in Thailand and Azerbaijan last month. Iran rejected the accusations as “sheer lies”. “Any terrorist attack is condemned (by Iran) and we strongly reject the untrue comments by an Israeli official,” Mahdi Nabizadeh, Iran’s ambassador to India, said. Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Ramin Mehmanparast said: “It seems that these suspicious incidents are designed by the Zionist regime and carried out with the aim of harming Iran’s reputation.” Ravi Singh, an eyewitness who owns one of the two petrol pumps located near the blast site in Delhi, said: “I was taken aback by the sound of an explosion and immediately rushed to the spot. I found the car in flames and a fire tender from the nearby air force station was pressed into service to douse the leaping fire.” His petrol pump is about 200 meters from the explosion site. Singh recorded the footage of the burning car on his cellphone and later circulated it among mediapersons. “This is a very protected area and there is hardly any traffic movement on the stretch. Despite this, the terrorist attacked the vehicle and managed to escape. Thank God there was no casualty. Where were our police personnel?” he asked. “We got information that the Innova was standing at the red light when the bike-borne man stuck the explosive substance on the rear windshield and fled,” said a police officer. US secretary of state Hillary Clinton condemned the attacks. “We stand ready to assist with any investigation of these cowardly actions,” she said. (Telegraph 14/2/12) 26/11 was meticulously planned: SC told (12) New Delhi, February 22, 2012: Mohd Ajmal Amir Kasab's confession coupled with the intercepted conversation between the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack executors and their Pakistani handlers prove that the assault on the commercial capital was a result of a "meticulous" planning across the border, the Supreme Court was told on Wednesday. Prosecutors said the terror attack on Mumbai was "skillfully" executed and the recoveries made during the course of investigation showed it was planned by Pakistani handlers in a long meeting. "The handlers and ten terrorists had a long meeting before the attack as it is evident from the confession of Kasab as well as from the telephonic conversation intercepted by the

Mumbai Police," former Solicitor General Gopal Subramaniam and Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam submitted to a bench of justices Aftab Alam and C K Prasad. While seeking the apex court's endorsement of the death sentence awarded to 24-year-old Kasab, the advocates, who were appearing for the Maharashtra government, said conversations among the terrorists and their handlers were intercepted by the Mumbai Police when Hotel Taj, Nariman House and Hotel Oberoi Trident were attacked. Kasab is the sole convict of the carnage in which 166 people were killed. The counsel said four terrorists from Hotel Taj, two from Nariman House and two from Hotel Oberoi Trident were interacting with their handlers in Pakistan and each of the ten terrorists had the mobile phones of the same company. In the special leave petition (SLP) challenging the Bombay High Court judgement, which had confirmed his death sentence, Kasab had claimed he was brainwashed like a "robot" into committing the heinous crime in the name of "God" and that he does not deserve capital punishment owing to his young age. Kasab, who is lodged in Arthur Road Prison in Mumbai, had moved the SLP through the jail authorities. Kasab, along with nine other Pakistani terrorists, had landed in south Mumbai on November 26, 2008 night after travelling from Karachi by sea and had gone on a shooting spree at various city landmarks. While Kasab was captured alive, the other terrorists in his group had been killed by security forces during the counter-terror operations. He was sentenced to death by a special anti-terror court on May 6, 2010. The Bombay High Court had upheld on February 21 last year the trial court's order of death sentence to Kasab for the "brutal and diabolical" attacks aimed at "destabilising" the government. Kasab's death penalty was upheld on charges of criminal conspiracy, waging war against the nation and various other provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the anti-terror law --Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The high court had upheld Kasab's conviction on 19 counts under the IPC, Arms Act, Explosives Act, Explosive Substances Act, Foreigners Act, Passport Act and Railway Act. (The Hindustan Times 22/2/12) Indian Mujahideen suspect held by Delhi Police in B ihar (12) NEW DELHI, February 23, 2012: A 50-year-old man suspected to be working as a recruiter for the terror outfit Indian Mujahideen has been arrested by the Delhi Police Special Cell at Darbhanga in Bihar. The accused has been identified as Qafeel, who ran a cycle repair shop in Darbhanga. According to the police, he was close to the alleged Indian Mujahideen chief Shahrukh and was in direct touch with him. The Special Cell received information about the suspect following the recent arrest of several other alleged members of the Indian Mujahideen. During interrogation, Qafeel purportedly disclosed that he brainwashed young men into joining the outfit. The police suspect that he has so far recruited over 20 people, 18 of whom are still at large. They are trying to ascertain the identities of the absconding suspects to launch a hunt for them. The police had earlier this month arrested Bashir Hasan alias Masterji, a suspected terrorist, and Tariq, an alleged co-founder and ideologue of the outfit. (The Hindu 23/2/12) Saffron outfit backs state policy on anti-terror bo dy (12) BHUBANESWAR: The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) joined the anti-NCTC ( National Counter Terrorism Centre) bandwagon on Wednesday with the saffron outfit's international working president Pravin Togadia describing the central proposal as an "eyewash".Laying stress on the participation of people in fighting terrorism, Togadia said VHP would announce its action plan on "anti-terrorism" strategy at Godhra, Gujarat, on February 27. "We will consult different states and civil society organizations to combat terrorism," Togadia told media persons here. Togadia took potshots at UPA government for "completely failing" to counter terrorism. "Now the Centre has bypassed states and formed NCTC. It is nothing, but eyewash," he said. The VHP leader demanded formulation of stringent anti-terror laws in the country. "There was no need to scrap Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA). The government should bring laws stronger than POTA," he said. Throwing his support behind the states, which are opposing NCTC, Togadia said the Centre should coordinate and consult with states to effectively thwart terror activities. Chief minister Naveen Patnaik spearheaded the anti-NCTC movement against Centre by first writing to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on February 13. His counterparts in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Bihar

and several others followed suit. Apparently bowing to pressure from those states, the Prime Minister on Tuesday replied to Naveen after the latter shot off a second letter to him on February 20. The PM wrote that NCTC is part of Intelligence Bureau (IB) and not a separate organization created to infringe on the federal powers of states. Togadia further opposed the 4.5 per cent reservation to Muslims within the Other Backward Classes quota and said VHP would launch nationwide protest against it. (Times of India 23/2/12) NCTC not to be operational from March 1 (12) New Delhi, February 27, 2012: The National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), which is facing stiff opposition from non-Congress Chief Ministers, will not be operationalised on March 1 as scheduled and the anti-terror body may take its shape only after a meeting of the police chiefs of all states likely to be held here on March 10. The appointments of the Director and three joint Directors of NCTC have also been put on hold after Home Minister P. Chidambaram wrote a letter to 10 Chief Ministers where he had assured that the “next steps” on NCTC will be taken only after the meeting of DGPs. Union Home Secretary will invite Chief Secretaries and Home Commissioners of all States along with the DGPs and heads of anti-terror organisations for a meeting, possibly on March 10, to “discuss in detail the scope and functions of the NCTC”, Home Ministry sources said. As counting of Assembly elections in five states will be held on March 6 and Holi will be celebrated on March 8, the much awaited meeting got delayed. In his letter, the Home Minister had sought to allay the apprehensions of the Chief Ministers who said empowering NCTC with Section 43 (A) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act would infringe on the state’s powers. Section 43(A) of UA(P)A gives an officer power to arrest and search. Mr. Chidambaram said the powers conferred under Section 43(A) of the UA(P) Act must be read with the duty under Section 43 (B) to produce the person or article without unnecessary delay before the nearest police station (which will be under the state government), and the SHO of the police station will take further action in accordance with the provisions of the CrPC. The Home Minister told the Chief Ministers that these are “bare minimum powers” that would be necessary when engaged in counter terrorism operations. The Chief Ministers had complained that the anti-terror body will hurt the country’s federal structure and infringe on powers of the state government. Chidambaram made it clear to them that countering terrorism is a shared responsibility and the intention of the Central government was to continue to work with the state governments in order to meet the challenge of terrorism and for this purpose the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) was amended in 2004 and 2008 through joint efforts. In the note, the Home Minister said that a body mandated to deal with counter terrorism must have, in certain circumstances, an operational capability which is true of all counter terrorism bodies in the world. The Chief Ministers had complained to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that the NCTC was going to be set up without any consultation with the state governments and this was not acceptable to them. Those who had complained include Chief Ministers of Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, West Bengal, Odisha, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Tripura. (The Hindu 27/2/12) Centre backs off, NCTC is put on hold (12) New Delhi: Under fire from non-Congress chief ministers for allegedly undermining the federal structure of the constitution while deciding to set up the National Counter-Terrorism Centre (NCTC), the central government is learnt to have decided to put off indefinitely the operationalisation of the body. The NCTC was scheduled to start functioning from March 1. Any concrete action will now be taken only after the centre convenes a meeting of the police chiefs of all states here on March 10. The appointment of the director and three joint directors of the NCTC has also been put on hold. Sources said the union home ministry intends to discuss the scope and functions of the NCTC at the March 10 meeting of the DGPs. Doubts raised by state governments over the powers and functions of the body would also be clarified at the meeting. The central government’s decision to operationlise the NCTC on March 1 had drawn protests from non-Congress states, who were joined by UPA ally Mamata Banerjee. The chief ministers

complained to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that the centre was being set up without consulting the states, which was not acceptable to them. In a letter to chief ministers of 10 states, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram said last week that a meeting of the heads of police and anti-terror bodies in states would be convened to “discuss in detail the scope and functions of the NCTC”. Allaying the apprehensions of the chief ministers, who have asserted that empowering NCTC with Section 43 (A) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act would infringe on the powers of states, Chidambaram said in his letter that the powers conferred under Section 43(A) must be read with the duties under Section 43 (B) to produce the person or article without unnecessary delay before the nearest police station (which will be under the state government). The concerned station house officer would then take further action in accordance with the provisions of the CrPC. (Indian Express 28/2/12)

“Next step on NCTC after meeting States” (12) NEW DELHI, March 1, 2012: Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram on Wednesday said meeting of State police chiefs, heads of anti-terrorism squads, Chief Secretaries and Home Secretaries had been called to allay the apprehensions of the State governments over the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC). “I am confident that this meeting will find a way forward. My note to the Chief Ministers sent earlier is also self-explanatory,” Mr. Chidambaram said at his monthly press conference here. Union Home Secretary R.K. Singh has invited the Chief Secretaries, Directors-General of Police and Home Commissioners/Secretaries to discuss the scope and functions of the NCTC here on March 9. Asked if he would meet the Chief Ministers to resolve differences over the proposed counter-terror hub, the Minister said that it would depend on the meeting convened by the Home Secretary. “Before taking the next step, let us go through this meeting,” he added.Under attack from non-Congress Chief Ministers who apprehend that the proposed NCTC would infringe on the powers and rights of the States, the Centre has put on hold the operationalisation of the counter-terror hub from March 1 and decided to hold discussions with the State governments. In his letter to 10 Chief Ministers, Mr. Chidambaram had assured them that the “next steps” on NCTC would be taken only after the meeting of the top officials of the States. Top Home Ministry officials are expected to allay the apprehensions. The States had said that empowering the NCTC with Section 43 (A) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act would infringe on their powers. This section confers on an officer power to search and arrest. Mr. Chidambaram said that if the NCTC had to conduct counter-terrorism operations, it had to be given “minimum powers” to arrest. “This power is only while conducting counter-terror operations or foiling designs of terrorists to launch an attack. Even after arresting a suspect, the operations division of the NCTC will have to, without unnecessary delay, hand him over to the nearest police station. If you agree to give counter-terror capability to the NCTC, then its operations division cannot rely upon others to conduct search and make arrest. There is no legal difficulty in doing this and this has also been examined by the Intelligence Bureau where the NCTC is proposed to be located,” he told journalists. Mr. Chidambaram said the powers conferred under Section 43(A) must be read with the duty under Section 43 (B) of the Act to produce the person or article without unnecessary delay before the nearest police station (which will be under the State government), and the Station House Officer will take further action in accordance with the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code. In his letter to the Chief Ministers, Mr. Chidambaram said these were “bare minimum powers” necessary when engaged in counter-terrorism operations. In an attached note, the Minister said that a body mandated to deal with counter-terrorism must have, in certain circumstances, an operational capability which was true of all counter-terrorism bodies in the world. Asked how long it would take to make the NCTC operational, Mr. Chidambaram said with a smile: “I am a patient man. I have been showing patience since November 2009. I am willing to be patient for some more time, as long as it is necessary.” Referring to the busting of a Lashkar-e-Taiba module in the Capital by the Delhi police and the Central agencies, he said it underscored the need for the NCTC. Complimenting the police and

intelligence agencies on smashing the module, Mr. Chidambaram said that suspected terrorists had planned to detonate one or more bombs at a crowded place in Delhi. (The Hindu 1/3/12) 2 Lashkar men held, terror bid foiled in Delhi (12) New Delhi Two terrorists owing allegiance to the Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba were caught and arrested from New Delhi on Wednesday. The police said the arrested duo had plans to carry out attacks in crowded places in the national capital. The duo has been identified only by their first names - Ethisham and Shafaqat. Chief of Delhi police B K Gupta described the arrests as “a good catch” as the duo was planning to strike anytime”. Gupta said that material used for making improvised explosive devices, including sulphuric acid, had been recovered from the two men. One of the terror suspects is said to be adept at mounting such devices, according to the police. The terror suspects also possessed memory cards showing terror training camps in Pakistan. The duo was picked up from Tughlakabad in South Delhi and was produced before an additional chief metropolitan magistrate who remanded them in police custody for 10 days. Acting on an intelligence tip-off, the Delhi police, in close coordination with their counterparts in Jammu and Kashmir and in Jharkhand, nabbed the duo when they were planning to carry out the attacks at more than one place in the capital, the police said. Union home minister P Chidambaram described the arrests as an “important breakthrough”. However, hours after central agencies and police forces of three states busted the terror module, Chidambaram said there was no VVIP on their target. “They were planning to detonate a bomb or more than one bomb in crowded localities,” he said, adding that more details would be known only after their detailed interrogation was completed. Some more people have been detained in this connection and they will be produced before local courts in due course of time, he said. Meanwhile, Chidambaram asserted that probe into the terror attack on an Israeli diplomat was going on the right track but refused to comment on reports in Israeli newspapers which suggested Iran’s involvement in it. He also said that the busting of Lashkar-e-Toiba underscores the need for a National Counter-Terrorism Centre (NCTC). Asked whether it was necessary to give powers to the NCTC to arrest, Chidambaram said these powers were only vested with the operational unit of the NCTC and not everyone. Counter-terror centre meeting on march 9The Union home ministry has convened a meeting of top police and civil officers of all states on March 9 to allay apprehensions that the National Counter-Terrorism Centre (NCTC) could usurp their powers. Union Home Secretary R K Singh has invited chief secretaries, directors general of police and home commissioners/ secretaries of all states to discuss in detail the scope and functions of the centre. In the wake of strong protests by non-Congress chief ministers, the Centre had decided to discuss with state governments before going ahead with the plan. (Mumbai Mirror 2/3/12) NCTC: Top rebel too sees red like Naveen (12) BHUBANESWAR: In his opposition to UPA’s proposed National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has found an unlikely ally in Sabyasachi Panda, Odisha State Organisational secretary of CPI (Maoist). The outlawed outfit on Monday came out in support of Naveen and other states which are protesting the NCTC formation. “The CMs of 10 states, led by Naveen, have opposed the way NCTC has been planned. Although their opposition is not without motive, it is still worth the appreciation,” a statement issued by Sabyasachi said. Sabyasachi, whose cadre name is Sunil, said the NCTC is nothing but the oppressive and undemocratic mindset of the UPA and the BJP. It was the latter, which had floated the NCTC, and now the Congress is taking it forward. “Using the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, NCTC can wreak havoc in the states. It can arrest anyone, cause torture in the garb of interrogation, seek any information it wants from states and its biggest flaw is the NCTC can be a tool in the hands of the ruling party at the Centre,” he added. Citing Operation Green Hunt, the CPI (Maoist) said the NCTC will be another mechanism through which resistance will be targeted in India. The way the Congress Government had unleashed Emergency in the 1975, the NCTC will be used the same way to target ministers and politicians of the states, Sabyasachi said. The Maoist leader also took the opportunity

to take potshots at Naveen for allowing operation Green Hunt in Odisha and said it is time it was halted. (NIE 6/3/12) 26/11 probe: Pakistan judicial panel to visit India next week (12) ISLAMABAD, March 7, 2012: Nearly two years after it was first mooted, a Pakistani Judicial Commission will leave for India on March 14 to record statements of the magistrate and others closely involved in the investigations into the 2008 Mumbai terror attack. The schedule for the visit was presented to the Anti-Terrorism Court – hearing the case in-camera at Rawalpindi's high security Adiala Jail – by the federal government on Tuesday. The court is conducting the trial of the seven accused in the Mumbai terror attack case. The accused includes Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi of Lashkar-e-Taiba. According to Lakhvi's lawyer Khwaja Haris, the team heading for Mumbai via New Delhi would include four lawyers, two prosecutors besides officials of the government and the court. Pakistan had sought dates from India and New Delhi had informed Islamabad that the four persons whom the Commission wants to meet would be available between March 12 and 22. The Commission is slated to record the statements of the magistrate who recorded the confession made by the lone terrorist nabbed alive, Ajmal Kasab, two doctors who conducted the post-mortem on the other terrorists involved in the multiple attacks, and the chief investigation officer of the case. The issue of a Judicial Commission from Pakistan visiting India has been hanging fire since August 2010 after India turned down Islamabad's request to send Kasab here to testify in court as his confessional statement was not admissible evidence. (The Hindu 7/3/12) MASS opposes NCTC in Assam (12) The Manab Adhikar Sangram Samiti on Tuesday urged the Assam government to emulate the chief ministers of West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar and Tamil Nadu and oppose the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC). MASS general secretary Dilip Patgiri told said that the proposed NCTC is against the federal structure of the Indian constitution and there is no need for creation of such a body. He said that Assam did not require any draconian law as most of the militant and separatist groups have come ahead for negotiations with the government. (Assam Times 7/3/12) Governor admits threat - GNLA posing challenge to p eace: Mooshahary (12) Shillong, March 9: Meghalaya governor R.S. Mooshahary today admitted that the Garo hills-based GNLA posed a serious challenge to the peace and development efforts of the government because of the series of killings, abductions and extortion being carried out by the militant outfit. Addressing the Assembly on the opening day of the budget session today, the governor said there had been a spurt in the activities of GNLA in Garo hills and certain areas of West Khasi Hills bordering East and South Garo Hills. “This group poses a serious challenge to peace and development efforts. Serving of demand notes, killing of innocent civilians and abduction of citizens by the GNLA is a matter of serious concern,” Mooshahary said. The governor said recently the Centre has declared the GNLA a terrorist organisation under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, and as per law, action would be taken against the members of the militant outfit and those found supporting the organisation by way of raising funds. “Sustained efforts will also be made by the government to neutralise the activities of other militant outfits in the state,” he added. According to the governor, the state police, with the assistance of central agencies, was taking all steps in order to effectively counter anti- national and criminal activities. Commenting on the problem of influx of illegal migrants and militants, the governor said the 443km international border that Meghalaya shares with Bangladesh posed its own problems in terms of influx and smuggling. The use of the porous border as easy transit routes by the militant groups of the region was also a cause of concern, he added. “The expeditious completion of the border fencing is therefore a priority for the government and moreover, the state government has also taken up with the Centre (the decision) to intensify patrolling along the border,” the governor said. According to the governor, the state government has discussed with the Centre the need for fencing along the zero line to ensure that the human habitations and settlements on the border

are not affected. Mooshahary said to deal with the problem of influx, district-level task force had been constituted and the government also commenced work on registration of migrant workers. On the inter-state border issue, the governor said differences over the inter-state boundary with Assam were being discussed by the state government with the neighbouring state. He said the government was discussing with Delhi the need to set up a boundary commission after a resolution was passed by the Assembly. (The Telegraph 10/3/12) Fate of national anti-terror body remains uncertain (12) New Delhi: After spending an entire day to convince states that the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) as proposed by the Union Home Minister P Chidambaram wouldn't infringe on the powers of the individual states, the Union Home Ministry issued a short press brief claiming "almost all states in principle agreed on the need to have an effective anti-terrorism mechanism like National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC)." And, yet it is clear that the NCTC, the dream project of the Union Home Minister, is unlikely to go through in its present shape and form. The NCTC is structured to be a pre-emptive anti-terrorist strike task force. It is empowered to demand information from all bodies and organizations across the country, collate such information and carry out stealthy counter terrorist operations on its own without keeping the local government or the local police in the loop till the operation is over. This didn't go done well with the states. Several states including the UPA's ally Mamata Banerjee wrote to the Prime Minister in protest. It forced the government to stop operationalizing the NCTC. Today's meeting with the Chief Secretary's, Director General of Police and heads of states anti- terror units was aimed at defusing this opposition. The result of consultation, however, seems to be contrary to expectations. States like Bihar and Orissa are understood to have told the Centre that formation of a body as powerful the NCTC without political consultations is unacceptable. They are also understood to have said that the NCTC with unbridled powers to raid, search, seizure and arrest cannot be placed under the Intelligence Bureau which is not accountable before the courts and even out of the purview of the RTI act. BJP ruled Madhya Pradesh has told the Centre that NCTC should be kept separate of the Intelligence Bureau and counter terrorist operations should be carried out jointly with the state police organizations instead of the NCTC carrying out counter-terrorist operations on its own. And, it is not only non-Congress ruled states that have raised an alarm. Congress ruled Kerala while accepting the NCTC has pointed out that powers of NCTC and its functioning needs to be clarified as does the role and scope of the local police organizations. The Union Home Ministry, on the other hand, is understood to have told the states that the Centre is well within its powers to form a body like the NCTC. Union Home Secretary R K Singh is believed to have told the anxious state representatives that Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act as amended in 2008 allows the Centre to have a body that can search, seize and arrest. Clearly, therefore, the fate of NCTC remains uncertain with neither the Centre nor the states willing to budge. In the United States, economist Jagdish Bhagwati writes in his book "In Defense of Globalization", tax laws are made very tough to please the Democrats and the loopholes introduced to please republicans. Perhaps this applies to the Centre as well, because hard-nosed politics is better suited to cover nations, not law books. (NDTV 12/3/12) Delhi HC blast a retaliation to Afzal Guru death se ntence: NIA (12) New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency told a court today that terrorists exploded a bomb in the Delhi High Court last year with the sole aim to get Parliament attacker Afzal Guru's death sentence commuted. In a 1,062-page chargesheet filed before District Judge H S Sharma during an in-camera hearing, NIA said two Pakistani nationals Abu Bilal and Abu Saifullah had allegedly planted the bomb at the entrance of gate 5 which killed 17 people and injured over 90. The agency filed the chargesheet against six people, including three arrested accused Wasim Akram Malik, Amir Abbas Dev and a minor. Those evading arrest are Amir Kamal, Junaid Akram Malik and Shakir Hussain Seikh alias Chota Hafiz of the banned terror outfit Hizb-ul Mujahideen. The agency said the entire conspiracy was hatched between

June and September last year at Kishtwar in Jammu and Kashmir by Wasim Akram Malik and other co-accused to "threaten the judiciary" so that the death sentence of Afzal Guru might get repealed. The probe agency said the process of proclamation against the three absconding accused has already been initiated and a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh each has been announced for giving information about their whereabouts, the sources said. The chargesheet against the accused has been filed under various sections of the IPC dealing with murder, criminal conspiracy, waging war against the nation, attempt to murder, causing grievous hurt and others. Besides these, the accused have also been charged under various sections of the Explosive Substances Act and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. (Indian Express 13/3/12) Open warrant against Iranian in diplomat car bombin g case (12) New Delhi: A Delhi court has issued an "open warrant" against another Iranian national in connection with the February 13 Israeli diplomat car bombing in which journalist Syed Mohammed Ahmad Kazmi has already been arrested. Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Vinod Yadav issued the warrant against Masod Sedaghatzadeh, an Iranian national who is said to be detained in Malaysia, after Special Cell of Delhi Police said he was also involved in the conspiracy of the blast. "You (police) are hereby directed to arrest him," the CMM said. Earlier, the court had issued open warrants against three other Iranian nationals Housan Afshar, Syed Ali Mehdi Sadr and Mohammed Reza Abolghasemi, who were alleged to be part of the conspiracy and had left India immediately after the incident. According to the sources, Sedaghatzadeh, who holds an Iranian passport, has been detained in Malaysia on March 14 and the Delhi Police would now request the Interpol to issue a Red Corner Notice (RCN) against him. Sedaghatzadeh has been charged under various provisions of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, the Explosives Substances Act and the IPC. The police, which had earlier named the three Iranians in its application, had told the court that the probe so far has revealed that they are not in Indian territory and their whereabouts are not known. The open warrant will authorise the investigators to take necessary action against the accused as and when they are apprehended. The blast was caused by a magnetic bomb stuck to the vehicle of diplomat Tal Yehoshua, injuring her and her Indian driver, besides two others. Kazmi, who claimed to have been writing for an Iranian publication, was picked up after a probe showed that he was allegedly in touch with the suspect who is believed to have stuck the bomb on the car. (DNA 17/3/12) Inclusion of HUF under terror law sets off a row (1 2) BJP and Trinamul MPs have objected to a move by the Union home ministry to include “Hindu undivided family” (known by the acronym HUF, usually in tax matters) in amendments to the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). The term ‘Hindu undivided family’ is a recognized entity under the income-tax laws; now it appears a person can be punished under UAPA in certain eventualities. Members of the parliamentary standing committee on home are asking the government to explain why it is linking “HUF” with terrorist acts in the UAPA Amendment Bill 2011. Some CPI members of the committee have also raised the issue. Some MPs have suggested it could have communal overtones. The bill amends the original law to include the definition of a person as “an individual, a Hindu undivided family, a company, firm, association of persons or a body of individuals, every artificial juridical person or agency”, and enlarges punishment for those who raise or provide funds knowing these will be used to commit a terrorist act. Defending the move, the home ministry said the phrase was already incorporated in the I-T Act and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The matter will come up before the standing committee again on Monday. The MHA wants the bill passed by March 31 to fulfil its obligations to the Financial Action Task Force, an inter-governmental body tackling terror financing. (Asian Age 19/3/12)

Two Manipuri militants arrested from Siliguri by NI A (12) Siliguri (West Bengal), March 23 : Two members of Manipur's banned Kangleipak Communist Party of Manipur were arrested Friday from near the Indo-Nepal border here in West Bengal's Darjeeling district, police said. The duo - Y. Ingo Singh and Rajesh Singh - were nabbed from the Panitanki area under Kahribari police station by a team of National Investigation Agency personnel, Darjeeling district police sources said. Assistant public prosecutor Ranjit Saha said the two were produced before the additional chief judicial magistrate's Court which allowed a transit remand for taking them to Manipur. The duo have been charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code including criminal conspiracy, waging war against the government, as also under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. Earlier, Manipuri militants have been taken into custody from Siliguri and Kolkata. Top United Liberation Front of Assam leader Mrinal Hazarika and a member of the think-tank of the then banned Nepal Maoists, Mohan Baidya, were also caught by police in this northern Bengal town. (IANS) (New Kerala 24/3/12) Gujarat blast suspect killed in encounter (12) Mumbai, March 26: A terror suspect was shot dead and two of his accomplices arrested in Aurangabad today, with the Maharashtra ATS claiming they were part of a gang plotting to kill two of the judges in the Ayodhya land ruling. One of those arrested, Mohammed Abrar Babu Khan, is also a fugitive in the Ahmedabad blast case of July 2008 in which over 55 people died, ATS officers said. They added that Abrar was also wanted in the murder of two ATS personnel in Madhya Pradesh. The slain suspect was identified as Khalil Khilji, 20. The third is Mohammed Shakir, who is in hospital after taking a bullet in his thigh during the alleged afternoon encounter that also left an ATS constable wounded. Abrar was not injured. The group of which the three were a part was led by Abu Faisal, a former member of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (Simi), till his arrest last July in Madhya Pradesh. After Faisal went behind bars, Abrar and Khilji had taken over the group’s reins, ATS sources said. The group was reportedly plotting to kill two of the Allahabad High Court judges who had ruled on the disputed Ayodhya site in October 2010, ATS sources said citing Faisal’s statement after his arrest in Madhya Pradesh. Abrar and Faisal were also in touch with Abdus Subhan alias Tauqeer, a fugitive of the Indian Mujahideen, which has been blamed for many blasts in recent years, according to the ATS sources. The group carried out robberies and used the money for terror activities, the sources said. “They had stolen gold from a bank and used the money to buy a property in Jamshedpur and to make forged passports. The money they made from robberies was used for training, paying lawyers and funding terror activities,” an ATS officer said. The ATS claimed Khilji, Abrar and Shakir were trying to set up a base in Maharashtra. The sleuths had been tracking their movements across the towns of Aurangabad, Buldhana and Jalna for the past two to three months. This afternoon, the ATS had information that the trio would be in Aurangabad’s Himayat Bagh area. The suspects fired five rounds and one of the bullets hit constable Aarif Shaikh Ismail on his shoulder, prompting the cops to retaliate, the ATS officers said. Two 7.65mm pistols and 11 cartridges were found with Khalil, while a pistol each and four cartridges were recovered from the other two, the ATS officers said. “Shakir and Abrar are now in our custody on charges of attempt to murder,” said another officer. (Telegraph 27/3/12) Two-IM linked terror suspects arrested in Maharasht ra (12) Aurangabad: Two more terror suspects were arrested from their hideout in Buldhana district of Maharashtra on Tuesday, a day after state ATS apprehended a man wanted in 2008 Ahmedabad blasts following the gunning down of his accomplice in an encounter in Aurangabad. Akheel Khilji (45) and Mohammed Jafar Hussain Qureshi (32), former members of banned outfit SIMI, were apprehended by ATS from their rented house at Pimpalgaon village in Buldhana in central Maharashtra, police said. A 7.65 mm pistol, five live rounds, documents related to two bank accounts in Madhya Pradesh of Akheel, who used to head Khandwa's SIMI unit, and documents were recovered from them, police said. The duo, booked under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), have close links with home-grown terror outfit

Indian Mujahideen (IM), police claimed. Akheel is the father of Mohammed Shakeer, who was arrested yesterday along with Mohammed Abrar Babu Khan (32), suspected to be involved in the Ahmedabad blasts that claimed 56 lives. Their aide Khaleel Qureshi (20) was shot dead in an exchange of fire in Aurangabad, central Maharasthra. The arrested persons, according to police, had carried out a spate of bank robberies in Madhya Pradesh and used the money for terror funding. "The gang had also spent the money on legal expenses of their aides who are behind the bars now," a police officer said. The Madhya Pradesh-based gang, earlier headed by Abu Faizal, a former member of the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), had been trying to set up a base in Maharashtra. Its members had been staying under bogus names in rented houses in Aurangabad, Jalna and Buldhana districts, he said. Police said IM's key operative Abdul Subhan Qureshi alias Tauqueer, wanted in several terror cases, had been given shelter for four to five months in 2008 by Abu Faizal who was nabbed in June last year by MP Police. Tauqueer was one of the speakers at the terror training camp organised in Kerala where some of these gang members had undergone training in 2008, police said. Faizal, Abrar and Akheel were also closely associated with another IM key operative, Safdar Nagori, police said. After Faizal's arrest, the gang was headed by Akheel and Abrar who bought a flat in Jamshedpur (Jharkhand) for Rs 15 lakh, which they got after selling part of the 12kg gold they had looted from a gold finance company in MP. "The Jamshedpur house was being used as the address to get passports for the gang members who can be sent out for terror training," the officer said. "After Faizal's arrest last year, the gang was planning to shift to Maharashtra," said an official. (DNA 28/3/12)

Saeed is back as key player in jihadi politics (12) Islamabad: Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, who has been named among the world's five most wanted terrorists by the US, has re-emerged as a key player in Pakistan's jihadi politics after a brief setback in the wake of the 2008 Mumbai attacks. Though Saeed was briefly placed under house arrest after the Mumbai incident, largely due to pressure from the West and the UN Security Council, the 61-year-old militant ideologue staged a powerful comeback last year by uniting over 40 hardline and extremist groups under the umbrella of the Defa-e-Pakistan Council (DPC). Cashing in on anti-American sentiments following a NATO air strike that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers in November, the DPC ? which includes notorious banned groups like the Sipah-e-Sahaba has organised massive rallies across Pakistan. At these gatherings, militant leaders like Saeed have backed calls for jihad while targeting the US and India. Saeed maintained a low profile for over a year after the Mumbai attacks, carried out by LeT, and for some time authorities barred him from appearing at gatherings. However, he stepped up his public appearances in 2011, and came to Islamabad for the first time since the Mumbai attacks on April 11 last year to lead funeral prayers for Kashmiri leader Maulvi Showkat Ahmed Shah. Since then, Saeed has shared the stage at public meetings with top politicians like PML-N chairman Raja Zafrul Haq and former Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who appeared with the JuD chief at an anti-India meeting in Lahore on February 18. Analysts said Saeed's hobnobbing with these politicians reflects an acceptance of the JuD's immense clout by political parties. "The JuD has a huge network across the country and it has built up goodwill by carrying out relief operations after the 2005 earthquake and the 2010 floods. "No party can afford to ignore the JuD, especially in Punjab province," said one analyst, who did not want to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter. Others questioned the timing of the announcement of the US bounty of 10 million dollars for Saeed, noting that the JuD chief was not on the run and had addressed a DPC rally a short distance from the Parliament in Islamabad as recently as March 27. "The timing of putting Hafiz Saeed on this list of most wanted persons is a bit suspect because Pakistan-US relations are in quite a mess. "It could be the Americans' way of putting pressure on the Pakistani military something they did in the case of Kashmiri activist Ghulam Nabi Fai too," leading columnist Mehmal Sarfraz told PTI. "It is also interesting that a bounty has been put on Saeed despite the fact that he's not in hiding he holds public rallies in major cities across Pakistan. "What will they do about

that? And it is quite clear that it has nothing to do with India as such but only Pakistan-US relations," she added. Pakistan-US ties have virtually been on hold since the NATO air strike in November and a parliamentary review ordered by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has run into problems due to reservations expressed by some opposition parties to proposed new terms of engagement. Observers believe the bounty for Saeed, who has long been accused of having links to the security establishment, could be part of American measures to put the squeeze on the Pakistani military. Saeed has been named among four terrorists for whom the US Rewards for Justice programme has offered 10 million dollars. The others in the same category include Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Mohammad Omar and al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Du'a. The only person with a greater bounty on his head is al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri, for whom the US has offered 25 million dollars. Though the UN Security Council named the JuD as a front for the LeT in the wake of the Mumbai attacks, the Pakistan never formally banned the group under the Anti-Terrorism Act. This was even acknowledged by a senior law officer of the federal government in the Lahore High Court in 2009 during the hearing of a case related to Saeed's detention. Some have also raised questions about Saeed's continued patronage by the security establishment. When Saeed and Ahl-e-Sunnat Wal Jamaat leader Ahmed Ludhianvi attended a DPC rally in Islamabad on March 27, Ludhianvi was chased by security forces for almost six hours, arrested and symbolically detained for a day for defying an order not to enter the federal capital. Though the same order applied to Saeed, the JuD leader was allowed to address the rally and leave Islamabad without facing any problems. (Zee News 3/4/12) Those engaged in terror acts should be brought to b ook: PM (12) New Delhi: With the US announcing a USD 10 million bounty on Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday said those engaged in terror acts against India should be brought to book. "All those who are engaged in terrorist acts against our country should be brought to book," Singh told reporters on the sidelines of a function to give away Padma awards at Rashtrapati Bhawan. Singh was asked to comment on the US bounty on Saeed and whether he would take up the matter with Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari during his India visit on Sunday. The US State Department has announced a reward of upto USD 10 million for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Saeed and a reward of upto USD two million for information leading to the location of LeT's second-in-command Hafiz Abdul Rahman Makki. LeT was designated by the US State Department as a Foreign Terrorist Organization on December 20, 2001. Saeed was involved in the planning of the four-day terrorist attack on Mumbai in November 2008 that left 166 individuals dead, including six US citizens, the State Department said. (CNN-IBN 4/4/12) NCTC meet for CMs (12) New Delhi, April 5, 2012: Conceding the demand of three Chief Ministers including ally Mamata Banerjee, the Centre has convened a stand-alone meeting on May 5 to discuss the setting up of the National Counter-Terrorism Centre (NCTC). The proposal has been held up due to stiff opposition from several states. At a press conference on Tuesday, Home Minister P Chidambaram said he hoped for “very good outcome” after the deliberations as India was one of the most vulnerable countries from terror attacks in the world. “Following the requests of three Chief Ministers, the Prime Minister has asked me to convey to the Chief Ministers that a separate meeting on NCTC can be held on May 5. I have written to all Chief Minister and I hope that they will all confirm their participation,” he said. Earlier, discussion on the NCTC was to be part of an internal security meeting with CMs on April 16. However, some Chief Ministers said that the NCTC proposal required an exclusive discussion. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalitha and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik apart from several others have objected to setting up of the proposed anti-terror hub saying it would infringe upon the states' powers. Other CMs opposed to the NCTC proposal include Nitish Kumar (Bihar), Narendra Modi (Gujarat) and Manik Sarkar (Tripura). The NCTC was notified by the Centre on February 3 but it could not set up

operations due to stiff resistance from several non-Congress CMs who said that the powers of arrest, search and seizures - given to the anti-terror body - would infringe upon states' rights. — PTI (The Hindu 5/4/12) Judicial custody of 13/7 blasts accused extended ti ll April 23 (12) Mumbai: Four accused, arrested in connection with the 13/7 Mumbai triple blasts, were today produced in a special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) court in Mumbai, where their judicial custody was extended till April 23. The Maharashtra ATS, probing the blasts case had invoked stringent provisions of MCOCA against the four arrested accused — Naquee Ahmed, Nadeem Sheikh, Kanwar Pathrija and Haroon Naik — for their alleged involvement in the blasts and were lodged in judicial custody. Also, one of the accused, Nadeem Sheikh, who had given a confession statement, admitting to the alleged offence, filed a retraction before the court today. While Nadeem said his confession was obtained forcefully, another accused Haroon alleged that he was tortured by the agency. Three blasts had taken place minutes apart at Zaveri Bazaar, Opera House and Dadar on July 13 last year killing 27 persons and injuring several others. According to ATS, the blasts were allegedly carried out by terror outfit Indian Mujahideen (IM) in which its top operative Yasin Bhatkal was directly involved. Bhatkal is absconding. The investigating agency had earlier told the magistrate's court while seeking the accused's custody that Pathrija had sent Rs10 lakh to Bhatkal through 'hawala' channels to carry out the blasts. Pathrija was alleged to have recieved the money from Saudi Arabia. (DNA 9/4/12) 7-day deadline for Garo National Liberation Army mi litants to surrender (12) SHILLONG: The Meghalaya police on Tuesday issued an ultimatum to the Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA) to vacate its 'general camp' and surrender before the authorities with weapons within seven days or face the consequences. The move comes days after four cadres of the militant outfit were killed in one of the several conducted in their hideouts. N Ramachandran, director general of police, warned: "The inmates of these camps have been given a week time to surrender with whatever weapons they have. After this deadline, police will have no option but to use force to destroy these camps." As the GNLA is armed with sophisticated weapons, the police will have to lethal weapons. The police have information that the general camp of the GNLA has, apart from some armed militants, a large number of unarmed youngsters. The Meghalaya Police has been refraining from attacking the general camp to avoid harm to the young ones," the DGP said. Emphasizing that the police have so far been exercising "utmost restraint" while carrying out operations against the militants to avoid collateral damage and civilian casualties, the police chief, pointed out that the GNLA has been perpetrating violence and resorting to "barbaric killings" of innocent citizens, kidnappings for ransom and extortion of money in the name of welfare of the Garo people. "However, it is now well known that GNLA leaders have been looking after their own welfare, enriching themselves, making personal investments and stashing away huge amounts of money in neighbouring countries," he said. Ramachandran also revealed that the police have information about certain 'respectable" citizens of the state who are collecting money on behalf of the militants as agents and middlemen. "What is most damaging is that the militant group has been recruiting innocent youngsters and destroying their lives. Many of them are teenagers at an impressionable age and are unable to make informed decisions. This is blatant exploitation of our children for profit of a few persons. If allowed to continue, this may result in massive damage to our society in the future," the top cop said. Urging citizens of the state to inform the police about the presence of militant groups in any area, Ramachandran said: "People are also advised to keep away from militant camps and avoid giving them support by way of rations, medical assistance, mobile phones etc to avoid arrest and prosecution. The GNLA has been declared a terrorist outfit and assisting and aiding such an organization is a serious offence under the law," he cautioned. (Times of India 11/4/12) 'Hafiz Saeed's free movement encourages terror' (12 )

Attari, April 12, 2012: The free movement of Jamat-ud-Dawa founder Hafiz Saeed, mastermind of November 2008 Mumbai terror attack, is encouraging terrorism and souring of Pakistan's relations with India, leading Pakistani rights activist Ansar Burney said on Thursday. India's foreign secretary Ranjan Mathai has said that India is willing to advance its peace talks with Pakistan and discuss the Kashmir issue, but the main stumbling block is Islamabad's failure to clamp down on militant groups. Mathai, in an interview to 'The Wall Street Journal published today, also asserted that Pakistan needs to take serious action against militants using its soil to attack India, he said that it was deeply troubling to India that LeT founder Hafiz Saeed, mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, was able to address public gatherings and appear on television in Pakistan. "If the (Pakistani) army didn't want Hafiz on TV issuing threats to one and all, they'd be able to do something," Mathai said. He said Pakistan's failure to clamp down on militant groups that have attacked India is the major roadblock to peace talks. Mathai said the US decision to put a USD 10 million bounty on Saeed shows that Washington has come around to India's view about the high level of threat from Pakistan-based militant groups. "It does demonstrate that much of what concerns us is a broader international concern," he said. At the same time, Mathai referred to Pakistan's recent moves indicating its willingness to improve bilateral ties, including those on trade. "I wouldn't have been as optimistic six months ago," he said, speaking about prospects for the latest round of peace talks, which began a year ago. (Hindustan Times 12/4/12) India's security challenges to be discussed with st ate governments (12) New Delhi, April 13: The central government will meet all state chief ministers Monday to discuss internal security challenges and measures to tackle them, particularly the threats posed by terrorism and Left-wing extremism. The meeting of state chief ministers, to be inaugurated here by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, will focus on strengthening counter-terrorism measures, intelligence capabilities and policing, besides boosting the border and coastal security, according to home ministry officials. Home Minister P. Chidambaram, who has been aggressively following with state governments the issue of police reforms and encouraging beat policing, will deliver the opening address to the chief ministers. Sources citing excerpts of the home minister's address said Chidambaram will seek greater cooperation from state governments in tackling terror, particularly preempting it with better intelligence-sharing mechanism. This comes particularly in the backdrop of severe opposition to his pet project, the formation of National Counter Terrorism Centre, from non-Congress ruled states, including West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee whose Trinamool Congress is part of the ruling coalition in New Delhi. However, the issue of NCTC, an all-powerful anti-terror intelligence hub to function under the home ministry, is unlikely to figure during the day-long meet because the matter is to be discussed at a separate but similar May 5 meeting with the prime minister. The NCTC that draws its powers from the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act has been hanging in balance because at least a dozen chief ministers have opposed the idea, fearing the agency will infringe on their rights and disturb the federal structure of the country. The sources said activities of Pakistan-based terror outfits and insurgency in the northeast, combating economic offences, especially counterfeit currency notes, would be discussed at length during the Monday meeting. The other issues to come under the scanner include the information collection system -- both technical and human intelligence, its proper sharing and necessary action, procurement of arms and ammunition, filling up of vacancies in police forces besides providing training to security forces. Chidambaram has been saying that the situation of vacant posts in police is "quite alarming" and has asked state governments to fill them up fast as he says it is key to fighting internal security challenges in the country. (IANS) (New Kerala 13/4/12) All Indians safe in Afghanistan after attacks, Indi a keeping close watch (12) New Delhi, April 15, 2012: All Indians are safe in Afghanistan after heavily-armed Taliban suicide bombers unleashed a wave of coordinated attacks in Kabul and three other cities and the situation is being closely watched by the Indian government. The sources said all Indians are safe and government

was closely watching the situation after explosions and firing rocked different areas in Kabul including at the diplomatic enclave. The ministry of external affairs in a statement said it was in constant touch with the Embassy in Kabul and all Indians are reported to be safe. "There have been reports of attacks in Kabul and other provinces of Afghanistan. Some of these attacks have taken place close to the diplomatic enclave in Kabul where many Embassies are located. We are in constant touch with our Embassy in Kabul. All Indian citizens are reported to be safe," it said. ITBP director general Ranjit Sinha said there was no threat to the Indian embassy as it was located three to four km away from the scene of the attack this afternoon by the Taliban gunmen. The militants attacked five-star Kabul Star Hotel in Wazir Akhbar Khan area of the capital and some tried to enter the Afghan parliament but were engaged by security forces and driven back, according to officials. The hotel is located close to American embassy, ISAF's headquarters, Turkish embassy, presidential palace, Iranian embassy and different other diplomatic offices. Taliban claimed responsibility for the attacks. Any casualties is still unknown but Kabul police chief Mohammad Ayoubi Salangi was quoted as having said one attacker had been killed near the Parliament. Sinha said following the attacks security had been beefed up at the embassy complex. "We have strengthened and alerted our security at the Indian embassy in Kabul. All Indian installations and facilities are safe. I am in touch with the Indian embassy officials," ITBP Director General Sinha told PTI. (Hindustan Times 15/4/12) Home Ministry hopeful of consensus on NCTC: Jitendr a Singh (12) Stating that the proposed National Counter-Terrorism Centre (NCTC) would provide states with more powers to deal with terrorism, Union Minister of State for Home Jitendra Singh said on Saturday his ministry was hopeful that a consensus on the NCTC bill would emerge at the meeting of state chief ministers with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on May 5. “They (state chief ministers) have some reservations. They want the ‘Standing Operating Procedures’ to be laid first. There has been some confusion and in the next meeting on May 5 all doubts would be cleared,” the minister said after giving away trophies to winners of 12th All India Police Rifle and Revolver firing competition at BSF’s Reoti Range in Indore. “Terrorism is a major issue facing the country...if the country does not have effective law, how are we going to face the challenge...we need stronger law. What I understand is that the NCTC will make states stronger and would provide them with more powers to deal with terrorism,” Mr. Singh observed. “I had talks with the CMs, especially of non-Congress states. I do not see any politics behind the non-Congress ruled CMs’ reservation on NCTC, anyone can read the bill...NIA was also constituted like this...I am hopeful there would be a consensus in the next meeting of Prime Minister with CMs on May 5,” he said. The proposal to set up NCTC, the anti-terror agency has not found favour with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, as well as opposition ruled states like Tamil Nadu’s Jayalalithaa, Gujarat’s Narendra Modi and Odisha’s Naveen Patnaik as they say it goes against the concept of federalism. The Central government would focus on modernisation of the police force and provide latest weapons and technology to curb crime including cyber crime, Singh said adding the Bureau of Police Research Development was working in close association with state governments in this regard. When asked to comment on the role of CBI getting controversial, he said, “CBI does not fall in my purview... however, it is working nicely…I do not have further comment on it”. About the crime rate rising in Madhya Pradesh compared to other states, he said, “We all want that the crime rate should go down...thus NCTC Act is required to deal with it...Centre is ready to promote the law and order enforcement agency in the state with latest technology”. About 700 shooters representing 29 teams from different states took part in the shooting competition in which 17 gold and 14 each of silver and bronze medals were given away to winners, Special DG, BSF Arvind Ranjan said. (The Hindu 21/4/12) Two convicted in 1993 Jaipur bomb blasts case (12)

Ajmer, April 24, 2012: A Pakistan-trained militant was sentenced to 20 years in jail, while his accomplice awarded 15—year prison term for triggering the 1993 serial blasts in Jaipur. A special anti-terror court, on Tuesday while sentencing the duo, Abrer Rehmat alias Kari and his accomplice Jalis Ansari, also imposed a fine of Rs 13,500 and 11,000 respectively on them. The Jaipur Special TADA court of Kamal Kumar Bagdi sentenced the duo after convicting them for various offences under the now repealed anti-terror law, Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA). They were also convicted under various sections of the Explosive Substances Act. The court, however, acquitted two others - Jamal Alvi and Habib Ahmad - in the case. The blasts took place at three places under Kotwali, Jalupura and Manak Chawk police station circles in Jaipur on September 30, 1993. A boy was injured in the blast, while properties worth rupees several lakhs suffered damages. The prosecution had told the court that Pakistan-trained Kari had planted the bombs in tiffin boxes, while Ansari had mastermind the terror operation. The State government had referred the case for investigation to the crime branch, which had arrested them. All the four had been under judicial custody in Ajmer Jail since December 20, 1998. (The Hindu 24/4/12) Supreme Court reserves order on Kasab’s plea (12) New Delhi, April 25, 2012: The Supreme Court on Wednesday reserved its order on Pakistani terrorist Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab’s plea challenging his conviction and death sentence in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. A bench of justices Aftab Alam and C.K. Prasad reserved its verdict after a marathon hearing, spanning over two and a half month, of arguments by the prosecution and defence counsel in the terror mayhem, which involved random firing by Kasab and other mercenaries, killing 166 people. During the argument, Kasab contended that he was not given a free and fair trial and that he was not the part of any larger conspiracy for waging war against the nation. He had also maintained that the prosecution had failed to prove the case against him beyond doubts and told the bench that his right against self-incrimination as well as his right to get himself adequately represented by a counsel to defend himself in the case had been violated during the trial. 25-year-old Kasab, had filed the appeal from jail challenging his conviction and death sentence. The apex court had appointed senior advocate Raju Ramachandran as amicus curiae to argue on behalf of Kasab. Former Solicitor General Gopal Subramaniam and Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam had earlier told the bench that 26/11 Mumbai terror attack was carried out with a “calculated” design, aimed at causing communal tension in the country by projecting that it was the handiwork of Indian Muslims. The apex court had stayed Kasab’s death sentence on October 10 last year. In his special leave petition (SLP) challenging the Bombay High Court judgement, which confirmed his death sentence, Kasab had claimed he was brainwashed like a “robot” into committing the crime in the name of “God” and pleaded that he does deserve the death penalty due to his young age. Kasab, who is lodged in Arthur Road Prison in Mumbai, had filed the SLP through the jail authorities. Kasab, along with nine other Pakistani terrorists, had landed in south Mumbai on November 26, 2008 night after travelling from Karachi by sea and had gone on a shooting spree at various city landmarks, in which 166 people were killed. While Kasab was captured alive, the other terrorists in his group had been killed by security forces during the counter-terror operations. He was sentenced to death by a special anti-terror court on May 6, 2010. The Bombay High Court had upheld on February 21 last year the trial court’s order of death sentence to Kasab for the “brutal and diabolical” attacks aimed at “destabilising” the government. Kasab’s death penalty was upheld on charges of criminal conspiracy, waging war against the nation and various other provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the anti-terror law — Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The high court had upheld Kasab’s conviction on 19 counts under the IPC, the Arms Act, the Explosives Act, the Explosive Substances Act, the Foreigners Act, the Passport Act and the Railway Act. (The Hindu 25/4/12) U.S. House approves cyber security bill (12)

Washington, April 27, 2012: The House of Representatives ignored Obama administration objections and approved legislation aimed at helping stop electronic attacks on critical U.S. infrastructure and private companies. On a bipartisan vote of 248-168, the Republican-controlled House backed the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, which would encourage companies and the federal government to share information collected on the Internet to prevent electronic attacks from cybercriminals, foreign governments and terrorists. “This is the last bastion of things we need to do to protect this country,” Republican Rep. Mike Rogers, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said after more than five hours of debate yesterday. More than 10 years after the September 11, 2001 terror attacks, proponents cast the bill as an initial step to deal with an evolving threat of the Internet age. The information sharing would be voluntary to avoid imposing new regulations on businesses, an imperative for Republicans. The legislation would allow the government to relay cyber threat information to a company to prevent attacks from Russia or China. In the private sector, corporations could alert the government and provide data that could stop an attack intended to disrupt the country’s water supply or take down the banking system. The Obama administration has threatened a veto of the House bill, preferring a Senate measure that would give the Homeland Security Department the primary role in overseeing domestic cybersecurity and the authority to set security standards. That Senate bill remains stalled. The Republican House Speaker, John Boehner, said the administration’s approach was misguided. “The White House believes the government ought to control the Internet, government ought to set standards and government ought to take care of everything that’s needed for cyber security,” Mr. Boehner told reporters at his weekly news conference. “They’re in a camp all by themselves.” Faced with widespread privacy concerns, Rogers and Rep. CA “Dutch” Ruppersberger , the Intelligence panel’s top Democrat, pulled together an amendment that limits the government’s use of threat information to five specific purposes: cyber security; investigation and prosecution of cyber security crimes; protection of individuals from death or serious bodily harm; protection of minors from child pornography; and the protection of national security. The House passed the amendment, 410-3. (The Hindu 27/4/12)

Osama vestiges removed ahead of death anniversary ( 12) ISLAMABAD, May 3, 2012: Just before the first anniversary of arguably the most embarrassing chapter of its history, Pakistan ensured that the last physical reminders of the presence of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in this country were removed from the scene. So four days before the first anniversary of the culmination of the biggest manhunt in history, Pakistan deported his three widows, children and grandchildren from the country in the dead of the night last Friday. And prior to that, the thick concrete structure that had been his haven for several years in the garrison town of Abbottabad was razed in a bid to prevent it from becoming both a tourist spot and a pilgrimage centre; depending upon the visitor's bent of mind. But memories and the historical fact are made of sterner stuff. And even if the people of the town — with the dubious distinction of being the most wanted terrorist's lair — want to forget, the media was not going to let them do that; at least not within a year. So, despite there being nothing but broken pieces of concrete and a makeshift cricket pitch where bin Laden's house once stood behind thick walls, the media were there in full strength over the weekend to be ready with their anniversary stories. While the continuing strain in U.S.-Pakistan relations remains a stark reminder of the additional knot that the OBL raid added to the tied-up-in-knots bilateral relationship, strange myths are also being built around the compound. The Express Tribune reported that the compound — known locally as the ‘Waziristan Haveli' because of the shroud of secrecy that hung heavily around the premises during his time there — was attracting devotees as water is gushing from the place where his house stood. Though in all likelihood the water is spouting from one of the underground pipes of the house that may have broken during the demolition, some locals are claiming it to be a miracle and attaching spirituality to the place. ‘Fateha' (prayers for the dead) are also being offered with people arguing that it is their duty to do so for every Muslim. Hotels in the area reported full occupancy — courtesy the visiting mediapersons — but otherwise

the OBL linkage with their town is something that most locals would rather not talk about. Given the fondness for conspiracy theories in the country and the general feeling that the U.S. is out to malign Pakistan, disbelief also persists as the Abbottabad Commission is yet to finalise its report and provide some answers to questions that shook the nation to its core on May 2, 2011. (The Hindu 3/5/12) NCTC won't tread on your toes, Chidambaram assures States (12) NEW DELHI, May 3, 2012: While asserting that fighting terror and violence is a shared responsibility of the Centre and the States, Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram on Wednesday sought to allay the fears of States that the proposed National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) would encroach upon their rights. His comments in the Lok Sabha came ahead of the May 5 meeting of the Chief Ministers on the controversial counter-terror hub. Almost all non-Congress Chief Ministers are opposing creation of the NCTC on the ground that it would violate principles of federal structure. During his 50-minute reply to a five-hour debate on the demand for grants for the Home Ministry for 2012-13, Mr. Chidambaram renewed his offer of talks to Maoists, provided they abjured violence during the period of negotiations. He also dwelt on the Telangana issue, who had often led to uproar in the Lok Sabha. The Minister questioned the opposition to the amendment to the BSF Act, saying it gave the Central paramilitary force no additional powers but was only aimed at regularising deployment in States which was not provided under the original law. “Dealing with violence and terrorism is the shared responsibility. While we are willing to share our responsibility, we want States to share their responsibility,” he said. Referring to the NCTC, Mr. Chidambaram said it was an offshoot of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act that was debated and passed by Parliament in 2004 and amended in 2008. “I am accused of encroaching upon powers of the States. What power am I encroaching upon? ... [Under the NCTC], the designated agency, during counter-terrorism operation, may arrest an accused, make seizure and hand [him] over to the nearest police station immediately. Thereafter the SHO will take over the investigation.” Mr. Chidambaram was referring to the UAPA provision 43(A), which empowered the designated agency to make arrests and search and seizure. This was being opposed by the States. “You should have accused me of tardy progress and delay and asked me what I was doing for [the] last three years. But you are accusing me of encroaching upon your powers.” Reiterating the offer of talks to the CPI (Maoists), Mr. Chidambaram asked: “Should there be violence when we hold talks?” So far there had not been any response but he was willing to make the offer once again. The Chief Ministers of Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Odisha had also made the offer of talks but did not receive any response from the Maoists, Mr. Chidambaram said. Referring to the Integrated Action Plan, under which development projects had been undertaken in 60 districts affected by Naxal violence, he said so far Rs. 3,300 crore was spent on completion of 66,000 works. “CPI (Maoists) don't want roads and school buildings to be built because roads will open up the hinterland and schools will impart education. That's why they target construction companies and indulge in extortion from mining companies.” Mr. Chidambaram said the Maoists wanted to overthrow parliamentary democracy through an armed rebellion. “They say that power must be seized through [the] barrel of a gun. I ask this House, is this negotiable? Referring to terror networks in India's “troubled” neighbourhood, the Minister said 80 per cent of terror incidents had occurred in Pakistan, Iraq and Afghanistan. “Terror organisations like the al-Qaeda, LeT, HuJI and Taliban have their bases in these countries,” he said. “To assume that we will not be affected is not a correct assumption. We have to make our country more secure. Every country is vulnerable today. India is no more vulnerable and is no less vulnerable than [are] other countries.” Earlier, the BJP attacked the government for not doing enough to effectively deal with terrorism and Naxalism, accusing the UPA government of turning India into a “soft” state. Initiating the discussion, the BJP's Anurag Thakur demanded a White Paper on the government's initiative to deal with Naxalism, which had become a big threat to the nation. Later, the demand for grants was passed by voice vote after all cut motions were negated together. (The Hindu 3/5/12) Ibobi takes note of human rights issue vis-a-vis N CTC (12)

New Delhi, May 05 2012: Chief Minister of Manipur Okram Ibobi Singh took the liberty of mentioning the need to care for the human rights of the citizens of the country while setting up the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) . Speaking at the Conference of the Chief Ministers on National Counter Terrorism Centre at Vigyan Bhavan here today; Manipur Chief Minister said, "It is the bounden duty of the Government to protect the basic human rights of our people while granting unbounded powers to arrest under section 43A of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act" . He suggested that the NCTC officials should share the intelligence with the State Police and carry out operations for arresting and detaining any person suspected of indulging in terrorist activities. The person arrested should be handed over to the nearest police station and interrogated jointly. He further stated, "A similar provision in the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, 1958 whereby security forces hand over apprehended persons to the State Police has come under severe criticism for misuse and many cases of human rights abuse have been reported" . Manipur Chief Minister said that the State Government was in-agreement with the Union Government's decision to set up the NCTC as an institutional mechanism for independent and autonomous collection of counter terrorism intelligence and to take firm and timely action for tackling terrorism and terror related activities of subversive and anti-national elements. Referring to Manipur; the Chief Minister said, "We, in Manipur, are facing a serious Internal Security challenge posed by a multitude of militant groups indulging in subversive and anti-national activities and terrorizing out people for extortions, kidnappings for ransom, threat and intimidation to our officials and contractors engaged in the development process. The extortions by the NSCN (IM) cadres from transporters along our National Highways are rampant despite the deployment of Security Forces and the State Police personnel. Work on national projects like the Railway Line from Jiribam to Tupul and Imphal has been seriously hampered by demands from the militants for extortion money" . He further stated, "The porous India-Myanmar border, scantily guarded by the Assam Rifles, enables the militant groups to induct sophisticated arms and ammunition undetected. These arms and ammunitions are used for threats and intimidation of contractors, suppliers, engineers and officials to extort money. Almost no one in the State is left untouched by this malaise which impacts adversely on our ability to implement development and welfare schemes to our people" . "In the given internal security scenario, the role of intelligence and an institutionalized and effective means of generating and sharing Intelligence on a real time basis is an absolute necessity", he added. Referring to NCTC, Manipur Chief Minister pointed out that under section 2(e) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, the State Home Secretary was notified as the "Designated Authority".As such, Manipur Chief Minister disagreed with the MHA's proposal to confer such powers on the Heads of Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) as it took away the element of independent assessment and rendered the State Govt…….. (Manipur E-PAO 6/5/12) ‘Pakistan Terrorism Accountability bill’ introduced in U.S. Congress (12) Washington, May 12, 2012: Alleging that Pakistan has for decades leveraged radical terrorist groups to carry out attacks in India and Afghanistan, a U.S. lawmaker has introduced a bill that proposes to deduct $50 million from the U.S. aid to Islamabad every time an American is killed “as a result of actions of ISI.” Congressman Dana Rohrabacher has introduced the “Pakistan Terrorism Accountability Act of 2012” in Congress. The legislation would require the Department of Defence to list all Americans killed by terrorist groups operating with impunity inside Pakistan and Afghanistan and supported by elements of the Pakistani government. For each person killed, $50 million would be subtracted from U.S. foreign assistance to Pakistan, a requested $2.2 billion, and given to the victim’s family. Mr. Rohrabacher is Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee. “For too long America has funded the Pakistani government, giving it free money, while elements of the ISI and Pakistan’s military operate radical Islamic groups that are actively murdering Americans. Americans will not accept this,” Mr. Rohrabacher said. “Pakistan has for decades leveraged radical terrorist groups to carry out attacks in India and Afghanistan,” he said. “Pakistan helped to create the Taliban and Pakistan’s intelligence service hid Osama bin Laden from the U.S. for years. Today, one of the most dangerous and

sophisticated groups killing American troops in Afghanistan is the Haqqani Network, which is closely operated by the Pakistani government,” Mr. Rohrabacher alleged. Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, has said the ISI directed the Haqqani Network to plan and conduct “the assault on our embassy [in September 2011]... We also have credible evidence that they were behind the June 28 attack at the Inter—Continental Hotel in Kabul.” Mr. Mullen has also said “the Haqqani network acts as a veritable arm of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency,” said the statement issued by his office. According to the legislation Pakistan, through Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), maintains control and influence in Afghanistan through militant Islamic networks, such as the Haqqani Network, in order to secure its strategic position and expand its sphere of influence, not only in Afghanistan, but also in Kashmir and against India. (The Hindu 12/5/12) Involvement of police in NCTC must: Gogoi (12) Guwahati, May 14, 2012: Voicing his support for amendments in the Centre's proposed National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi on Monday favoured an "active role" of the police in it. "Some amendments are necessary and the police has to play a pro-active role in the entire set up", Gogoi told a press conference here. Admitting that growing presence of Maoists was a cause for concern, the chief minister said a "special cell" of Assam police under the rank of IGP will be soon set up. "Their (Maoists) presence is a cause for concern and we will set up a special cell of the police to deal with the rebels", he said. "Special training is necessary for the police force to deal with the Maoists and for that matter even the banned ULFA", he said stressing that development was a must in the backward areas. "They (Maoists) are taking advantage of under development and seek the sympathies of the poor villages. This trend should be changed and we have to bring in development in the villages", he said. (Hindustan Times 14/5/12) Indian Mujahideen boss’s close aide held in Uttar P radesh (12) NEW DELHI: A senior operative of Indian Mujahideen and a close aide of the terror group's Indian chief Riyaz Bhatkal has been arrested. A police source said the man, identified as Shakeel, had helped IM terrorist Yasin Bhatkal alias Shahrukh with logistics and also roped in recruits for him. "He has known Shahrukh for a long time and had met him in November last year," said a senior police officer. Shakeel is the 12th member of the IM module to be arrested in the recent moths. This module was found involved in a series of blasts in India in the past three years. The Special Cell of Delhi Police has arrested a senior Indian Mujahideen member, Shakeel, who is also said to be a close aide of IM boss Riyaz Bhatkal. Shakeel, sources say, also helped group's India boss Yasin Bhatkal alias Shahrukh in his operations by providing logistical help and motivating youths for him. A team headed by DCP (special cell) Sanjeev Yadav arrested Shakeel in Lucknow on Saturday. The accused, from Sitapur in Uttar Pradesh, is also allegedly a relative of Bashir alias Hamza, an IM motivator. Hamza was arrested earlier this year. A source said, "Shakeel knows Riyaz Bhatkal, Iqbal and Yasin Bhatkal since 2004 and has been motivating youths for them. He had met Yasin several times before the Jama Masjid and German Bakery blasts and was in touch with him till November last year. We are probing his role in these attacks." A source said Shakeel's arrest was crucial though several IM members, including its chief Yasin Bhatkal, are still at large. Police believe Shakeel is aware of Yasin's hideout, the source said. The arrest assumes significance as police are planning to file a chargesheet in the 2010 Jama Masjid attack., in which IM members fired at foreign tourists and exploded a bomb in a car on September 19, 2010. The chargesheet, slated to be filed in few days, will name Yasin Bhatkal, Qateel Siddiqui, Mohammad Irshad Khan, Abdul Rehman, Gauhar Aziz Khomani, Farooq, Gayur Ahmad Jamali and a Pakistani national who fired on Taiwanese - Mohammad Adil alias Ajmal. The Special Team of Delhi Police had busted the module of IM in November-December 2011, after a lull of almost two years. Shahrukh is still on the run and sources say that he is the most dangerous man as he is capable of reuniting his modules and creating new ones. Several members were arrested after Sanjeev Yadav's team busted an arms factory

in Meer Vihar area on the outskirts of Delhi and arrested some members. A few members of the outfit have also been arrested by Mumbai, Tamilnadu and Karnataka police following Delhi Police crackdown. (Times of India 15/5/12) Terrorists’ hit list spreads panic in Kashmir (12) Srinagar : Suspected militants have come out with a hit list of the people to be “killed” for allegedly “collaborating” with the police and security forces in north Kashmir tehsil of Pattan in Baramulla district. Almushtraqa Lashkar-e-Tioba and Hizb-ul-Mujhadeen have named 13 people including a woman who are on their hit list. Handwritten posters and list in Urdu have been issued by Abu Talha, district commander and Javid Khan Tehsil commander for Pattan and put up at various places. “Entire world knows Kashmiris have giving umpteen sacrifices for freedom struggle. But some people are collaborating with police and security forces. We had warned them to mend their ways. But they have not listened to us so far. Now their body bags will reach you (public) soon”, reads the translation of the posters in Urdu. The militants have named the people allegedly working for security agencies. The outfits have also accused them of getting the militants either arrested or killed through police and other security agencies. The militants have also warned the newly elected panchs and sarpanchs not to participate in the civic body elections. The militants noted that Jihad in Kashmir will continue till their goal is achieved. Police have registered a case under section 13 of unlawful activities act and questioned some people in this regard. “We are investigating the matter. A case has been registered and some people were summoned for questioning. So far no body has formally been arrested”, said one of the police officers investigating the case. Police is also not ruling out rivalry and mischief mongering by some unscrupulous elements. (DNA 15/5/12) Tribunal to hear Unlawful Activities Prevention Act cases on May 26 (12) KOLKATA: In order to speed up the trials of accused under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), a tribunal headed by Justice V K Shali will be hearing the cases at Bedi Bhavan on May 26. There are about 125 pending cases under UAPA in Bengal. The tribunal will be hearing UAPA cases of Bengal and Bihar. The court will record evidences and cross examine witnesses. However, doubts are there among the lawyers if the court can solve much of the cases at one sitting. Kaushik Sinha, lawyer of Chhattradhar Mahato - who is in jail under UAPA - said that he was not aware of any tribunal going to hear UAPA cases in the city. He said that in order to appear before the tribunal, he needs the consent of Mahato. "Moreover, it will take some time to procure the records from the lower court to be produced before the tribunal," Sinha said. A notification states that all those who are interested in giving evidences may file their affidavits to the registrar of the UAPA tribunal and should be present in person before the tribunal for their cross examination. Former prosecution director, Taj Muhammad, said that if the chargesheet had been filed in the court, then the lawyers need to supply its copy to the tribunal. Moreover, all records should be there in the court and notices should be given to the witnesses as well as the accused. "All these will take some time and very few people can engage lawyers to appeal to the tribunal within such a short span of time," added Muhammad. (Times of India 22/5/12) 'Faces of terror in India and US are different' (12 ) AHMEDABAD: It was a moment of pride not just for Gujarat but for our country too when P G Nambiar, a police sub-inspector with CID (Crime), was selected in 2011 as a fellow at Police Foundation, Washington DC. The reason was apparent - he was the first policeman from across the country who had received the fellowship for police research. Nambiar carried out a research on 'Radicalization of Islam and Homegrown Threat to the United States'. On India's Anti-terrorism Day to commemorate the death anniversary of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, Nambiar feels that while both India and the US are victims of Islamic terrorism, nature of the persons involved is very different. "In India, it is mainly the terrorists who come from across the border who carry out violent strikes, whereas in case of the US, it is the disgruntled and

violently radicalized persons living right inside the country who indulge in these acts," said Nambiar. "A paradigm shift has been witnessed in the US in the recent past as now terrorists work in smaller groups or individual levels. They have advanced technologies at their disposal. As they operate in farthest seclusion, even their nearest ones do not get any clue of their bad intentions," said Nambiar. Nambiar, one of the few PhD holders in state police and the only one actively involved in research through Police Research Center (PRC) with CID (Crime), was selected for six-month fellowship through globally competitive process. Criteria such as uniformed service, previous research projects and eligibility were considered. "It was a great opportunity to work with international experts and to compare Indian situation with US perspective," he says. According to his study, terrorism across the globe involves billions of dollars, innumerable people and other infrastructure assets. All the elements of business-like organization, trade, goods, services, customers and profits are embedded in this course of action. Unlike other industry, this creates violence and deadly terror in the society with an aim to achieving their goals by using various unconventional methods. He feels that research is backbone for any police organization to work efficiently. "I have conducted researches in field of terrorism, policewomen, and human trafficking for the state police. A study on women in policing in the US is in the pipeline," said Nambiar. (Times of India 22/5/12) Produce Kazmi in court physically, says court (12) New Delhi: A Delhi court has asked jail authorities to produce journalist Syed Mohammed Ahmad Kazmi, arrested for his alleged role in bombing of Israeli diplomat's car, to produce him personally before it, and not via video- conferencing for the extension of his judicial custody. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) Manish Yaduvanshi gave the direction to the jail superintendent on a plea by Kazmi's counsel, objecting to the extension of his judicial custody through video conferencing without his physical production before the court. The counsel had filed the application after Kazmi's judicial custody was extended by a duty magistrate on May 19 through video-conferencing despite an order by the court of chief metropolitan magistrate earlier asking the jail authorities to physically produce him before the court. "It is stated that the accused (Kazmi) was directed to be produced physically by the order of the chief metropolitan magistrate dated May 5, 2012. However, he was produced for extension of judicial custody at Electronic Video Linkage room at Tis Hazari courts, Delhi before the concerned duty magistrate on May 19, 2012. "Issue directions to the superintendent, jail concerned to produce the accused in the concerned court on June 2, 2012," the ACMM said. Lodged in judicial custody since March 24, Kazmi is produced from jail for extension of his custody through video conferencing for security reasons. Kazmi, who claims to have been writing for an Iranian publication, was picked up by the police after the probe showed he had been in touch with a suspect who is believed to have stuck the magnetic bomb on Israeli diplomat Tal Yehoshua's car. Yehoshua, and an Indian driver of the embassy vehicle were among the four people injured in the blast. Kazmi has been booked under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, the Explosives Substances Act and various provisions of the Indian Penal Code including the attempt to murder. (Zee News 23/5/12) GNLA camp busted in Garo Hills (12) TURA, May 26 – East Garo Hills police in a major offensive against the banned terror outfit Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA) on Saturday busted their general headquarters after a heavy gun battle. Police SWAT forces together with CRPF’s CoBRA unit attacked the general camp of the outfit near Sobokgre village, 16 kms from Williamnagar. The ultras numbering around 60 returned fire using RPG rockets, hand grenades and AK rifles prompting the police to use two inch mortars and heavy weaponry. After heavy firing for more than 15 minutes, the militants escaped with all their weapons and police dismantled the camp which could house as many as 100 ultras. The chief of the outfit, Sohan D Shira, was also in the camp at the time of the attack along with a fresh batch of recruits. The militants were planning to hold a major conference of its area commanders at the camp and almost all senior leaders wanted by police for

heinous crimes were arriving for the meeting when police attacked forcing them to flee to the thick jungles of Durama hill range. Police found large stacks of food items and utensils at the camp. The breakthrough comes just a day after two senior cadres of the GNLA southern command surrendered to West Garo Hills police at Dalu border town. They had rebelled against the outfit’s command and blamed the senior leaders of the command for living luxurious lives while the junior cadres led a hard life in the jungles. “They have revealed that the senior leaders use to enjoy a life of luxury collecting huge sums of money while the juniors are given just the bare requirements amounting to a few hundred rupees each month leading to widespread unhappiness,” Garo Hills police said. (Assam Tribune 27/5/12) India, Myanmar should work out strategy to tackle t error: PM (12) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday held talks with Myanmar President Thein Sein as India suggested the two countries work out a joint strategy to tackle terrorism and insurgency along their border and enhance security cooperation. Dr. Singh, the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Myanmar in 25 years since Rajiv Gandhi’s trip in 1987, held restricted talks with Mr. Sein before the two leaders led their respective delegations for discussions on a range of bilateral, regional and international issues. Earlier, Dr. Singh, who is accompanied by External Affairs Minister S. M. Krishna and senior officials, was given a ceremonial on the lawns of the Presidential Palace. Ahead of the Prime Minister’s talks with President Sein, Mr. Krishna said both India and Myanmar are facing terrorism and insurgency and hence “it is necessary that both of us work out a joint strategy as to how to meet with these terror elements”. “Also, there are insurgents on either side. So, I think we have to work out an understanding to tackle it. We have an understanding with Myanmar, we have been cooperating with Myanmar and it is necessary to deepen this cooperation”, he said. Mr. Krishna stressed on economic ties with Myanmar saying “this too is equally important. Myanmar is a developing country like India. They have come out of some problems internally and now they seem to be settling down and it is about time for them to devote time and to launch a developmental agenda, I think people of Myanmar need India’s assistance and India would be willing to assist them”. (The Hindu 28/5/12)

ISI created Indian Mujahideen to spread terror in I ndia: Anti-terrorism squad (12) MUMBAI: The Maharashtra anti-terrorism squad (ATS) has, for the first time, said that Indian Mujahideen (IM) is a creation of Pakistan's Inter Service Intelligence (ISI). This was mentioned in the 13/7 triple blasts chargesheet. This is the first time that any police agency in the country has openly said that IM has been created by the ISI. Several police agencies had earlier said that IM was a splinter faction of the Students' Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), which was banned in 2001. The IM was banned on June 2, 2010. In its 4,478-page chargesheet against the four arrested accused filed before a special MCOCA court on May 25, the ATS said, "The IM has been expressly created by (the) ISI of Pakistan ostensibly to spread terror in this country through Indian front outfits." In 2008, the then Gujarat DGP, P C Pande, said that IM was a splinter faction of SIMI. He had made this declaration during a media briefing after the arrest of around half-a-dozen suspected IM members in connection with the serial bomb blasts in Ahmedabad. According to the ATS's chargesheet, the IM is currently headed by the Bhatkal brothers, Riyaz and Iqbal, who are at present holed up in Pakistan and are involved in bomb blasts in Maharashtra and other states. "Iqbal and Riyaz operate from Pakistan with the help of their India-based associates," the chargesheet states. "The triple blasts at three prime business locations in Mumbai were planned and executed by the members of IM. The sequential character of explosion indicates a meticulously planned attack to strike terror in the minds of the people of India, weaken the country economically and cause widespread damage to human life and property," states the chargesheet. The ATS arrested four persons for last year's serial blasts on July 13 that left 27 dead and 127 injured. "The blasts were designed and executed by the Bhatkal brothers who would contact their protege Yasin Bhatkal alias Shahrukh alias Shivanand alias Imran. Yasin is the Indian head of IM's operations. He had received Rs 10 lakh through hawala channels to

execute the blasts and had ordered the transportation of the explosives used for the blasts," the chargesheet states. (Times of India 2/6/12) Sixty tons of 'Al-Qaeda drug' imported into UK ever y week: Report (12) London | Agency: ANI: Sixty tons of a drug linked to an Al-Qaeda outfit in Somalia is imported into Britain every week and openly used by addicts, according to a report. The green leaves of the plant khat are flown in from Kenya and then chewed by addicts across Britain. Khat is widely used in Somalia and neighbouring African countries. And although banned in the US, Canada, France and Germany it is still legal in the UK, a fact that has made Britain the centre of a thriving import trade, The Sun reports. According to anti-khat campaigners, Somali-based Islamic extremists Al-Shabaab use cash from khat sales to fund terrorism. The Al-Qaeda linked militants then recruit directly from the UK's khat dens, ensnaring youngsters who have become hooked on the drug, the report said. Khat leaves give a high similar to that produced by amphetamines and side effects including disorientation and hallucinations. Meanwhile, a recent UN report said Al-Shabaab gets funds from imposing a tax on khat. Others claim the group has tried to ban khat in areas of Somalia it controls (DNA 3/6/12) US officials convinced ISI continues to support ter ror groups (12) Washington, June 05, 2012: There is an increasing conviction among US officials that the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) of Pakistan continues to support terrorist groups and that the sanctuaries in Pakistan have allowed Afghan militants to sustain insurgency, a Congressional report has said. "There is ongoing conviction among US officials that sanctuaries in Pakistan have allowed Afghan militants to sustain their insurgency and that elements of the ISI continue to support them," the bipartisan Congressional Research Service (CRS) said in its latest report. "Some reporting has cited Afghan insurgent commanders claiming that in the latter months of 2011 the ISI increased its direct contacts with the Taliban, vigorously encouraging more violence, and even supplying them with new high powered explosives manufactured in Pakistan," said the CRS, which as the name suggests, is the independent research wing of the US Congress. Prepared for the interest for lawmakers, CRS reports are not made public. CRS said that the classified NATO report, detailing information gathered through thousands of interrogations of captured Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants, was leaked in January 2012 and reportedly indicates that Afghan insurgents continue to receive direct support from the ISI. The report offers that, "Pakistan's manipulation of the Taliban senior leadership continues unabatedly," and "Senior Taliban leaders meet regularly with ISI personnel, who advise on strategy and relay any pertinent concerns of the government of Pakistan." However, NATO officials played down the report's significance, and Pakistan's foreign minister called its content "old wine in an even older bottle," it said. The CRS said ISI is also regularly linked to anti-India terrorist groups, including the Lashkar-e-Taiba, responsible for the November 2008 attack on Mumbai in which 166 people were killed, Americans among them. Pakistani officials regularly provide assurances that no elements of the ISI are cooperating with militants or extremists. "However, to many independent observers, Pakistan's security services increasingly appear to be penetrated by Islamist extremists," CRS said. (Hindustan Times 5/6/12) Mumbai terror attacks: Convicted Tahawwur Rana lose s retrial plea (12) CHICAGO: A Chicago court has dismissed a retrial plea by Pakistan born Canadian Tahawwur Rana, convicted of providing material support to Pakistan based terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), blamed for November 2008 Mumbai terror attack. His sentencing was set for Dec 4. While a jury acquitted Rana on June 10, 2011 of involvement in the 26/11 attack that killed more than 160 people, it found him guilty of helping LeT for an aborted plot to bomb a Danish newspaper for publishing cartoons of Prophet Muhammad in 2005. Rana's trial featured testimony from the government's star witness -- his boyhood friend, David Coleman Headley, who has confessed to his role in the Mumbai attack and the Denmark plot. Son of a Pakistani father and an American mother, Headley changed his given name Daood Sayed

Gilani, to scout targets for the Mumbai. He was arrested and found guilty much before Rana, but his sentencing is yet to be announced. In affirming Rana's conviction, Illinois District Court Judge Harry Leinenweber Monday noted the jury had been presented with contrasting pictures of him. The prosecution portrayed Rana, 51, as a man who knowingly supported his lifelong friend as Headley travelled the world plotting and preparing terrorist attacks, the judge noted. In contrast, the defence painted him as an ambitious businessman manipulated by a friend into unwittingly providing cover for terrorist plots. But "a rational jury could have concluded that Rana knowingly conspired to -- and did -- provide material support to the Denmark plot by furnishing Headley with business cards and supporting his business cover, and by providing Headley with logistical support for his travels and plots," he ruled. (Times of India 12/6/12) CBR terrorism a clear danger to India: ORF-RUSI Stu dy (12) New Delhi, June 15 : There is a clear danger to India from CBR (Chemical, Biological and Radiological materials) terrorism due to the known intentions of terrorist groups active within India's borders, according to a new research study. Terrorist organisations may seek to carry out CBR attacks in future by detonating a radiological dispersal device ('dirty bomb'); by carrying out an armed assault on an industrial facility handling CBR materials or on vehicles transporting material between sites; or by infiltrating facilities in order to steal CBR materials or to sabotage the site, the study done by Observer Research Foundation and the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) has warned. Releasing the study report, titled 'Chemical, Biological and Radiological Materials: An Analysis of Security Risks and Terrorist Threats to India', former Home Secretary G.K. Pillai admitted that for the government, CBR threats so far had been of "low priority importance". "It is a low priority issue. With too much happening, it is something likely to happen. Also with threats low," said Pillai, who was at the centre of introducing internal security reforms after the Mumbai terror attacks. Pillai said the wake-up call on this issue for the government came when, just before the New Delhi Commonwealth Games, the radio-active material sold from the Delhi University created problems for the people. Explaining the threat that can be posed by the missing explosives from factories, Pillai said once the Madhya Pradesh Police found out that 14,000 tonnes of explosives went missing. He added that much of this landed in the hands of mining mafia which used it for illegal mining activities. Noted strategic expert Dr. C. Raja Mohan, RK Mishra chair at ORF, said though India has been raising WMD-related issues at various international fora, not much work has been done on domestic aspects of the issue, though "it is not an inconsequential threat." "Though India has been battling insurgencies and terrorism for over three decades, the changing nature of the threat now make it more deadly. CBR threat for India is loud and clear given that Pakistan has become the locus of international terrorism making the threat that much more horrifying," said Dr. Rajeswari Rajagopalan, ORF Senior Fellow, who led the study team. She said external terrorist groups active in India, such as the the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and Harkat-ul-Jihad-e-Islami (HuJI) aggravate the danger for India, point out that these groups had in the past attacked key installations and public buildings, including the Indian Parliament in December 2001. "These groups are capable of posing the more serious CBRN threat. Such a possibility became apparent when David Coleman Headley, an American working for LeT, disclosed that he had conducted hostile surveillance on nuclear installations in India," Dr Rajeswari Rajagopalan said. Saying that the role of small-scale industries is crucial in this regard, she said control of the flow of CBR material from small-scale industries needs special attention. The ORF-RUSI study found that site security at facilities and industries handling CBR materials is variable. Large industrial sites, particularly under the protection of the Government-funded Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), are well-protected with robust security and safety arrangements, but this is not mirrored in all medium- and small-scale facilities, some of whom have employed private security agencies who are not adequately trained. The study found that transport of CBR materials presented particular vulnerabilities as the majority of regulation focused on transport accidents, not on deliberate attack. Protection of CBR materials in transit needs to be strengthened, the study suggested. In such a

scenario, the study suggested greater standardisation of site security with well-developed practical plans for implementation……. (New Kerala 16/6/12) 4th J&K cop held for ‘terror links’ in 24 hrs (12) SRINAGAR: Jammu & Kashmir police arrested a fourth constable for alleged links with terror groups here on Sunday. The cop, Mohammad Illyas, was working with the CID wing of the state police. Three policemen were also apprehended on Saturday for suspected "anti national activities" by a special investigation team constituted by the J&K police. Intelligence inputs had indicated that the suspects were allegedly leaking vital information to groups like the Hizbul Mujahideen. The arrested cops were identified as Mukhtar Sheikh, Mohammed Abbas and Riyaz Ahmed. Interestingly, Mukhtar Sheikh was arrested in the aftermath of the 26/11 attack in Mumbai for supplying SIM cards to Laskhar-e-Taiba terrorists. However, the case was later dropped against him. The four constables have been booked under section 10 (being member of an unlawful organization), section 13 (any form of assistance in unlawful activity) and section 18 (conspiracy to commit terrorist act) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and section 3 of Police Enhanced penalties ordinance. "A few senior officers who qualified for the state police examination were also affiliated with militant groups before joining the police service," said a police source. The state police have refused access to the arrested policemen by central intelligence agencies until the conclusion of preliminary investigation. (Times of India 18/6/12) Tripura militants recruiting youth, warns intellige nce (12) Agartala, June 21, 2012, (IANS) : In the lead-up to the Tripura assembly elections due next February, separatist groups in the state are recruiting tribal youths, an official statement here said Thursday. In what is a first time for Tripura, a statement from the state police headquarters said: "It has been revealed that NLFT (National Liberation Front of Tripura) extremists are engaged in fresh recruitment of innocent tribal youths from the interior areas." "The guerillas are also trying to extort money from different agencies with the help of a section of surrendered extremists and their sympathisers," the statement added. Last week Tripura Police arrested five NLFT militants, including a woman, and recovered Rs.2.5 million in cash, electronic gadgets and some secret documents. "The militants, who were arrested from a house on the outskirts of the city, were carrying money and electronic devices to pass on to their cadre in Bangladesh to procure arms. They have revealed vital information about the terrorists' possible activities in the coming months," a police spokesman told reporters here. The police have also appealed to all surrendered militants, as well as to the youths, not to heed the call of extremists. "The police authority has also urged misguided youths to leave the path of violence and join the mainstream of society," the statement added. Meanwhile, police have recovered a sophisticated foreign-made revolver and some ammunition from a house in the state capital. Tripura's two militant secessionist outfits - NLFT and the All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF), both banned by the Indian authorities - have set up bases in Bangladesh, and receive support from other separatist outfits of the northeast. "Currently, the number of NLFT cadres is 150 to 155, and the ATTF has 10 to 12 guerillas," Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar recently told the state assembly, quoting intelligence reports. Tripura has successfully controlled the 45-year-old phenomenon of secessionist terrorism in the state, which borders Bangladesh. The chief minister also told the state assembly that militants who surrendered after 1998 have come under the rehabilitation scheme announced by the central government. "Under the package, each surrendered militant is getting Rs.150,000 as allowance besides other facilities," Sarkar said, adding that the state government has asked the centre to modify the package so that all the surrendered extremists come under the scheme. "During the past 14 years, 1,705 extremists of different outfits have surrendered to the government. Of the 1,705 surrendered militants, 1,285 have been given economic rehabilitation and embarked on a new life with their families," Sarkar said. (Deccan Heralad 21/6/12) Stop terrorism, stop losing sovereignty: Hillary to Pakistan (12)

Washington: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has warned Pakistan that unless it cracks down on its terror safe havens with speed, it cannot put a stop to losing its own sovereignty to the likes of Lashkar-e-Tayyeba and the Haqqani Network. “What we’ve said to the Pakistanis is look, if there were ever an argument in the past for your policy of hedging against Afghanistan by supporting the Haqqani Network or the Afghan Taliban or the LeT against India, those days are over,” she said in an interview to noted talk show host Charlie Rose. To drive home the point, Clinton reverted to an earlier example, likening Pakistan to “the guy who keeps poisonous snakes in his backyard convinced they’ll only attack his neighbours”. What is happening because of this sort of approach is that Pakistan is “losing sovereignty” with large areas of its territory that are “ungoverned”, she said. “They (Pakistan’s rulers) talk a lot about sovereignty. Well, the first job of any sovereign nation is to protect your own people and secure your own borders. And therefore that’s what they should be doing, and by doing so they would help themselves first and foremost, help the Afghans, help us, and others,” Clinton commented as she dwelt on the rash of terrorist attacks within Pakistan itself, killing more than 30,000 of its people in the past decade. “Our relationship with Pakistan has been challenging for a long time,” she conceded, remarking: “We are living with a country that has a lot of difficult issues both for themselves and then for us and others.” But she stressed that it would not be in the US’s interests to sever its ties with Pakistan. Instead, this difficult relationship should be directed and managed better, she said, asking Islamabad to do several things and in a better way. “Number one, they’ve got to do more about the safe havens inside their own country. I mean, everybody knows that the Taliban’s momentum has been reversed, territory has been taken back, the Afghan Security Forces are performing much better, but the extremists have an ace in the hole. They just cross the border; they get direction and funding and fighters, and they go back across the border,” she said. And number two, Clinton wants Pakistan to be a part of the solution on the future of Afghanistan instead of undermining the whole effort. (Pioneer 22/6/12) Key Mumbai terror attack handler arrested in Delhi (12) NEW DELHI: After tracking him for more than three years, security agencies have arrested Sayed Zabiuddin alias Abu Hamza, alleged Lashker-e-Taiba ultra and the Hindi tutor of 10 terrorists who carried out the audacious attack in Mumbai in 2008. The 30-year-old Ansari alias Abu Jindal, who hails from Georai area of Beed district in Maharashtra, was arrested on June 21 when he arrived in India from a Gulf country, official sources said on Monday. India had also secured an Interpol Red Corner notice against him in which he was accused of crimes involving the use of weapons, explosives and terrorism. With his arrest, the mysterious voice recorded during the conversation between 10 Lashker terrorists and their handlers in Pakistan has been identified, the sources said. According to the officials associated with the probe, Ansari had told Lashker terrorists carrying out attack in Nariman House to convey to the media that the "attack was a trailer and the entire movie was yet to come".The voice was that of Ansari and after this his activities were traced before he was finally nabbed in a Gulf country, according to officials. In the intercepted tapes, Ansari was also heard using typical Hindi words like "prashasan" (government) and was directing the terrorists to conceal their Pakistani identity and identify themselves from Deccan Mujahideen hailing from Toli Chowk in Hyderabad. His presence was also stated by Ajmal Kasab, the lone terrorist arrested during the Mumbai attack, in his deposition before a special court. He told the court that one person by the name of Abu Jindal had tutored 10 terrorists on how to speak Hindi. Missing since 2005, Ansari, who had undergone training at Indian Technical Institute in Beed, had a sudden rise in the ranks of Lashker-e-Taiba after he was indoctrinate by banned SIMI post Gujarat riots in 2002. The Central security agencies had quizzed many arrested terrorists to study the case of Ansari during which it came to light that he had been operating out of terror camps in Karachi and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and was a key figure in the terror group's plan to carry out the strikes in the country's hinterland. (Times of India 25/6/12) 26/11 attacker arrest: Pakistan says terror a commo n problem (12)

NEW DELHI: Pakistan today offered India counter-terrorism cooperation in the backdrop of the arrest of Abu Jundal, a key handler of attackers of 26/11. Maintaining that Pakistan has been at the forefront in the campaign against terror, the Pakistan High Commission here said terrorism is a common concern for both India and Pakistan. Responding to questions regarding the arrest of Abu Jundal, Pakistan stated that Islamabad has been in the vanguard of the campaign against terror. "As agreed at the highest level between Pakistan and India, terrorism is a common concern and counter-terrorism cooperation is in the mutual interest of both countries, said an official of the Pakistan high commission. "Pakistan has renewed its offer of cooperation in this domain," he added. (Times of India 26/6/12)

Jundal got first lessons in terrorism by LeT in Nep al (12) New Delhi, July 01, 2012: Sayed Zabiuddin alias Abu Jundal, a prize catch in 26/11 terror case, picked up his first lessons in terrorism when Lashker-e-Taiba terrorist Mohammed Aslam alias Aslam Kashmiri arranged for his arms training in Nepal in 2004. Claiming to be indoctrinated after the post-Godhra riots in Gujaraat in 2002, 30-year-old Jundal told interrogators that he was introduced to jehad by Aslam Kashmiri, a resident of Hasplote in Thanamandi of Rajouri in Jammu region. According to his interrogation report submitted to the Ministry of Home Affairs, Zabiuddin said that four youths from Maharashtra and Gujarat were handed over to Aslam Kashmiri for exfiltration through Poonch region in 2004 but they were killed by Army raising suspicions about Kashmiri's role. Official sources said on Sunday that Aslam Kashmiri again approached Zabiuddin and Fayaz Kagzi and asked them to accompany him for arms training but the killing of four youths had raised doubts that he could have been working for Army. This prompted Aslam Kashmiri putting them through to LeT high command in Pakistan on phone as a proof about the genuineness that he was working for the terror group, Zabiuddin told his interrogators. After this, Zabiuddin, a resident of Beed in Maharashtra, along with four people left for Nepal where they received training in arms and manufacturing of Improvised Explosive Devices (IED). Upon his return, Zabiuddin engaged in brainwashing more youths for spreading the terror network in the hinterland, the sources said. His links with terror activity came up during the probe in the blast at Ahmadabad railway station that occurred early on February 19, 2006. (Hindustan Times 1/7/12) India-Pakistan talks begin, focus on Abu Jindal (12 ) NEW DELHI: Amid new disclosures on 26/11 plotter Abu Jindal's links with Pakistani terrorists and state actors, the foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan on Wednesday began two-day talks that will focus on peace and security and Jammu and Kashmir. The Indian delegation is being led by foreign secretary Ranjan Mathai and comprises, among others, YK Sinha, joint secretary in charge of Pakistan in the external affairs ministry, and Syed Akbaruddin, the ministry's spokesperson. The Pakistani delegation is led by foreign secretary Jalil Abbas Jilani and comprises senior officials of Pakistan's foreign office. The agenda of the foreign secretary talks had been fixed well in advance but terrorism is set to become the main focus in the wake of the disclosures made by Abu Jindal, an Indian 26/11 plotter with suspected links to Pakistani militants and Pakistani state actors. At the talks, India is expected to share a dossier on Abu Jindal, including a copy of his passport and identity card, said informed sources. (Times of India 4/7/12) Anti-terror ops: NIA zeroes in on insiders (12) New Delhi: With 26/11 mastermind Syed Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal revealing that the terror network remains intact, NIA has begun profiling of suspected subversive outfits, particularly those operating from south India. Outfits being tracked include Popular Front of India, Wahadat-e-Islami and Jam Iyathul Ansarul Musalmeen (JIAM). A number of cadres of JIAM have been wanted in terror cases from 2006 onwards and are suspected to have been taking refuge in Pakistan, UAE and Bangladesh. Senior NIA officials said profiling of the outfits will act as a ready reference to the sleuths when they get

custody of Jundal. Following the ban on Students Islamic Movement of India, the outfit has been operating under the garb of Wahadat-e-Islami and Islamic Students Association. SIMI and Indian Mujahideen, both affiliates of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Tayyaba have been spearheading terrorist attacks across the country. Other radical outfits being monitored include People's Democratic Party, Jamiat Ahle Hadees and Hizb-Ut-Tahrir. Union Home Minister P Chidambaram had recently said such outfits are under the radar of the agencies. Pakistan-sponsored terrorism in the hinterland since 1993 in the form of 120 terror attacks has resulted in killing of over 1,200 civilians and injuries to over 4,000 others. Majority of these incidents were serial blasts at public places by Indian Mujahideen, a front of the Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and LeT. Many IM cadres have been trained in LeT facilities in Pakistan where top leadership of the outfit is currently based under ISI protection. A large number of IM and Jam Iyathul Ansarul Musalmeen (JIAM) cadres are absconding with some of them escaping to Pakistan, Nepal and Middle East. Focussed efforts are required to trace those cadres who are still in India in the light of revelations by Jundal, a senior NIA official said. Even as Pakistan remains focused on engineering terrorist actions in India, a number of terrorism cases remain unsolved, the official said. Growth of radical outfits from southern India is under scanner due to a significant number of people from there, especially from Kerala, have been involved in terror acts across the country particularly after 1993. The radicalisation of a particular community increased with the growth of fundamentalist outfits like National Development Front in Kerala, Manitha Neethi Pasarai in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka Forum for Dignity , which had subsequently converged to form PFI. While the overt projection of PFI is in the form of a political entity in the form of Social Democratic Party of India, the outfit is actually concentrating on taking up the cause of so-called injustices meted out to the Muslims and to garner their support for their own agenda. It is also trying to develop links with Human Rights groups, Left Wing Extremists and Dalit bodies. According to estimates by intelligence agencies, 80 to 90 per cent of the people influenced or accessed by the group had Gulf or foreign links.(Pioneer 8/7/12) No better ties until terrorism in Pak: Krishna (12) NEW DELHI: If Sharm-el Sheikh was an attempt by the Manmohan Singh government to continue normalization efforts with Pakistan with or without terrorism, the pendulum has now conclusively swung in the other direction. In Tokyo to attend a donors' conference on Afghanistan, foreign minister S M Krishna told his Pakistani counterpart Hina Rabbani Khar that "absence" of terror was an essential pre-requisite for normalization of Indo-Pak relations. Sources present at the meeting said Krishna insisted on the importance of bringing perpetrators of the 26/11 attacks to justice and action against terrorists. The Indian approach appears to have solidified in recent weeks. Last week, during the India-Pakistan foreign secretary talks, it was foreign secretary Ranjan Mathai who said that removing terrorism would be the best confidence building measure between the two countries. Given that India has been pushing CBMs in all areas to reduce the "trust deficit" with Pakistan and to diffuse the focus from terrorism, the return to terrorism as a key benchmark is seen as significant. In fact, in the past couple of years, there have been many efforts to cut Pakistan some slack. In a sign that PM Singh was willing to go the extra mile with Pakistan, that same PM this week said he needed "suitable outcomes" before travelling to Pakistan. (Times of India 9/7/12) Militants threaten to attack Pak soldiers, govt ins tallations (12) ISLAMABAD: Taliban-linked militants have threatened to carry out more attacks on soldiers and government installations similar to an assault on a Pakistan Army camp that killed eight security personnel on Monday, according to a media report on Wednesday. Police found a pamphlet at the site of Monday's attack near Gujrat city in Punjab province that warned more attacks would be carried out by militants if NATO supply routes to Afghanistan were not closed, The Express Tribune quoted an intelligence agency's report as saying. Another intelligence agency's report said terrorists linked with the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, who were involved in an attack on security personnel at Pir Chambal,

were planning more attacks on government installations. The agency's report on Monday's attack said an "unregistered motorcycle with a time bomb was found and the bomb was defused" after the assault. A grenade lying in bushes exploded after the attack but caused no damage. The report said police had "found a pamphlet in which it has been threatened that their (militants') activities would continue in future due to restoration of NATO supply".A group of militants using a car and motorcycles attacked the army camp on the banks of the Chenab river early on Monday morning, killing seven soldiers and a policeman. The security personnel were part of a rescue party that was searching for the body of a pilot who drowned when a military helicopter crashed on May 23. According to media reports, the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan had claimed responsibility for the attack. The incident occurred hours after thousands of supporters of the Defa-e-Pakistan Council arrived in Gujrat as part of a "long march" to protest the government's decision to reopen NATO supply routes to Afghanistan. Police officer Saeed Warraich said the terrorists had warned the people, through the pamphlet, to stay away from police, security forces and intelligence personnel because their attacks would continue everywhere in Pakistan, particularly in Punjab, due to the reopening of the NATO supply lines. Officials said the Punjab government had ignored warnings from intelligence agencies to monitor the movement of members of banned groups during the Defa-e-Pakistan Council's long march. Members of banned groups, considered so dangerous that they are barred from travelling beyond the jurisdiction of their local police stations, were seen at a DPC rally in Islamabad late on Monday, The Express Tribune quoted an intelligence agency’s report as saying. The supply routes were closed last November after a cross-border NATO air strike killed 24 Pakistani soldiers. The government reopened the supply lines last week after the US apologised for the NATO attack. (DNA 11/7/12) Govt plans to take NCTC out of IB's ambit (12) New Delhi: The Home Ministry will approach the CCS after July 19 Presidential poll for approval of the revised plan for NCTC which will be taken out from the ambit of the Intelligence Bureau and conduct operations only when there is an urgency. Faced with strong opposition from several chief ministers to the earlier proposal of NCTC, the home ministry is preparing a revised plan for implementing the ambitious project and will approach the Cabinet Committee on Security headed by Prime Minister for its approval. "After the CCS approval, a revised order will be issued notifying the states," an official said. According to the new plan, the NCTC will now be kept out of the ambit of the Intelligence Bureau and will be an independent entity directly reporting to the home ministry. Besides, the anti-terror body will conduct operations on its own only if there is an urgency or in rarest of rarest case. The revised plan for NCTC, a pet project of home minister P Chidambaram, is being prepared after the Centre faced strong opposition to NCTC from chief ministers at a specially convened meeting on May five. Those who opposed NCTC include chief ministers like Naveen Patnaik (Odisha), J Jayalalitha (Tamil Nadu), Narendra Modi (Gujarat) and ally Mamata Banerjee (West Bengal). They said such a body with such powers will hurt the federal structure of the country. According to the earlier proposal, the Multi Agency Centre and the operations wing of the Intelligence Bureau were earmarked for the NCTC and the home ministry had passed an ordinance making the new anti-terror body as a nodal organisation under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The home minister had announced on May five that the Centre will have a relook and may make NCTC an independent body. The NCTC will now function in tandem with the state police and almost all arrests would be made notifying the nearest police station. On Tuesday, addressing a press conference in Bangalore, Chidambaram had said the government was addressing the two issues -- NCTC operating under Section 43 (A) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, which gives power to arrest to central sleuths and its existence under IB. He had also said that a note on the NCTC was being circulated among the CCS members for their consideration. (Hindustan Times 12/7/12) Situation in Kashmir Valley alarming, says Army GOC (12)

Srinagar: The Army on Tuesday said the situation in the Kashmir Valley was alarming as militant handlers were desperately trying to strengthen their cadre base by way of infiltration and local recruitment besides planning to launch suicide attacks. “It is an alarming situation...some incidents have taken place like the shootouts at Pampore, Kulgam and Rajpora (in south Kashmir),” General Officer Commanding of Srinagar-based 15 Corps, Lt-Gen Om Prakash, told reporters here. Lt-Gen Prakash, who took over as GOC of the strategic Chinar Corps last month, said intelligence agencies in Kashmir have reported that militant handlers were directing the ultras to carry out suicide attacks on security forces. “Intelligence agencies as recently as a week ago have reported that militants were planning to carry out fidayeen (suicide) attacks and snatch the weapon of security forces,” he said. The Army Commander said 550 to 600 militants were waiting at various launch pads near the Line of Control in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) to infiltrate into the Valley. “They are looking for chances to infiltrate and attempts are being made which we have foiled. However, we cannot guarantee zero infiltration but we will be able to counter their designs,” he said. In response to a question, he said militant outfits like Lashker-e-Toiba (LET) were trying to recruit local youths to strengthen their cadres in the Valley as part of their two-pronged strategy. The terror infrastructure in PoK and Pakistan was still intact, he added. – PTI (The Hindu 18/7/12) Govt intends to amend UAPA to tackle terror financi ng (12) New Delhi: A proposal to amendment the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act to effectively combat money laundering and terror financing and declare such crime as terrorist acts is likely to be discussed by the Union Cabinet on Thursday. If the Cabinet approves the Home Ministry's proposal, a bill incorporating all amendments would be tabled in the monsoon session of parliament beginning August 8. Through the proposed amendment, the government intends to make UA(P)A more effective in preventing unlawful financial activities, money laundering, terror financing and circulation of Fake Indian Currency Notes. The Bill enhances from two years to five years the period for which an association involved in terrorist acts, including terror financing, will be declared unlawful. It widens the definition of "terrorist act" by including activities that threaten the economic security of India and damage its monetary stability by production, smuggling or circulation of 'high quality' counterfeit currency. Through the amendment, government wants to confer more powers upon the court to provide for attachment or forfeiture of property equivalent to the counterfeit Indian currency involved in the offence, property equivalent to the value of the proceeds of terrorism involved in the offence besides others. The provisions have been incorporated in the UA(P) Amendment Bill which was first introduced in Lok Sabha on December 29, 2011. The Bill was referred to the Standing Committee on Home Affairs on January 13, 2012. Later, the consent of the states was sought to the amendment. While majority of the states favoured the amendment, a few opposed the move. The proposed amendment includes provisions to prevent the use of biological, radiological, nuclear material or device for terror or other illegal acts. The Bill, which was brought on the basis of international commitments made by India, enlarges the scope of the Act relating to punishment for raising funds for terror acts. It includes new provisions to "include within its scope, offences by companies, societies or trusts and provide for punishment".Last year, India was admitted as the 34th member of the Financial Action Task Force, an Inter-Governmental organisation set up to devise policies to combat money laundering and terror financing. On the basis of India's commitments to the Task Force, various legislative and legally-binding measures were required to be taken.(DNA 18/7/12) India seeks global arms trade treaty to defang terr or groups (12) NEW DELHI: India wants a global arms trade treaty (ATT) to be decided by consensus with all "stakeholders", where the big players in weapons trade like the US and China sharing obligations to prevent illicit trafficking of arms to terrorist groups. It is more difficult to trade in oil and fruits than weapons. This unregulated global trade in weapons is not only huge — some figures suggest $2.2 billion worth of weapons made their way to countries under arms embargo in the last decade — but also contributes enormously to enhancing the lethal power of terrorist groups and organized crime

syndicates.As discussions for a treaty at the UN enter its final week — the treaty is being discussed at a special session from July 2-27 — sources said India wants arms brokers to be included in the purview of the ATT, but want to keep ammunition out of the pact. The Indian stand on the issue is closer to the US, although, like China, New Delhi too wants to keep subjective aspects like human rights outside the treaty's ambit. The gaps among the negotiating countries are wide enough to foresee difficult negotiations ahead. India would prefer to have strong language against terrorism, viewing this treaty as one more brick in the comprehensive convention against terrorism. In her statement, Sujata Mehta, PR to the conference on disarmament, said, "The ATT should make it obligatory for states not to authorize transfer of conventional arms to terrorists or non-state armed groups." However, the implementation of the treaty should be the responsibility of governments, and not by a supra-national body, because it "cannot restrict and should not prejudice the legitimate right of states to engage in arms trade for self-defence and in pursuit of their foreign policy and national security interests." Nobody is quite sure how this treaty will prevent states like Pakistan from arming terror groups, especially since Islamabad uses terrorism as part of its foreign policy. On the scope of the treaty, India has proposed a seven-plus-one list of weapons, including, battle tanks, armed combat vehicles, large calibre artillery systems, combat aircraft, attack helicopters, warships, missiles and missile launchers and small arms and light weaponry. Of these, it would be easier to get a consensus on most since all of them don't make to organized crime networks. The difficulty will be including the last item in the treaty.... (Times of India 20/7/12) Mumbai ATS finally gets Abu Jundal’s custody (12) New Delhi:Giving priority to four cases against 26/11 Mumbai attacks handler Abu Jundal in Mumbai, a Delhi court on Friday transferred the suspected LeT terrorist’s custody to the Mumbai Police anti-terror squad (ATS) and directed it to produce him before Mumbai’s Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) on Saturday. According to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Vinod Yadav, the Mumbai CMM may consider the comparative merit and Jundal’s requirement in the four cases and grant his custody accordingly. Apart from the 26/11 Mumbai attack case, the 30-year-old is wanted by the Mumbai ATS, Mumbai Crime Branch and Pune ATS in the May 2006 Aurangabad arms haul case, attack on the Nashik police academy and the German Bakery blast in Pune. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had also sought Jundal's custody saying that it needs to quiz him to prevent another attack, while Ahmedabad ATS argues that he is the main conspirator of the Karnawati Express blast on February 19, 2006. “I have considered the submissions of all the investigating agencies. This accused is required in Mumbai in four cases. This court deems it fit at this stage to transfer the custody to Mumbai ATS only for the purpose of his production before Mumbai CMM before 4 pm on Saturday,” Yadav said. As the Mumbai ATS team said they planned to take Jundal to Mumbai on a flight from Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, the court also directed the Delhi Police Special Cell to ensure Jundal’s safety till he boards the flight. The court was also informed that Jundal's interrogation was critical to the November 26, 2008, terror attacks case. Yadav further emphasised that handing over Jundal’s custody to the Mumbai ATS will not come in the way of NIA and other agencies. “After completion of the interrogation of the accused in the aforesaid four cases, he be brought back to Delhi so that the issue of handing over of his custody to NIA and other agencies may be considered,” Yadav added. Once Jundal returns to Delhi, Yadav will also separately consider the Delhi Police Special Cell’s request for extension of his custody with 14 days judicial remand. Jundal had allegedly trained 10 Pakistani terrorists responsible for the Mumbai attacks that claimed 165 lives, besides teaching them basic Hindi and apprising them on Mumbai's topography. On June 21, the Intelligence Branch had taken Jundal’s custody on his deportation from Saudi Arabia. On June 25, he was formally handed over to the Delhi police, to be produced at a Delhi court for trial. Jundal has been booked under various provisions of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Prevention of Damage to Property Act and various sections of the Indian Penal Code. (Deccan Herald 21/7/12) Jundal got involved in 26/11 conspiracy four months before attacks (12)

MUMBAI: Lashkar-e-Taiba operative Abu Jundal alias Sayed Zabiuddin Ansari got involved in the 26/11 conspiracy around four months before the attack, he is learnt to have told the Mumbai Crime Branch, interrogating him in the case. “He was involved from August 2008, when he was handed over specific tasks. He sneaked into Pakistan in 2006 and started getting militancy training there,” a senior police official said here on Monday. A team of six police officers interrogated Jundal about his family background, how he got involved in terrorist activities, how he escaped from India and reached Pakistan, and his involvement in 26/11. He is also learnt to have done odd jobs in Pakistan during his stay there. He allegedly worked on private construction sites, the police said. “It is possible that he might have met other Indians during his training in Pakistan between 2006 and 2011. He might have been in touch with them before 26/11,” an official said, adding that Jundal very much underwent Daura-e-Aam and Daura-e-Khaas combat training courses in Pakistan. “We are in the process of establishing his specific role in the 26/11 conspiracy. It is possible that he might have recruited many Indians and that he had access to [Lashkar-e-Taiba founder] Hafiz Saeed,” the officer said. “Till 2003, he did apprenticeship as an electrician at Satya Electricals in Beed and simultaneously converted to Ahl al-Hadith in 2003. In 2005, he started leaning towards terror activities,” he said, adding that Jundal told them he had met Aslam Kashmiri, LeT operative from Jammu and Kashmir, in 2005. Amir, an accused in the 2006 Aurangabad arms haul case, introduced Jundal to Kashmiri. In 2005, he also allegedly visited Nepal. In 2006, he travelled by train to Kolkata from where he crossed over to Bangladesh and then reached Pakistan by air on a fake passport. Jundal is a Bachelor of Science. He had enrolled for a B.Sc. course in 2001. Thereafter, he enrolled for a Master of Arts course in Hindi literature and completed only the first year of his course in Beed’s KSK College. (The Hindu 24/7/12)

Iran, world’s primary sponsor of state terrorism: I srael (12) NEW DELHI: Iran is the world's primary sponsor of state terrorism, says Israel. In a response to the TOI report on Iran being the culprit behind the attack on an Israeli diplomat on February 13, the Israeli Embassy said, "We have no doubt that the government of Iran is responsible for the terrorist attack against an Israeli diplomat and three Indian nationals in the heart of New Delhi on the 13/2." The Delhi Police report holding Iran's Revolutionary Guards responsible for the February attack comes at an uncomfortable time. In a few weeks, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is scheduled to travel to Iran for the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit on August 30-31. Given Iran's current standing of being isolated on account of its nuclear ambitions, Singh's visit is expected to raise eyebrows among West Asian nations. In effect, the PM will travel to a country which, according to Indian investigators, has sponsored a terror attack on Indian soil in violation of the Vienna Convention. The Indian government has taken a hardline attitude to Pakistan that has also engaged in state sponsorship of terrorism in India. It is expected Singh will take up this issue with the Iranian authorities when he visits Teheran. Iran is reeling under crippling sanctions against its energy and financial sectors, imposed by the US and the European Union ( EU). The Indian government maintains that Indian PMs have not missed a single NAM summit except in 1979. However, given the ongoing tense politics in West Asia, its unlikely the Arab countries, whom India is busy wooing, will approve of New Delhi's decision. Sources said many Arab states are likely to stay away from the summit, including some south-east Asian countries. The Israel statement said, "This (Iran) is the same government that stands behind a long chain of attempts to kill innocent Israelis and Jews all over the world, that calls for the destruction of Israel and that continues it's relentless clandestine effort to acquire nuclear weapons." (Times of India 1/8/12) Ammonium nitrate used as explosives in Pune blasts: Forensic (12) New Delhi: The explosive material used by terrorists to trigger coordinated serial bomb blasts in Pune was ammonium nitrate, according to a preliminary forensic examination. Official sources privy to the investigations said tonight that ammonium nitrate, which has been often used by banned terrorist outfits

like Indian Mujahideen, was packed inside a steel box. The sources said a timer was also attached to the steel box and a combination of Neogel, generally used in stone quarries, and ammonium nitrate oil was used as the binding force for the Improvised Explosive Device (IED). Four low intensity explosions rocked Pune last night while one was partially detonated and another one was found live and later defused. (DNA 2/8/12) Kazmi's JC extended in Israeli diplomat attack case (12) New Delhi: The judicial custody of journalist Syed Mohammad Ahmed Kazmi, charge-sheeted in the Israeli diplomat attack case, was extended today till August 9, the day slated by the court to consider taking cognisance of the charge sheet. Kazmi's custody was extended by Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Vidya Prakash. The charge sheet, which names Kazmi as accused in the case was to come up for the court's consideration today but it was deferred after the prosecution sought more time. Kazmi has been booked under various provisions of the anti-terror law, Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), the Explosive Substances Act and other sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) including the attempt to murder. In its over 550-page charge sheet filed in the court on July 31, the Special Cell of Delhi Police has said Kazmi was in touch with Houshang Afshar Irani, who is responsible for executing the terrorist attack, and had facilitated him in the same. It has also said that while Irani, on the one hand was in touch with Kazmi through mobile phone, on the other hand, he was in contact with Sedaghatzadeh Masoud and Syed Ali Mahdiansadr. Irani, Sedaghatzadeh, Mahdiansadr and one Mohammadreza Abolghashemi, have been named as suspects in the charge sheet. According to the police, Afshar had visited India on April 25, 2011 and left the country on May 6, 2011. He had come back to India again on January 29, 2012, but left for Malaysia on February 13 evening, within hours after the attack on the Israeli diplomat here. The agency had found that Afshar had stayed at a hotel named Hotel High 5 and an analysis of his mobile number had revealed that he had contacted Kazmi. The CCTV footage and other records of his stay at the hotel were seized by police and Kazmi was arrested on March 6. The scooter purchased by Afshar, which was used in the recce of the Israeli embassy, too was seized from Kazmi's house. Kazmi's call details showed he was in touch with other suspects. In its charge sheet, the police said it was engaged in a time-consuming probe spanning various countries, including Iran, Malaysia, Thailand and Israel to ascertain if there was a "larger conspiracy" behind the February 13 terror attack on the Israeli diplomat here. It has also sent Letters Rogatory to Georgia, Malaysia, Iran, Thailand and Israel to facilitate its probe into the case. (Hindustan Times 3/8/12) Police defuse two time-bombs in Madurai (12) MADURAI: There was some panic after two time-bombs packed in a parcel were received by a former activist of the banned Al-Umma terror outfit here, police said today. Umar had received the parcel from a boy who told him that he was coming from a courier office, police said. On opening the parcel, he found the bombs attached to a battery and informed police.The bombs were "sophisticated", police said, adding, bomb squad personnel defused them. A top police official said Umar had many enemies in other terror outfits. He is being questioned to trace the boy's identity, police sources said. (Times of India 4/8/12) Arrested GNLA chief seeks negotiation with govt (12 ) Shillong: Chairman and co-founder of the banned Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA) Champion Sangma is contemplating to ask with the government to allow him to bring the militant group to the negotiating table. Champion's lawyer Sujit Dey on Sunday said his client has asked him to discuss with the government the possibility of starting talks with the outfit. Dey said he had a thorough discussion on this last evening with Champion who is now in the custody of the police and was kept at an undisclosed location. The defence lawyer said Champion was looking healthy and he was provided with the facilities as per norms. Champion, a former deputy superintendent of police who co-founded the GNLA in 2010, was arrested on July 30, hours after he was pushed back from Bangladesh. He was in a jail in

Bangladesh and had completed his prison term there before being pushed back. The GNLA militants were fighting an armed struggle for a separate Garo Land and is active in the Garo Hills region. GNLA was declared a terror organisation in January for killing security personnel and civilians, besides incidents of abduction and extortion. (Zee News 5/8/12) Samjhauta blasts: NIA identifies four bomb planters (12) Panchkula: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday submitted a supplementary chargesheet against Kamal Chauhan (28), and Amit (around 26) before special judge, NIA, Kanchan Mahi in the Samjhauta Express blasts case. The chargesheet has named Lokesh Sharma, Amit, Chauhan and Rajender Chaudhary as the bomb planters. Chauhan and Chaudhary are residents of Depalpur (Indore). Amit as well as Chaudhary are absconding. On February 18, 2007, two improvised explosive devices (IEDs) had exploded on the Lahore-bound train near Dewana railway station, Panipat (Haryana), killing 68 people and injuring 12. Most of the victims were Pakistanis. The first chargesheet, submitted on June 20, 2011, had mentioned the names of Aseemanand and Sharma (in judicial custody), Sunil Joshi (murdered on December 29, 2007), Sandeep Dange and Ramchander Kalsangra (absconding). Aseemanand and Sharma are also facing trial in the Mecca Masjid blasts at Hyderabad (May 18, 2007) and Rajasthan's Ajmer Sharif blast (October 11, 2007). As per the second chargesheet, "Sunil Joshi, a resident of Dewas in Madhya Pradesh, was the mastermind who planned and coordinated execution of the bomb blasts on Samjhauta Express with the assistance of close associates Ramchandra Kalsangra, Sandeep Dange and Lokesh Sharma in furtherance of the conspiracy entered into by Aseemanand and other co-accused in the case." Chauhan was arrested on February 12 this year from Noida (Uttar Pradesh). It was established that Chauhan, Chaudhary and Dhan Singh had been Sharma's accomplices. It was also revealed that Chauhan, Chaudhary and Dhan Singh absconded from Depalpur in Indore district after Sharma's arrest in May 2010. During the investigation, it was revealed that Chauhan was involved in planting the suitcase bombs on Samjhauta Express on February 18, 2007 along with Sharma, Chaudhary and Amit. Meanwhile, Naveen Kaushik, counsel for Chauhan, said, "It is an incomplete chargesheet. Chauhan is entitled to bail. We will file an application for bail. There is nothing to corroborate the allegations made against him."As per the supplementary chargesheet, Chauhan, Kalsangra, Sharma, Amit, Chaudhary etc. attended training in Bagli forest of Madhya Pradesh's Dewas district in January 2006. The training, organised by Joshi, was about preparing pipe bombs and pistol firing. After the training, the participants decided to attack Muslim-dominated places and religious sites in order to retaliate for the attacks on Hindu temples and Indian cities by Jehadi terrorist groups. Chauhan, Joshi, Sharma, Amit and Chaudhary also participated in firing practice organised by Joshi at Karni Singh firing range at Faridabad in April 2006. Chauhan was radicalised and motivated by Sharma to avenge attacks on Hindu temples and Indian cities by Jehadi Muslim terrorist groups. The call data record corroborates the association of Chauhan with Sharma, according to the chargesheet…. (Hindustan Times 9/8/12) ‘The holy book condemns terrorism in any form’ (12) HYDERABAD: Muslims must turn towards the holy book in times of trials and tribulations and condemn terrorism in any form, said speakers at the Youm-ul-Quran (day of the Quran) organised in Mecca Masjid on Friday after the afternoon prayers. The event began with the qirat (recitation of the Quran) as the massive prayer hall and courtyard resonated with the verses of the scripture: 'then which favours of your lord will you deny?' The qirat was recited by Subhan Khundmiri from Jamia Nizamia and was followed by naat (hymns in praise of Prophet Muhammad). Speakers at the historic mosque said Ramzan was a time when Muslims must stand united as one and fight against oppression and tyranny. They noted that although minorities have been targeted by oppressive regimes like those in Syria and Myanmar, they should not lose hope but be strong. They stressed that the Quran advocates equal rights and demanded that the Sachar Committee recommendations be implemented without any further delay. Speakers said

Muslims must combat terrorism of all forms and by all means and they should declare a global jihad (struggle) against terrorism. Addressing a gathering of the close to 4,000 believers, Farhatullah Khan, spokesperson, Majlis Bachao Tehreek said, "The Quran condemns everything evil including terrorism in all forms. All members of society must strongly resist attacks on innocent civilians. It is unfortunate that the Gogoi government failed to take preventive steps to stop the killing of innocent civilians. We, the minorities, want social equity. We will shine if we are given the opportunity to do so." Speakers also demanded the release of constable Abdul Quadeer, who has been languishing in jail for 22 years for the murder of ACP Sattaiah. (times of India 10/8/12) Banned outfits working under bogus names in Kerala: NIA (12) Thiruvananthapuram: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has received clues that banned Islamic outfits like SIMI were carrying out extremist activities under bogus names in several parts of Kerala. Reports of such activities were mainly from northern districts of Kasaragod, Kannur, Kozhikode and Malappuram, it was stated at the third regional co-ordination meeting of the NIA South Zone held yesterday at the police headquarters here, police sources said. There was also possibility of Maoist infiltration into the state as the extremists believed that Kerala would be a safe haven for them, the meeting observed and wanted the state to be cautious against such threats. NIA Additional Director General N R Wasan, who attended the meeting, said the agency would share data on terrorists and terrorism with all Anti-Terrorism Squads (ATS) and Special Task Forces (STF) in different states. State Director General of Police Jacob Punnoose said without inter-state co-ordination, investigation into terror-related cases would be extremely difficult. In some cases, investigations would have to be extended to international level to find out those trying to indoctrinate our citizens to indulge in extremist activities, he said. The meeting discussed issues including information sharing, cases under investigation, terror financing and circulation of fake Indian currency notes, the sources said. It was attended by police officials dealing with terrorism-related cases from Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Representatives of central intelligence agencies, CBI, RBI, Financial Intelligence Unit, Revenue Intelligence, Enforcement Directorate, Narcotics Control Bureau and top officials of NIA also attended, the sources said. (Deccan Herald 11/8/12) Govt intends to amend UAPA to tackle terror financi ng (12) New Delhi: A proposal to make amendments in the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act to effectively combat terror financing and money laundering and declare such crime as terrorist acts is likely to be discussed by the government this week. If the Cabinet approves the Home Ministry's proposal, a bill incorporating all amendments will be tabled in the ongoing monsoon session of Parliament. Through the proposed amendment, the government intends to make Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act more effective in preventing unlawful financial activities, terror financing, money laundering and circulation of fake Indian currency. The Bill enhances from two years to five years the period for which an association involved in terrorist acts, including terror financing, will be declared unlawful. It widens the definition of "terrorist act" by including activities that threaten the economic security of India and damage its monetary stability by production, smuggling or circulation of 'high quality' counterfeit currency. Through the amendment, government wants to confer more powers upon the court to provide for attachment or forfeiture of property equivalent to the counterfeit Indian currency involved in the offence, property equivalent to the value of the proceeds of terrorism involved in the offence besides others. The provisions have been incorporated in the UA(P) Amendment Bill which was first introduced in Lok Sabha on December 29, 2011. The Bill was referred to the Standing Committee on Home Affairs on January 13. (Zee News 13/8/12) MPA residents feel cop heat after terror alert (12)

NASHIK: With the Maharashtra Police Academy (MPA) on the radar of terror outfits, the city police have started conducting a survey of residents staying in buildings around the MPA, in addition to stepping up security arrangements around and within the academy.According to officials, 11 trainee police sub inspectors have been entrusted with the task of taking gathering details on every household of each and every family residing in the vicinity training institute. of the century old training institute. Deputy commissioner of police (DCP) Sandeep Diwan said that demographic information such as number of family members, their every detail like the number of members in a family, their names, native place and occupation, were being noted down. People surveyed also The survey also included verification of those residing in the Utkarsha and Siddhartha Nagar slums. Apart from this, Ameeting of residentail colony representatives of the residential colonies was also conducted by senior police officials to with an appeal to them to remain vigilant and inform the police about any suspicious activity in addition to keeping them updated on lease or rental activitiy leasing flats of shops to tenants in the area. The security of the MPA along Nashik-Trimbak Road has become a major issue over the past few years and more so after Lashkar terrorist Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal gave a statement to the Delhi police that his outfit had planned an attack on the MPA in 2009 and the outfit might still be working on the plan. Last month the Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) had reportedly revealed that Jundal was the mastermind behind the attack that was to be carried out on MPA in 2010. Meanwhile Sheikh Lalbaba Farid, alias Bilal, another LeT member, had also carried out a reccee of the Nashik police commissionerate and the Deolali army camp before he was arrested by the ATS from Satpur in September 2010. In the light of these terror-driven activities, the police have also sought two platoons of state reserve police force from the director general's office (SRPF). After Bilal was arrested by the ATS, MPA had beefed up its security arrangements in its premises. Recently, the police has also clamped a ban on vehicle parking along the institute. According to the police those found parking their vehicles by the wall and the road opposite MPA would face action. Police have said action would also be taken on landlords and others who do not report tenancy information to the police. if they are leasing their property but response to this appeal information on this has beenWhile the police have checked the households around MPA, the response to the police's appeal to citizens about informing about their tenants has been lukewarm, police informed. Times of India 13/8/12) Court to examine verdict on terror outfit membershi p (12) The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to examine the Centre’s petition for recalling its judgment holding that mere membership of a banned organisation “will not make a person a criminal unless he resorts to violence or incites people to violence.” A Bench of Justices Deepak Verma and Gyan Sudha Misra directed that the petition be listed for regular hearing. Earlier, Additional Solicitor General Mohan Parasaran faulted the order, passed by the Registrar, that no appeal could be filed against the February 2011 judgment. He argued that it was only for the court to decide whether to hear the matter or not and the Registrar could not decide that no appeal would lie against the judgment. A Bench of Justices Markandey Katju (since retired) and Gyan Sudha Misra had in February last year given the ruling, while setting aside a judgment of the Designated Court, Assam in Guwahati, which convicted Arup Bhuyan under Section 3 (5) of the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act for being a member of the banned United Liberation Front of Asom. This judgment, which said members of banned groups could not be treated as criminals until they indulged in violence, “defies logic,” said the Centre. For, the police could not wait for members of a banned outfit to carry out acts of terror. Any member of a terrorist organisation could open an office anywhere and start recruiting people and the police would not be able to do anything. Arup Bhuyan was convicted also by the Gauhati High Court on the basis of a confession, which is admissible evidence under the TADA. But the Supreme Court held “the appellant has denied that he was a member of the ULFA... Even assuming he was a member, it has not been proved that he was an active member and hence no offence was made out.” (The Hindu 14/8/12)

2003 triple-blast accused’s bail cancelled (12) Mumbai: The Bombay high court on Friday cancelled bail that had been granted to a 2003 triple blasts accused, observing that there was prima facie evidence. A division bench of justice Abhay Oka and justice Srihari Davare, while cancelling accused Dr Wahid Abdul Shaikh’s bail, granted him 12 weeks to surrender before the trial court. The decision was taken when the HC was hearing an appeal filed by the Maharashtra government that challenged the bail Wahid had been granted by the special Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) court on February 15, 2011. Additional public prosecutor FR Shaikh argued that the police had recovered material used for making bombs as well as some partially made bombs from Wahid’s clinic in Saki Naka. He added that Wahid had initially given a confessional statement of his alleged involvement in the blasts. Wahid was arrested soon after the triple blasts occurred at Mulund, Bombay Central and Vile Parle, and was charged with conspiracy. During the hearing, the HC also directed the special court to reconsider bail that had been granted to Saquib Nachan, the all India leader of banned outfit, the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), and also the prime accused in the blasts. The government had sought for cancellation of Nachan’s bail stating that he conspired to wage a war against India to avenge the demolition of Babri Masjid post Godhra riots and for the atrocities committed against Muslims in India. He also provided shelter to Pakistani terrorists and trained Muslim youths. The high court has asked the state government to file an application before the special court for the cancellation of Nachan’s bail and the special court has been directed to decide on the same within three months. Nachan was arrested on April 10, 2003, and was in custody till he was granted bail this year on January 31. The cases for all three blasts were clubbed for trial. Crude bomb made of gunpowder and shrapnel were used in the blasts. The three blasts claimed 12 lives and injured 141 others. The 19 accused persons in the blasts are facing trial under POTA. In 2005, the Supreme Court stayed the trial proceedings on an application made by Nachan, but they commenced after the stay was lifted in 2011.(DNA 18/8/12) Terrorists reviving outfits in Tripura, says police chief (12) AGARTALA: Separatist terrorists have been trying to strengthen their outfits in Tripura ahead of the assembly polls early next year but security forces are ready to tackle them, the northeastern state's police chief said Tuesday. "Even though the outlawed guerillas have been trying to create troubles before next year's assembly polls, the security forces are also getting ready to hit back with a befitting manner," Director General of Police Sanjay Sinha said after unveiling a memorial to policemen killed by separatists in 2002. "The terrorist groups should not feel that the state government is weak to deal with them. The security forces are fully ready to face any eventuality," Sinha warned. The memorial was set up at Hirapur, 25 km south of here, in memory of 20 Tripura State Rifles troopers who were killed by National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) militants on Aug 20, 2002. Polls in Tripura, now the only state ruled by the Left in the country, are slated for February 2013. The police chief urged the underground tribal guerillas to join the mainstream to help the authorities to continue development in underdeveloped areas and welfare of the people. He also urged the people to inform police or him personally if they found anyone helping or aiding extremists or any rebels operating in their locality. The state police also revealed that NLFT extremists were engaged in "fresh recruitment of innocent tribal youths from interior areas". "The guerrillas are also trying to extort money from different agencies with the help of a section of surrendered extremists and their sympathisers," the statement added. Tripura's two militant secessionist outfits - NLFT and the All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF), both banned by the Indian authorities - have set up bases in Bangladesh, and receive support from other separatist outfits of the northeast. "Currently, the number of NLFT cadres is 150 to 155, and the ATTF has 10 to 12 guerillas," Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar recently told the state assembly, quoting intelligence reports. Tripura has successfully controlled the 45-year-old phenomenon of secessionist terrorism in the state, which borders Bangladesh. Meanwhile, leaders of the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist ( CPI-M) have been alleging that separatist outfits, aided by a section of opposition leaders, were conspiring to oust the Left Front from

power in the next year's state assembly polls. Rejecting the allegations, the Congress said it was the government which was using militants for the polls, by withdrawing 1,300 criminal cases against 736 surrendered guerrillas. (Times of India 21/8/12) Central agencies step in to dismantle police-milita nt nexus in J&K (12) Srinagar: The arrest of senior superintendent of police’s personal security officer (PSO) on charges of killing a retired deputy superitendent of police and carrying out other terror attacks has sent the security establishment in a tizzy in Jammu and Kashmir. Sources told Deccan Herald that after the arrest of the PSO, Abdul Rashid Shigan, recently for the assassination bid of state’s law and parliamentary affairs minister, Ali Mohammad Sagar, and 12 other terror attacks in Srinagar since last year on behalf of Hizbul Mujahideen militant outfit, authorities have decided to put the police force under the scanner. “Intelligence Bureau sleuths with the help of Electronic Surveillance Unit (ESU) have been put on alert and asked to scrutinise call details of some suspected policemen including some officers,” sources said. They added that newly appointed director general of police Ashok Prasad has asked his subordinates to thoroughly investigate cases of nexus between militants and police. Earlier, in June this year four policemen had been arrested after investigations revealed they were acting as “moles” for the militants. “Central investigating agencies had joined the state police to investigate the militant-cops nexus case in June and it is likely that in the latest case also the central agencies will take over the investigations,” sources said. The inspector general of Kashmir police, S M Sahai, who disclosed the second police-militant nexus this year, said Shigan, a constable of the security wing of J&K police was found to be the kingpin of a Hizbul Mujahideen outfit. He revealed Shigan alias Omar Mukhtar, also known as Moulvi, a prized catch — was currently posted as PSO to SSP Bandipore, Bashir Ahmad Khan and was chief of the new found group — Kashmir Islamic Movement, a shadow group of Hizbul. According to sources, Shigan was an overground worker of Harkat-ul-Mujahideen outfit in early 1990s before he got recruited as a constable in J&K Armed Police in 1998. “However, a couple of years later police recovered a pistol and some ammunition from his residence and he was detained under Public Safety Act. But in 2002 state High Court not only quashed his detention orders but also directed the government to reinstate him,” they added. Since 2007 he remained posted in security wing and lastly remained attached to SSP Bandipore. A senior police officer, who is close to the case, said investigation into the 13 terror strikes carried out by Shigan was still underway and a number of his aides would be arrested soon. “During interrogation Shigan revealed that he was directly in touch with his handlers in Pakistan. But there is also a possibility of some more cops being involved in the nexus and we are looking into that angle,” police official added. Arms and ammunitions seized from Shigan’s house included two AK-47 rifles, one Kirankov rifle, four Chinese pistols, IEDs and grenades. (Deccan Herald 23/8/12) Cabinet okays more powers for Unlawful Activities A ct (12) NEW DELHI: The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act will get more teeth with the Union Cabinet on Thursday approving amendments to expand the definition of "terrorist act" to bring into its ambit activities like money laundering, terror financing and circulation of fake currency notes. The amendments also include enhancing the ban period of an outfit, involved in terrorist acts, from two years to five years. Through the amendments, the government also wants to confer more powers upon courts to provide for attachment or forfeiture of property equivalent to the counterfeit Indian currency involved in the offence and the property equivalent to the value of the proceeds of terrorism involved in the offence. The provisions will be incorporated in the UAP Amendment Bill which was first introduced in Lok Sabha on December 29, 2011. The bill was referred to the standing committee on home affairs on January 13, 2012. Though the home ministry had accepted the recommendations of the standing committee and prepared notes for the approval long ago, the matter could not be discussed in the Cabinet due to opposition from UPA's key ally Trinamool Congress. The amendments were finally discussed and cleared at the meeting of the UPA coordination committee attended by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Prime

Minister Manmohan Singh, agriculture minister Sharad Pawar and Trinamool Congress boss and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee here on Wednesday. (Times of India 24/8/12)

Special team to probe Karnataka terror suspects' li nks (12) Bangalore: The Karnataka crime branch Saturday set up a special team to investigate the terror links of a dozen youths arrested this week and unravel their plans to carry deadly attacks in the state with support from banned outfits LeT and HuJi. "We have formed a special investigation team to crack the case registered against the 12 suspects arrested and unravel their plans to carry terror attacks in the state on the basis of evidence collected through preliminary interrogation and incriminating materials seized from them so far," Bangalore Police Commissioner Jyotiprakash Mirji told reporters here. The crime branch sleuths picked up the terror suspects - 11 from Bangalore and Hubli in Karnataka Wednesday and one from Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh Friday. A 7.65mm pistol, seven cartridges, 16 mobile handsets, eight SIM cards, three pen drives, four ATMs, seven laptops and one bike were recovered from them and their hideouts in the state. "In addition to arms and ammunition, incriminating materials, including jehadi literature, two maps of Chennai and India, a map of Iran, Urdu newspaper cuttings and religious books were seized in Bangalore and Hubli," Mirji said a day after the families of the accused cried foul over the dramatic arrest of their relatives, including sons and brothers. As part of the investigation, the seized material has been sent to forensic analysis for further evidence and in support of the confessional statements they had made during the interrogation. "We have learnt from some of the accused that Rehman was plotting to assassinate a prominent leader of a Hindu organisation in Hyderabad and two corporators of Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) in the city. "They have also plotted to attack vital installations such as the Kaiga nuclear power plant (about 500 km from Bangalore) and the Sea Bird naval base at Karwar (in Uttara Kannada district on the west coast of the state)," Mirji claimed. Of the 12 accused, the six from Bangalore are Shoaib Ahmed Mirza (25), Abdullah alias Abdul Hakim Jamdar (25), Izaz Mohammed Mirza (25), Mohammed Yosuf Nalaband (28), Riyaz Ahmed Byahatti (28) and Muthi-ur-Rehman Siddiqui (26). Those arrested from Hubli are Obedullah Imran Bahaddur (24), Mohammed Sadik Lashkar (28), Waheed Hussein (26), Mehboob Bagalokote (26) and Iqbal. The 12th suspect is Mohammed Ubaidur Rehman, 26, a student from the old city of Hyderabad. The suspects have been charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Arms Act. Eleven of the accused were remanded to 14-day police custody Thursday for investigations, while Rehman was produced in a local court Saturday for similar remand. The arrests were made for allegedly plotting to assassinate leading state politicians, high profile journalists and a media baron in collusion with their Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islam (Huji) handlers in Saudi Arabia. Mirji, however, declined to respond to the statements made by the families of the accused Friday that their sons and brothers were innocent and their arrests were a case of mistaken identity. (IANS) (New Kerala 1/9/12) Rajasthan Anti-Terrorism Squad team to leave for Ba ngalore (12) JAIPUR: Rajasthan Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) team will be sent to Bangalore to interrogate 11 men, including an employee of Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) division and a journalist, arrested by Karnataka police for alleged links with global terror outfits. ADG ATS Alok Tripathi said that a team will be rushed to Bangalore in a couple of days. "We would interrogate the 11 men to gather intelligence. However, their role in any terror activity in Rajasthan is yet to be ascertained," said ADG ATS Alok Tripathi. The officer said that interrogation would help them understand a new kind of network of LeT emerging across the country. Those arrested in Bangalore are Muthi-ur-Rahman Siddiqui, 26; Shoaib Ahmed Mirza alias Chhotu, 25; Abdullah alias Abdul Hakim Jamadar, 25; Ejaz Mohammed Mirza, 25; Mohammed Yusuf Nalbandh, 28; and Riyaz Ahmed Byahatti, 28. (Times of India 3/9/12)

ISI providing assistance to Sikh militant groups: G ovt (12) New Delhi: Pakistani intelligence agency ISI has been providing patronage and assistance to various Sikh terrorist groups, including Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), to revive militancy in Punjab, government informed Lok Sabha. "Available inputs indicate the patronage and assistance provided by Pakistan's ISI to leaders of various Sikh terrorist groups including BKI based in Pakistan," Minister of State for Home Jitendra Singh said on Tuesday. He said interrogation of arrested Sikh militants revealed that short term modules are being run in Pakistan for training gullible Sikh youths from India and abroad (Asian Age 4/9/12) India calls on Syrian parties to dissociate from te rror groups (12) United Nations: As the crisis in Syria worsens, India has asked all parties in the troubled nation to dissociate themselves from terrorist groups, which it said are exploiting the increasingly militarised conflict. Strongly condemning the terrorist acts that continue to be perpetrated in Syria against state institutions and public infrastructure, India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Hardeep Singh Puri said the Syrian conflict has become increasingly more militarised, which is being exploited by well-known terrorist groups. "We call upon all parties, Syrian as well as foreign, to dissociate themselves from terrorist groups and ensure that no space or justification is provided for terrorist acts," Puri said at an UN General Assembly meeting on Syria yesterday. He expressed concern that the Syrian parties have pursued a military approach to realise their objectives instead of seriously commencing a Syrian-led political process. With the international community failing in its efforts to address the crisis, he said, there is an urgent need for countries to "close ranks and send a united message to the Syrian parties." The parties in Syria must be urged to recommit themselves to resolving the crisis peacefully through a Syrian-led inclusive political process that can meet the legitimate aspirations of all Syrian citizens. "There is no other way to bring about a sustained cessation of violence in all its forms by all parties," he added. The nearly 18-month long crisis has affected the region as a whole and the deteriorating security situation has exacerbated the humanitarian sufferings of the Syrian population, Puri said. (Zee News 5/9/12)

Drill to check anti-terror preparedness of cops soo n (12) VARANASI: After anti-riot drills, the city will witness another drill by the police to check preparedness of forces to foil terrorist groups. The city had been repeatedly attacked by terrorists since 2005. After every attack, the police and the public show alertness in keeping vigil on suspected persons and activities for some time. But after a few months, the exercises are forgotten. Keeping the ground realities in view, SSP BD Paulson has prepared an action plan to conduct mock drills to check the alertness of the police, local residents and especially the roadside petty vendors. Paulson told TOI that these drills would take place in busy markets and places of public gathering. Apart from civil police, supporting teams like bomb disposal squad, dog and anti-sabotage squads would also take part in the drill. The senior cops are denying of having any specific input by the Intelligence Bureau or any other agency regarding the possibility of terrorist attack. But, as the anniversary day of Batla House encounter (September 19) is drawing closer and bid to fan communal tension has also been made in recent past, the senior cops are not taking risk. The cluelessness of investigating agencies regarding the modules who executed the destructive plans in past six or seven year is also a cause of worry. Whether it is coincidence or the trend set by the terrorist groups, the blasts have taken place on an interval of two years. The last terrorist blast had taken place at Dashaswamedh Ghat on December 8. This trend is also compelling the officials to show extra alertness in the city as the recent Pune blasts has proved that the terror modules are still active in the country. Paulson admitted that the proposed drills have been planned by keeping all these facts and past incidents in view. The series of terrorist attacks started in this city from February 23, 2005 when first killer blast had taken place at Dashaswamedh Ghat. The involvement of any terrorist group came to light for the first time after March 7, 2006 serial blasts when the investigating agencies succeeded in nabbing HUJI mastermind

Waliullah from Phoolpur. After this incident, Shramjivi blast took place in July 2006 near Harpalganj in Jaunpur district. Indian Mujahidin took over HUJI in this region and executed the plans of destruction on November 23, 2007 (Kutchehri blasts) and on December 7, 2010 when they exploded a bomb at old Dashaswamedh Ghat. However, no agency could collect prior intelligence inputs. (Times of India 10/9/12) NIA probes terror funding for Babbar Khalsa from UK (12) New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency is probing a terror funding racket of banned Sikh separatist outfit Babbar Khalsa International being allegedly run from the United Kingdom to commit terrorist acts in India. A case in this regard was registered by the agency late last month against the operatives of BKI. "These operatives have been receiving funds from the United Kingdom-based Babbar Khalsa International to commit terrorist acts in India with active material and logistic support from Pakistan-based BKI leaders," Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde told reporters here today. Home Ministry sources said the intelligence agencies have found fresh evidences where BKI leaders in Pakistan and the UK were laundering money through various channels in their bid to carry out terror acts. "About Rs 100 crore is understood to have been transferred illegally from the UK to BKI leaders. A chain involving BKI henchmen in Pakistan and the UK have been traced. The agency is trying to ascertain the identity of the BKI members," a source said. Besides, the sources said, the BKI leaders were using social networking sites and fictious portals to generate funds for their terror-related activities. "There have been over a dozen suspected websites and numerous accounts on social networking sites allegedly involved in funding to BKI. All of them are being checked by the authorities," the source said. The case was registered on August 22 under section 6 (5) of NIA Act, 2008 which authorises the central government to direct the investigating agency to probe a scheduled offense. BKI is a banned terror outfit under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).(Zee News 10/9/12) 40 youth missing from Maharashtra; suspected to hav e joined IM (12) New Delhi: At least 40 residents of Maharashtra, all suspected to be members of terrorist group Indian Mujahideen, have been missing for last several months, raising fear that they might have gone to Pakistan or waiting for opportunities to carry out terror strikes. Intelligence agencies have found that the youth went missing from their respective homes for months and all of them were having some contacts with known underground activists of IM before their disappearance, official sources said. The youth were radicalised to join IM and intelligence agencies believe that some of them sneaked into Pakistan for undergoing terror training while some are suspected to be hiding within the country, they said. Sources said there have been strong suspicion that many youth from states like Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar too might have joined IM and disappeared from their homes. However, a detailed estimate about disappearance of youth from other states is yet to be made. Apprehensions about IM and its growing activities forced the authorities to hold a special discussion on the banned outfit at the just concluded DGPs/IGPs conference here. This was for the first time that such a high-level meeting especially focused on home-grown terrorists who are receiving active support from across the border. Investigators probing the activities of recently busted terror module in Karnataka have found that the handlers of the arrested 'terrorists' were based in Saudi Arabia and most of them were Indians and members of IM, sources added. (Zee News 11/9/12) NIA gets more teeth to fight terror (12) NEW DELHI: With the National Counter Terrorism Centre's ( NCTC) fate still in a limbo, the government is aiming to give more teeth to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to crack down on terror outfits such as Indian Mujahideen (IM). The home ministry has asked the country's premier terror agency to lodge a fresh FIR against the outfit naming all the absconding members as accused. IM has recently been in the news for its 'hand' in the Pune blasts on August 1. Rattled by IM's recurrent strikes, the government is looking at a new approach to dismantle the banned outfit's network, cross-border

infrastructure and its funding pattern through Pakistan's ISI. Security agencies say ISI's ploy to prop up IM through LeT's network was to make terrorism in India look like a homegrown problem. The NIA FIR, likely to be filed soon, won't focus on any specific incident but the larger conspiracy hatched by IM to wage war against the country. This will help the agency to take up any incident related to the outfit and freely conduct investigations. The ministry's move will give NIA a wider approach and access to terror cases across the country and help evolve the agency on the lines of US' Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). An official from the home ministry said, "While state agencies have had good success in breaking the outfit's network in recent years, it is still carrying out blasts with impunity. Hence, we need to move from event-specific investigations to a nationwide approach to neutralize it." Sources said the FIR would have names of about a dozen absconding IM members, including those holed up in Pakistan. IM founders Riyaz and Iqbal Bhatkal, Amir Reza Khan (all hiding in Pakistan) would be charged alongwith Ahmed Zarar Siddibappa alias Yasin Bhatkal, Mohsin Chaudhary, Mirza Baig, Bada Sajid, Dr Shahnawaz, Ariz Khan, Abu Rashid and a few others, said sources. The agency is seeking legal opinion on the case and the modalities of the FIR to ensure that it stands the court's scrutiny. This is, however, not the first open FIR that the agency would file. In case of US-born LeT operative David Coleman Headley, too, the FIR stressed on the larger conspiracy by LeT to execute terror strikes in the country with focus on his activities and network. "The idea of an open FIR is to emphasize that NIA is supposed to investigate national conspiracies and neutralize terror modules across India," said another official from the security establishment. (Times of India 12/9/12) Militant linked to IC-814 hijack arrested (12) Jammu: One of the dreaded terrorists of the country believed to be involved in the hijacking of the Indian Airlines flight IC-814 in 1999 and also in the Lajpat Nagar blast at Delhi was claimed to have been arrested by the Jammu police by the Kishtwar district, about 350 km from Jammu city. However, according to sources, he was brought from Nepal from the Kishtwar police on August 9. He also reportedly had close links with the former Pakistani diplomat in Nepal though the police didn't reveal the name of the country of the diplomat and also didn't reveal his identity. Mehraj-ud-din alias Javed Dan was also closely associated with Syed Salahuddin, one of the most wanted terrorists heading the United Jihad Council from the Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK). According to the police he was actively involved in the activities of the Dawood Abrahim gang. Both figure in the intelligence agencies' list of the 20 most wanted men. "Mehraj-ud-din, resident of Sopore, Kashmir, was actively involved in terrorist activities since 1989 and was arrested by the Kisthwar police. He had close links with a foreign diplomat based in Nepal," said inspector general of police (IGP), Jammu, Dilbgah Singh told the media on Thursday. Meharj-ud-din was the first arrested in 1987 when he was involved in separatist activities and sent to jail. UIC chairman Syed Salahuddin was also arrested in the same year after he had unsuccessfully contested the controversial elections in 1987 from the Amirakadal in the heart of Srinagar. "Mehraj-ud-din came in contact with Salahuddin when they were lodged in Kot Bhalwal jail," said the IGP. Both were released in 1989 and he along with Salahuddin was amongst the first few people to cross over to the POK to get arms training. The IGP said that though the terrorists had admitted his involvement in the hijacking the police had credible information in this regard and are working on it. The Indian Airlines plane was hijacked on Dec 24, 1999 after it had taken off from Nepal and had been taken to Kandahar in Afghanistan. Three top terrorists including Masood Azhar and Omar Sayeed Sheikh were released for the safe return of the passengers. Nepal had emerged as the crucial link in the case. Even though the police didn't name the Nepal based foreign diplomat, but police sources said that Salahuddin had developed close links with the first Mohammad Asif Cheema, the first secretary in the Pakistani embassy there. Sources said Cheema had provided logistics to the hijackers. Cheema was arrested in 2000 from Kathmandu and 16 kg of RDX was recovered from him. "Meharj-ud-din had admitted having knowledge of the 1996 Lajpat Nagar blast in Delhi," said Singh. 13 people were killed in the blast. Police said that Meharj-ud-din had married a Hindu girl in Nepal and had changed his identity several times and acquired different passports. The

police had recovered different identity cards from him. "As per our information, at one point even separatist leader Sayeed Ali Shah Geelani had helped him get a visa for Pakistan," said Singh. According to the police, Meharj-ud-din was planning to go to Kashmir via the Sinthan pass which connects the valley with the Kishtwar district of Jammu region. (Hindustan Times 13/9/12)

Delhi: NIA seeks stringent charges against HC blast (12) New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency on Tuesday moved the Delhi High Court challenging the trial court's order which dropped the charge of waging war against India against the accused in the case of terror attack at the high court last year. A bench of justices Sanjiv Khanna and S P Garg issued notice to accused Wasim Akram Malik and sought his response by October 16 on the NIA plea against the trial court order. In its plea, the NIA has sought a direction to the trial court to frame charges against him under the harsher penal provision of waging war against India which attracts the maximum punishment of death penalty. The NIA sought an order to the Special court to modify his September 4 order for framing of charges against Malik under sections 121 (waging war against India), 121-A (conspiracy to wage war), 122 (collecting arms and ammunitions to wage war) and other provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Explosive Substances Act. The special judge while dropping the stringent charges against Malik had said more evidence was required to frame charges under those provisions. "These offences (relating to waging war against country) require something more than the one which is available against the accused in this case. Merely because a bomb had exploded outside the Delhi High Court and in the e-mail, there was a reference of release of Afzal Guru, it does not mean that these three offences (of waging war against country) are made out," District Judge (DJ) H S Sharma had said. "These offences are distinct and are of serious nature. The evidence, even at the stage of framing of charges under these sections (121-A, 122, 123 of IPC) has to be clear and commensurate with the requirement of these sections," the court had said, adding it cannot be said that the act had been committed to "wage war" against India. Meanwhile, the court of District Judge HS Sharma, who is adjudicating the case of September 7 terror attack, which killed 15 people and injured 79 peope, today deferred the formal framing of charges against Milk to September 21 as the judge was on leave. In its plea, the NIA said "the special court erroneously did not appreciate the fact that in the present case an institution like the Delhi High Court was a target of the terror act and as per the appellant's respectful submission, it amounts to waging war against government of India and is punishable under sections 121 and 121A of IPC." "As a logical corollary, the collection of explosives for the purpose and clandestinely fabricating and causing the explosion of improvised explosive device would amount to committing an offence under sections 122 (collection of explosives to wage war against India) and 123 (concealing with intent to facilitate design to wage war)," the plea said. It added that "the statements of Amir Abbas Dev (approver) and other witnesses showed Malik's intent and bent of mind." "Evidence on record shows that the intention of the conspirators, including Malik was to organise terror attack on the institutions which are symbols of the sovereignty and authority of the Government of India," the plea added. While dropping the charges under harsher provisions of IPC, the special court had ordered framing of charges against Malik for the offences punishable under section 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 440 (mischief committed after preparation made for causing death or hurt), 436 (mischief by fire or explosive substance), 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 325 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt) and 323 (causing hurt) of the IPC. It had also ordered framing of charges under various sections of the Explosive Substance Act and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act against the accused after finding prima facie evidence of his role in the terror attack. The terror attack was plotted with an aim to get the death sentence of Parliament attack case convict Afzal Guru commuted to life term, the NIA had said. The agency had filed a charge sheet against six persons, including three arrested accused Malik, Dev and a minor, besides three others - Amir Kamal, Junaid Akram Malik and Shakir Hussain Seikh alias Chota Hafiz, who are suspected members of banned terror

outfit Hizb-ul Mujahideen and evading arrest. The minor's case is being adjudicated separately. (Zee News 18/9/12) Children’s magazine, newspaper, Urdu poetry – anyth ing can land you in jail (12) New Delhi: In the story of men getting branded “SIMI activists” and charged under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), innocuous objects take the form of “incriminating material”. The list of such “material”, in which anything written in Urdu or Arabic comes right at the top, is by now predictable — and includes Urdu poetry, pamphlets issued by Hindu groups, newspaper articles about the Sangh Parivar, pictures and videos of the Gujarat riots, books on Islam, complaints against discrimination, as well as verses of the Quran. * Shabir Ahmad Masiullah, Malegaon, & Nafis Ahmad Jameer Ahmad Ansari, Mumbai In his statement that was treated as FIR (No. 1106/06, dated August 11, 2006), Assistant Police Inspector Shripad Balkrishna Kale of the Greater Mumbai Police, currently DCB Unit 7, Ghatkopar, Mumbai, claimed that on August 1, 2006, he got information that Shabir Masiullah of Malegaon and Nafis Ahmad of Shivaji Nagar, Mumbai, were “preparing to commit some sabotage acts in the coming Ganesh festival”. Though Shabir and Nafis were picked up immediately, police records show the date of their arrest as August 11, 2006. Kale claims that Shabir, who made and sold batteries and inverters in Malegaon, and Nafis, who worked as a DTP operator in Shivaji Nagar, were both “workers” of SIMI and had received arms training in Pakistan. Shabir’s case takes a twist. While he was in police custody for his alleged plan to bomb the Ganesh festival from August 1, 2006, five weeks later, the ATS accused him of masterminding the Malegaon blasts of September 8, 2006. In January 2011, Malegaon blast accused Aseemanand confessed that a Hindu group was involved in the 2006 attack. On November 16 last year, Shabir was among the seven who were granted bail and walked free. (Indian Express 25/9/12) No bail for key accused in 2008 Malegaon blast case (12) Mumbai: The special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) court on Tuesday rejected the bail plea of Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, one of the key accused in the Malegoan 2008 blast. Thakur had filed a bail plea on the grounds that no case had been made out against her. Her counsel Rameshwar Gite said that they would challenge the order of the special court before Bombay high court. Thakur had earlier moved bail applications on medical grounds, which had been rejected by the court. Thakur is one of the 12 accused arrested in connection with 2008 Malegaon blast case, in which six were killed and 100 others were injured. The accused have been booked under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) besides the IPC. (Hindustan Times 26/9/12) Pak suffered more than any other nation in terror w ar: Zardari (12) United Nations: Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari today declared at the United Nations that his country has suffered more than any other nation in the "epic struggle" against terrorism, with US drone strikes on its territory adding to complexities and it should not be asked to do more. "No country and no people have suffered more in the epic struggle against terrorism, than Pakistan," he told world leaders in his speech at the 67th session of the UN General Assembly here. He said regular drone strikes against terrorist targets in his country have made it difficult for him to explain the fight against terror to his people. "Drone strikes and civilian casualties on our territory add to the complexity of our battle for hearts and minds through this epic struggle," Zardari said. He said a lot of questions are asked of Pakistan but he will not answer any of those. "The people of Pakistan have already answered them. The politicians of Pakistan have answered them. The soldiers of Pakistan have answered them," he said. Zardari said instead he will ask questions on behalf of its people. He said asking Pakistan to do more on terrorism is akin to insulting the memory of those who have been killed due to extremism. "To those who say we have not done enough, I say in all humility : Please do not insult the memory of our dead, and the pain of our living. Do not ask of my people, what no one has ever asked of any other peoples. Do not demonize the innocent women, and

children of Pakistan. And please, stop this refrain to do more. "The simplest question of all is: How much more suffering can Pakistan endure," he said. Zardari listed the number of casualties Pakistan has suffered due to extremism, saying the country has lost over 7,000 Pakistani soldiers and policemen and over 37,000 civilians. Pakistan also lost its Minority Affairs Minister Shahbaz Bhatti and Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer to the "mindset of extremism." Zardari had a framed photograph of his late wife Benazir Bhutto put before him on the podium and told the gathering that he too had borne a "personal scar" when Bhutto was assassinated through the "bullets and bombs of terrorists." "Terrorism and extremism have destroyed human lives, torn social fabric, and devastated the economy. Our economy, our lives, our ability to live in the shadow of our Sufi saints and our freedom-loving forefathers have been challenged. We have responded. Our soldiers have responded," he said. He demanded answers on behalf of the children, businessmen, ethnic minorities and security personnel who have been the target of bombings and assassinations "over and over and over again." "I am sure the international community does not want any suffering anywhere, least of all in Pakistan. We believe in fact, that the international community is a partner. This is because it is the common interest of all nations to work together. Pakistan has helped bring about a major strategic shift in how we view working together," he said. Zardari blamed his country's dictators for damaging Pakistan's democratic structure. "I remember the red carpet that was rolled out for all the dictators in our country - dictators who promised the international community the moon - while Pakistan was kept in the dark. "These dictators and their regimes are responsible for suffocating and throttling Pakistan, its institutions, and Pakistani democracy." Zardari said he has neither forgotten the brutality of the dictators against Pakistan's democratic leaders nor the billions provided by the international community to support those dictatorships. "My country, its social fabric, its very character has been altered. Our condition today is a product of dictatorships," he said (Pioneer 27/9/12)

Maha govt gets ATS report recommending ban on 'Abhi nav Bharat' (12) Mumbai: Maharashtra government today informed the Bombay High Court that it has received a report from the state Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) recommending ban on right wing organisation 'Abhinav Bharat', the members of which were alleged to have carried out terror activities in 2008 at Malegaon. The state government, however, said it needs some time to forward the proposal to the Central government for consideration. The submission was made before a division bench of Justices A M Khanwilkar and P D Kode which was hearing a petition filed by a trust of the same name, seeking direction to the charity commissioner to cancel the registration of the right wing group, alleged to be involved in terror acts. According to the petition, the trust had registered its name on January 29, 2002 with the charity commissioner and is involved in charity-related activities in the city. However, in February 2007, another trust based in Pune, got itself registered under the same name. The bench today expressed its disapproval over the state government's failure to file an affidavit clarifying its stand, despite being directed to do so last year itself. The court has directed the government to file its reply by October 12. During the hearing, the court also suggested the petitioner to consider changing its name as even if the other outfit was deregistered, the name might still continue to cause confusion and bring disrepute to the petitioner trust. (Deccan Herald 1/10/12) Punjab top cops in a tizzy over attack on Lt Gen Br ar (12) Chandigarh: The brutal knife attack on Operation Bluestar commander Lt Gen (Retd) Kuldip Singh Brar in central London on Sunday night has heightened the security agencies’ anxieties about foreign-based terror groups making a renewed bid to destabilise Punjab. The attempt to assassinate Brar, who commanded Operation Bluestar to flush out Khalistani militants from the Golden Temple 28 years ago, is being seen in Punjab police circles as a clear signal of the extremists’ desperation to revive their separatist agenda. “The message is loud and clear and everybody must be watchful,” SK Sharma, additional director general of police (law and order) told Hindustan Times. “We are very watchful of the

prevailing situation and well prepared and focused as well.” Top-ranking Punjab police officers agree that the bid to kill Brar was the handiwork of pro-Khalistan sympathisers who are active in the UK and are trying to motivate their cadre through such audacious attempts. A former Punjab DGP said: “This episode is also testimony to the fact that people haven’t forgotten what happened 28 years ago and the extremists are looking for opportunities to hit back.” But the Punjab Police are uncertain about the identity of the terror outfit behind the murderous assault on Brar. “As of now it is very difficult to know who were behind this incident. It looks like they wanted to send a clear message back home,” a senior police officer said. The London attack, police sources admit, is a wake-up call that brings into focus Intelligence Bureau chief Nehchal Sandhu’s recent statement that terror groups are focusing on Punjab. (Hindustan Times 2/10/12) State seeks death penalty for IISc. Attackers (12) Bangalore: They were convicted on the charges of criminal conspiracy, waging war against the State under the IPC and some provision of the Explosive Substances Act and the Arms Act The Karnataka High Court on Monday admitted for hearing the appeals filed by the State seeking the death penalty for six persons, who were convicted for their involvement in the 2005 terror attack at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc). They were sentenced to life imprisonment by a fast track court in December 2011. A Division Bench comprising Justice Dilip B. Bhosale and Justice S.N. Satyanarayana passed the orders after hearing the submissions of the State Public Prosecutor. The State claimed that the case against the convicts came under the “rarest of rare case” category as described by the apex court in its guideline for imposing the death penalty. These pleas would be heard along with the appeals filed by the convicts, challenging their conviction and sentence. Mohammed Razhur Rehman, a native of Andhra Pradesh; Afzar Pasha, Mehaboob Ibrahim Sab Chopdar, Norrullah Khan, Mohammad Irfan and Nazmuddin; all from Karnataka, were sentenced to life under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code. The prosecution alleged that these people had links with the Lashkar-e-Taiba. They were convicted on the charges of criminal conspiracy, waging war against the State under the IPC and some provision of the Explosive Substances Act and the Arms Act. However, though were acquitted from the charges under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, the State has appealed against it. (The Hindu 2/10/12) Piracy, terrorism threat to regional stability: Ant ony (12) NEW DELHI: Observing that piracy and armed robberies in high seas were threatening the stability of the Asian region, defence minister A K Antony on Wednesday said India was taking steps to augment its capabilities to fight piracy and terrorism. Addressing the 8th heads of Asian Coast Guard Agencies Meeting, the defence minister said, "India strongly believes that mutual cooperation alone is the most effective way in ensuring the security and safety of oceans." "The various challenges including menace of piracy and armed robbery, drugs and arms trafficking and unregulated and unreported fishing to name a few, threaten both short-term and long-term stability of the region," he said. The meeting is being attended by 17 heads of Coast Guards from Asian countries including China, Asia, Japan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and Cambodia. The defence minister said in view of the increased responsibilities and challenges, "We are also planning to augment our capacity in the fields of coastal security, anti-piracy, anti-terrorism operations and oil spill response capabilities." Commenting on the need for enhancing regional cooperation, Antony said the Indian Navy and Coast Guard regularly participate in joint exercises with many Asian nations. "It shall be our endeavour to promote such cooperative mechanisms as, regional cooperation agreement for combating piracy and armed robbery against ships in Asia in the future," the defence minister said. Antony said the nations in the region can "prevent crimes at sea through an increase in information sharing, mutual training assistance and proactive interactions." Antony said in recent times, crimes in the seas have acquired several new dimensions. "From theft it has come to dangerous maritime terrorism with a destructive aim. Piracy has also come from hijacking in high seas to theft of cargo to taking hostage for ransom. Piracy and terrorism are not only destabilising the economy

but also have serious implications for security," he said. Antony said in the complex scenario where Sea Lanes of Communication (SLOCs) are being used for human trafficking and movement of stowaways, "security forces must respond with a high degree of alacrity and professionalism, in real time." The defence minister said swift policy decisions by the governments, in keeping with the maritime environment, were of great importance in today's scenario. "Top priority must be accorded to the creation of safe and secure oceans. Governments and law enforcement agencies must implement national and international laws that can act as a deterrent for unscrupulous elements," he said.(Times of India 3/10/12) Abu Jundal sent to judicial custody till October 8 (12) New Delhi: A court in Delhi on Thursday sent terror suspect and 26/11 handler Abu Jundal to judicial custody till October 08. Jundal was produced before Tees Hazari court in Delhi in a case of conspiring to carry out terror attacks in India. Sending Jundal to Tihar Jail, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Vidya Parkash directed jail authorities to present him in two different courts on October 08 and October 12. The National Investigation Agency told the court that Jundal was required to be present in a special NIA court on October 08. The CMM's court had on September 28 issued a fresh warrant for Jundal for October 12. Jundal was brought before the court by Maharashtra Police, who told court that he was not required for investigations in their state anymore. NIA had filed an FIR on June 08 against Jundal and his accomplice Fayyaz Kagzi for being part of a terror organisation and conspiring to organise explosives for certain LeT and IM operatives to carry out terror attacks in Mumbai and Delhi. Jundal is booked by Maharashtra Police in the 2006 Aurangabad arms haul case, the 26/11 Mumbai mayhem and attack on Nashik Police Academy while he is yet to be arrested in the Pune German bakery blast case. In the 26/11 case, Jundal is alleged to have been present in the control room in Pakistan from where directions were given to terrorists to carry out dare devil attacks in Mumbai. He is also alleged to have taught Hindi to terrorists including Ajmal Kasab, who has been sentenced to death by the trial court for his role in the Mumbai terror attacks. In Delhi, Jundal is wanted in the Jama Masjid blast case. He has been booked for using a fake passport and fake currency. He is also charged with criminal conspiracy and other offences under provisions of Explosive Substances Act, Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, Passport Act and Arms Act. (Zee News 4/10/12) Terror strike in Delhi averted, 3 IM terrorists hel d: Delhi Police (12) New Delhi: Delhi Police on Thursday claimed to have solved the Pune serial blasts in August and averted terror strikes in Delhi and Bihar's Bodhgaya during upcoming festival season with the arrest of three suspected Indian Mujahideen terrorists. The Pune blasts were to avenge the murder of IM operative Qateel Siddique in Yervada Jail on June eight and the initial plan was to target Mumbai or the prison but later this was changed due to logistical reasons, police said. Asad Khan (33), who is a recruiter, motivator and ideologue of the IM, and Imran Khan (31) were arrested on September 26 from their hideout in Pul Prehladpur in south Delhi and Syed Firoze (38) was apprehended from Nizamuddin Railway station five days later, Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar told a press conference here. Asad Khan is a computer expert and has done his diploma. They were allegedly directed by top operatives of the outfit Riyaz and Iqbal Bhatkal. Five kg of explosive materials, ten detonators and other articles were recovered from them. They had plans to target Delhi during the festival season and a temple in Bodhgaya. "With the arrests, we have managed to avert these incidents," Kumar said. "During the interrogation of Abu Jundal, we came to know about the plans to strike terror in the country," he said. Jundal, a key 26/11 handler, was arrested here in June are being deported from Saudi Arabia. It came to light during his interrogation that one Fayaz Ahmed Qagzi, a resident of Beed in Maharashtra who is presently based in a West Asian country, was coordinating with Bhatkals. Qagzi was directing the three arrested also. "It was the Bhatkals who asked one Raju Bhai to arrange hideouts for the trio," Kumar said. Police have prepared sketches of Raju Bhai and two others who were allegedly wanted in Pune blasts and are yet to be arrested. "The Indian Mujahideen militants received their finances through hawala transactions. This module had

received Rs three lakh from their mentors based abroad through hawala operators. "Later, on the instructions of Iqbal and Riyaz Bhatkal, they came to Delhi for causing blasts," Kumar said. Asad and Imran told police that they came to Delhi from Roorkie on the directions of Bhatkals and Qagzi, who had allegedly instructed Raju Bhai to arrange shelter for the arrested trio. "Raju arranged house for them at Pul Prehladpur. The arrested trio do not know much about Raju Bhai. Only Bhatkals knew about Raju Bhai. Asad and Imran met him at Nehru Place. Raju Bhai speaks in Urdu-Hindi in North Indian accent," Kumar said. The duo also told police that they carried out the Pune blasts and other members of the module from Maharashtra would join them in Delhi following which Firoz was apprehended. "Asad was the recruiter, motivator and ideologue of IM. He met Imran and indoctrinated him," Kumar said. It was in August 2009 that Asad came in touch with Qagzi, an alleged LeT operative based in Saudi Arabia, through telephone and email. The arrested trio had also gone to Saudi Arabia on a number of occasions and had met Qagzi where they allegedly discussed carrying out terror strikes in India. In January this year, Qagzi introduced Asad to Iqbal and Riyaz Bhatkal, who "wanted to avenge" the murder of Siddique. "Initially the plan was to bomb Yerwada Jail or Pune court premises. However, because of security, they changed the plans." Later the trio were asked to murder the family of Sharad Mohol and Ashok Bhalerao, who allegedly murdered Siddique. "Since they were unable to identify the relatives, this plan was also given up. Then the Bhatkal brothers then finally decided to carry out in Mumbai or Pune," Kumar said. (Zee News 11/10/12) Media on Taliban hitlist over Pak girl (12) Islamabad: Even as police in Pakistan made several arrests in connection with the Taliban’s shooting of 14-year-old activist Malala Yousafzai, the terror group’s leaders on Saturday reiterated their intention to kill the schoolgirl and her father and also declared their plan to target the media for its coverage of the incident. Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud has issued “special directions” to his subordinates in different cities of Pakistan to target media groups, BBC Urdu reported. An interior ministry official said intelligence agencies had intercepted a phone conversation between Mehsud and a subordinate, in which the former was calling for attacks on media offices in Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Islamabad and other cities. Following the threat, the interior ministry has issued orders to beef up security near the offices. Following the attack on the activist, a group of 50 Islamic clerics in Pakistan has issued a fatwa against the Taliban gunmen who tried to kill her. Malala, who was shot in the head on October 9, continued to be on ventilator at a top army hospital on Saturday. But, her vital organs were “intact and working”, the military said. (Hindustan Times 13/10/12) Russia warns of 'new wave' of terror, seeks India's cooperation (12) NEW DELHI: As Nato forces prepare to exit Afghanistan in 2014, Russia today warned of a "new wave" of terrorism in the region, including against India and sought cooperation with New Delhi to stop this "invasion".Sharing Russia's serious concerns on the evolving situation in Afghanistan after the departure of Nato troops in 2014, visiting deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin said once the foreign troops leave the country, thousands of terrorists and fundamentalists will take shelter there. "Thousands of terrorists and fundamentalists will seek refuge in Afghanistan as well as the region around the country. It may change the situation drastically around the region and for countries like Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Central Asia. This is a big problem for Russia and India," he said. "So we have to control the situation with some political and security monitoring and see what we can do together to stop this invasion of new terrorist wave against us and our citizens," he said. He said that Nato was not claiming victory in Afghanistan but just success. "There could be a new terrorist wave against us. The end of the ISAF operations in Afghanistan should be the start of a new cooperation against terrorism and extremism," Rogozin said while accusing the West of not doing anything to help the Afghan people during their stay in the country. US President Barack Obama has already confirmed that most of the 90,000 American troops

in Afghanistan will withdraw by 2014 when Afghan security personnel will take charge of the nation's defence. (Times of india 14/10/12) Indian Mujahideen bombers may still be in Delhi (12 ) NEW DELHI: Despite the arrest of three suspected Indian Mujahideen terrorists who were planning major strikes in the capital during the Diwali season, sources in Delhi Police say that the threat is not over. Investigators suspect that the two absconding terrorists of this module — Shaqir and Ahmed—who are bomb making experts, could well be in the city and may carry out blasts with the help of LeT sleeper cells. According to sources, the money for Diwali attacks was to come through a Delhi-based hawala dealer, who is being looked for now. Sources also confirmed that 5kg explosive recovered from the IM suspects is ammonium nitrate. The special cell is trying to identify the place from where they bought this explosive. "They had purchased all the material - explosive, detonators, circuits and timers for making the bombs. Shaqir and Ahmed had to join them in the Pul Prahladpur flat and prepare the IEDs and conduct a recce in atleast seven crowded markets of Delhi," said a source. To avert any tragedy, the special cell is looking for other IM members in Delhi and NCR region and security has been beefed up in crowded markets. Asad Khan, Imran Khan and Feroz were arrested by special cell recently for allegedly carrying out the August 1 Pune serial blasts and planning major strikes in Delhi this festive season. They are presently being interrogated at the Lodhi Colony office. Asad, Imran and Feroz are members of module of LeT commander Fayyaz Kagzi. The interrogation report of the trio, accessed by TOI states that Asad wanted to work with IM and since he knew that Fayyaz Kagzi of Beed (Maharashtra) was an active member, he started looking for him. To reach Kagzi, they approached Kashif Biyabani, brother of Akhef Biyabani, co-accused with Kagzi in 2006 Aurangabad arms haul case, and were arrested by Maharashtra ATS. Asad Khan's interrogation report reads, "In August 2009, we (Asad, Imran and Feroz) met Kashif Biyabani in connection with the business. We asked him whether he knew any person who was involved in Jehadi activities. Kashif gave me the number of Fayyaz Kagzi, who was in Saudi Arabia. After taking the number, we (Asad, Imran and Feroz) discussed among ourselves and went to Saudi Arabia to meet Kagzi".His IR further talks about how he met Yusuf Himayat Baig, who was involved in Pune German bakery blast of February 2010. "One day, Kashif came to us with another person but he did not identify him to us. We came to know about that person later that he was Himayat Baig when he was arrested in German Bakery blast case," adds Khan's IR. Sources say Kashif Biyabani is under the scanner for allegedly arranging these meets of new members with Fayyaz Kagzi. They said the three arrested IM members had gone to Saudi Arabia several times to meet Kagzi where "they used to discuss 2002 Gujarat riots and atrocities on Muslims in India" and "they expressed desire to carry out blasts to Kagzi".The sources added that Kagzi had told the trio that they would be "used whenever required". (Times of India 15/10/12) UP govt in favour of lifting ban on SIMI, says Ahme d Hasan (12) LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh government is not in favour of continuing the ban on Student's Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), an organization prohibited for its alleged involvement in terror-related activities. Senior Samajwadi Party leader and UP's health minister Ahmed Hasan said here on Tuesday that the state government would be happy if the ban on SIMI was lifted. "We have not seen any activity of SIMI in the last six years. So we are not in favour of banning it any further," the minister said at a function held at Sahkarita Bhawan here on Tuesday. The state government has written to the Centre in this regard, he added. "The Mayawati government wrote to the Centre over and over again during five years of its rule that the ban should continue. Her government also implicated the youths of Sanjarpur village in Azamgarh in false cases. But we don't see any reason to ban SIMI," Hasan said. An association of Muslim students, SIMI was first banned by the Central government on September 11, 2001. A special tribunal of the Delhi High Court in February 2012 extended the ban till 2013. As per the Indian intelligence agencies, Indian Mujahideen (IM) is an offshoot of SIMI, which has been actively involved in most of the terror attacks that the country has faced in the past decade. There are over two dozen Muslim youths

from UP who are either lodged in jail or absconding for fear of arrest after being branded as active IM members. This was not the first time that SP had expressed its desire to lift the ban on SIMI almost 11 years ago. Just after the NDA government banned the organization in 2001, the present chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, who was then an MP, promised that his party would whatever it takes to lift the ban when it came to power in UP. SP had already said before the 2012 assembly polls that there were innocent Muslim youths of UP who were either killed or jailed and he wanted to correct the mistakes. This was also a poll promise made in election manifesto of the SP. With the SP supporting the UPA at the Centre, the issue is sure to put the union government in a tight spot. With the SP leaders airing views contradictory to the Congress in terms of ban over SIMI Meanwhile, Shahid Badra Falahi, the founder president of SIMI, has termed the Hasan's statement a political statement. (Times of India 17/10/12) Muslim clerics oppose Taliban fundamentalism (12) LUCKNOW: To oppose fundamentalism within the community and across India, clerics from Shia and Sunni sects of the Muslim community joined hands under the aegis of World Waeela Front here on Wednesday. A resolution to this effect was passed by 350 Shia clerics from all over India who gathered in the city to attend the joint conference organised by the All India Ulama and Mashaikh Board (AIUMB) and Majlis-e-Ulama-e-Hind. The clerics appealed to the Muslim community to shun fundamentalism and extremist leaders. Talking to reporters in this regard, Shia cleric Maulana Kalbe Jawwad, said, "We have demanded a ban on Taliban ideology as it is a threat to peace in the community and the country." Participants said some individuals and outfits were trying to create an Afghanistan or Libya-like situation of unrest in India at the behest of USA and Israel. "These groups are trying to brainwash youth forcing them to spread violence. But we cannot let that mentality raise head and let people like Malala Yousufzai (the 14-year-old, school girl in Pakistan who has raised her voice against dictates of Taliban) die," he stated. In a bid to make Muslim youths employable, clerics stressed the need for vocational education. "Laymen do not get a job these days. Therefore we have decided to open an industrial training institute to impart vocational education to boys and girls so that they are able to lead a better life through their skill," they said. Later talking to TOI, Maulana Kalbe Jawwad said that the Imam Bara Sajjadia has assured to provide land for this purpose in Alamnagar area of the city. The clerics passed a resolution for preparation of strategy to save innocent Muslims from being labeled as a terrorist by police or investigating agencies and to assure better representation of members of the Shia community in government bodies such as corporations and commissions where they are poorly represented. The meeting would continue on Thursday as well and the day would be marked by a joint conference of All India Ulama and Mashaikh Board (AIUMB) and Majlis-e-Ulame-e-Hind. AIUMB is the apex body of custodians of Sufi shrines in the country. The event is expected to see participation of 600 Shia and 200 Sunni clerics from across the country. (Times of India 18/10/12) Naxals forged ties with ISI with SIMI's help: Benga l DGP (12) NEW DELHI: Maoists may have been facing all-round reverses in West Bengal ever since chief minister Mamata Banerjee took charge of the state last year, but they have forged a deadly alliance with the Pakistani spy agency ISI through overground radicals and remnants of the banned outfit SIMI during the period. Revelation was made by the West Bengal police chief Naparajit Mukherjee here on Thursday when he told a gathering of chief secretaries and DGPs of other naxal-affected states about the growing Maoist-ISI nexus in four districts of the state. Expressing his anguish over the development, he is learnt to have said that the nexus had been reported after arrests of some Maoists who elaborated how overground sympathizers of the Red Ultras acted as a 'link' for them. Murshidabad, West Midnapore, Purulia and Bankura are the four districts where the West Bengal Police had noticed actions that hinted at Maoist-ISI linkages. The link is believed to be helping the ultras in getting arms and ammunition through existing network of north-east insurgents. Though the Union home ministry did not add to what Mukherjee told the gathering over the nefarious link, security and intelligence agencies spoke about the possibility

through Maoists sympathizers. They also said that the Maoists' support to the Jammu & Kashmir terrorists for their cause in the bordering state had never been a secret. The disclosure of Mukherjee comes even as Bengal has shown remarkable change in the situation where it effectively controlled the Red menace in the past one year through consistent intelligence-based operations against the Red Ultras. Home ministry latest figures on naxal violence show that West Bengal - once a hotbed of Maoist activities - has, in fact, moved closer to what Andhra Pradesh had achieved by reporting zero casualty consistently in past so many years. Ministry's statistics, based on state's reports, show that none of three highly Maoist-affected districts - West Midnapore, Purulia and Bankura — did not reported any killing in the past 10 months. The period, which incidentally coincides with the Banerjee's rule in the state, had also seen the elimination of senior naxal leaders including top CPI(Maoist) politburo member Kishenji and arrest of several others during joint operations of state police and central paramilitary forces. West Midnapore, which witnessed as many as 360 deaths of civilians and security personnel during 2009-11, has reported zero casualty this year. Purulia, Bankura, Birbhum, Murshidabad and Malda have also not reported any casualty. Officials here believed that human intelligence-based 'specific' operations as well as the CM's approach to reach out to people directly in the Maoist-affected districts had played important role in achieving such a situation in West Bengal. "Mamata Bannerjee is the only chief minister who holds regular meetings and rallies right in the naxals' dominated districts. This political move to fill the vacuum created by the retreating Maoists proves to be a boon for West Bengal", said a senior home ministry official. (Times of India 19/10/12) LeT claims responsibility for Srinagar hotel attack (12) Srinagar: Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) has claimed responsibility for an attack outside a popular hotel in Jammu and Kashmir that killed a bellboy, media reports said on Saturday. The banned outfit said four of its attackers "lobbed grenades and opened fire" at an army convoy as it passed through the highway where the Silver Star hotel is located, the Urdu language Kashmir Uzma newspaper said. "Four of our fidayeen (suicide attackers) attacked the army convoy in which one of the army vehicles was badly damaged," the daily quoted LeT spokesman Abdullah Gaznavi as saying over the telephone. The attackers "reached their hideouts safely", Gaznavi added. Heavily-armed gunmen stormed the Silver Star hotel on Friday after an abortive attempt to attack the army convoy, killing a bellboy and injuring two others, the police said. Gaznavi, however, blamed "retaliatory firing" by the armed forces for the death of the hotel staff member. The attack, the first in Srinagar since May, occurred on a day when several senior officials from the army, police, intelligence agencies and government met to review the security situation in the state. In the May attack, two motorcyclists fired on a group of army officers, injuring seven. The LeT has been blamed by India for the November 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people. It has denied any role in the attacks. Separatist violence that has wrecked the tourism industry in the Muslim-majority region has been at its lowest ebb since the insurgency began in 1989. (Hindustan Times 20/10/12) Maharashtra anti-terrorism squad seeks custody of 4 Indian Mujahideen members (12) MUMBAI: The state anti-terrorism squad (ATS) has submitted a transfer warrant to a Delhi court to take the custody of four suspected Indian Mujahideen (IM) members arrested by the Delhi special cell in connection with the August 1 Pune blasts. The four are likely to be taken into custody by the Pune ATS on October 30. ATS chief Rakesh Maria said they have submitted a transfer warrant to a Delhi court. "We are likely to get their custody by October 30. Once we get their custody, we will question them thoroughly," Maria said. Asad Khan, Imran Khan, Feroz and Irfan Landge were arrested recently for allegedly carrying out the August 1 Pune serial blasts and planning major strikes in Delhi this festive season. They are at present being interrogated at the Lodhi Colony office. Asad, Imran and Feroz are members of a module of LeT commander Fayyaz Kagzi. Landge was picked up and detained on October 5 by the special cell. "The ATS is on the lookout for two other suspects, one of them is from Aurangabad. Once they are caught, the police will have concrete evidence to prove its case," said an officer. Two

teams of the special cell are still camping in Delhi to pick up their suspects. Four bombs, planted on cycles, at various locations on Jungli Maharaj Lane in Pune went off. No one died in the blasts because of a technical hitch. The police said the bombing was to avenge the killing of IM member Qateel Siddiqui in Yervada jail. (Indian Express 24/10/12) Union Home Ministry rejects Qasab’s mercy plea (12) The Union Home Ministry on Tuesday recommended the rejection of the mercy petition of Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Qasab, lone survivor among the 26/11 attackers, a government source said. The mercy petition made to the president by Qasab, after the Supreme Court on Aug 29 upheld his death sentence, has been rejected and the recommendation in this regard forwarded to the president, the source. A home ministry spokesman said briefly: "It (mercy petition) has been processed and submitted to the president." The Mumbai trial court had on May 6, 2010 awarded death sentence to Qasab which was upheld by the Bombay High Court on Feb 21, 2011. The apex court rejected his appeal on August 29. Qasab is one of the 10 Pakistani terrorists who sailed illegally sneaked into Mumbai on November 26, 2008 for a terror siege that went on for three days. The mayhem that Qasab and his nine accomplices unleashed on the city claimed 166 lives. The apex court rejected his contention that he was a mere tool in the hands of terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba. "We are unable to accept the submission that the appellant was a mere tool in the hands of the LeT. He joined the LeT around December 2007 and continued as its member till the end, despite a number of opportunities to leave it," the top court had said. (Mumbai Mirror 25/10/12) Karnataka seeks Interpol help to nab three terror s uspects (12) Bangalore: Karnataka Police are seeking the help of Interpol to extradite from Saudi Arabia three terror suspects wanted for their alleged role in planning to attack noted politicians, religious heads and media persons in the state, a senior police official said Sunday. "We are in the process of approaching Interpol to issue Red Corner notices against the three suspects, including one from Hyderabad, as we have secured non-bailable warrants against them from a local court here," the official posted with the deputy commissioner of police (crime) told IANS on the condition of anonymity. The three are: Mohammad Abdul Majeed, 47, Usman Ghani 32, and Mohammad Shaheed Faisal, 27, who are currently in the Saudi kingdom. Majeed is the elder of two other brothers - Mohammed Abdul Shaheed and Mohammed Shaheed Faisal, who were killed in Pakistan in August 2007 for being involved in terror activities. "We have requested the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to issue the Interpol Red Corner notices to extradite the trio from Saudi Arabia. We want to interrogate them for their alleged links with other 18 terror suspects who were arrested Aug 29-Sept 3 for allegedly plotting to assassinate some prominent politicians, senior journalists and religious leaders in the state," the official said. Among the terror suspects, 12 were arrested in Bangalore, two from Hubli, about 410 km from here, two from Hyderabad and four from Nanded in Maharashtra. "Interrogation of the terror suspects revealed that the trio was involved in hiring activists of the banned Student Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) outfit for carrying out terror attacks in the state," the official added. "The two youths from Hubli were sent to Pakistan in December 2011 for training and joining the terror elements of Afghanistan such as the Taliban," the official noted. Ghani, a doctor from Bangalore, was allegedly detained Oct 8 at Riyadh by Saudi police at the behest of the Indian government and on the advice of the state police, according to his mother here. Ghani went to Saudi Arabia in late 2008 to join the National Guard military hospital at Riyadh as an anaesthetist after working three years at St John's hospital and three months at Apollo hospital in Bangalore. He also worked earlier at Seventh Day Adventist Hospital at Ottapalam in Kerala for 10 months. Faisal, alias Zakeer and alias Ustad however, had no previous police record. A Red Corner notice has already been issued against the fourth person named Farhatullah Ghori, 49, from Hyderabad for allegedly sending two of the recruited youth to Pakistan for training in carrying out terror acts in the country. (Deccan Herald 29/10/12)

J&K: Sarpanchs receive fresh threats from Hizbul, ( 12) New Delhi: Village heads in Jammu and Kashmir have put the state government on a 24-hour-deadline to provide them with special security after Hizbul Mujahideen leader Syed Salah-ud-Din issued a fresh threat against them on Friday. The dreaded militant allegedly said that village heads will be attacked if they didn't quit from their posts. The sarpanchs say they don't want to resign but cannot afford to take Salah-ud-Din's threat lightly either. The state has already seen 3 sarpanch killings this year. The murders followed threats by terror organisations. To a query, Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said that the state will take the necessary steps. "If somebody has a threat perception, the state does provide security. It's not a new thing in Jammu and Kashmir, or for that matter, elsewhere in the country. Security is always provided on the basis of a threat perception," said Azad. (CNN IBN 3.11.12) Army ups vigil to thwart infiltration in Kashmir (1 2) Srinagar:The army has stepped up vigil along the Line of Control (LoC) to thwart infiltration attempts from across the border before the ensuing winter, an army officer said here Sunday. Speaking on the sidelines of a sports event here Sunday, Lieutenant General Om Prakash, General Officer Commanding (GOC) 15th corps, said: "The enemy has been trying to increase infiltration bids from across the borders in autumn months before the mountain passes get blocked due to heavy snowfall each winter." "I assure you that our troops are always alert to thwart such infiltration bids," added Lt Gen Prakash, who is also the security advisor to the state government. The GOC also said that domination of areas through increased patrolling in vulnerable areas was being undertaken to provide overall security to the elected village heads. "It is the duty of all of us including the people to ensure security to the panches and sarpanches," he said. On the recent attack by militants on a local hotel, he said: "The state police is tracking them down and I am sure those behind the attack would soon be tracked down." A group of heavily-armed militants had attacked an army convey in the By-pass road area near Nowgam in Srinagar Oct 19 this year. After firing at the convoy, the gunmen had entered a local hotel where they fired at three employees, killing one of them on the spot. Another employee later succumbed to injuries in hospital. State police said the attack was carried out by terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba. (New Kerala 4/11/12) Terrorists investing in stock markets, says Indian govt (12) Rome: Concerned over terror groups investing in stock markets through spurious companies, India today sought international cooperation to deal with it. "It is a cliche to say that terror-funding is the lifeblood of terrorism. Credible intelligence suggests that terrorist outfits are investing in stock markets through spurious companies, setting up fictitious businesses and laundering money," Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said, addressing the Interpol General Assembly here. Shinde said the utmost important task was to detect the sources of such finance, including the fake currency variant, its conduits, modus-operandi and stanching its flow. "Here again the Interpol has to play a very crucial role," he said. The Home Minister said India has adopted a system to counter-terrorism that gives primacy to dialogue, democratic political processes and the rule of law. The country deal with terrorism within the ambit of this structure. "Post 26/11, we have raised the level of preparedness to meet the increasingly sophisticated terrorist threats. Secondly, we have enhanced the speed and decisiveness of the response to a terrorist threat or a terrorist attack," he said. Shinde said India's consistent and basic stand before the international community has been that there could be no justification for terrorism on any grounds: religious, political, ideological or any other. "To be effective, the fight against terrorism has to be long term, comprehensive and sustained. Strengthening of international cooperation is vital to ensure that action is not restricted simply to the perpetrators but also encompassed States, which sponsor, support or provide safe haven to terrorists," he said. (Indian Express 6/11/12)

India facing high degree of terror threat: Shinde ( 12) New Delhi: Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde trained the spotlight on the global challenge of countering violent extremism, and in particular terrorism, and said India continues to face a high degree of terrorist threats on several fronts, in particular, cross-border terrorism. ‘’India continues to face a high degree of terrorist threats on several fronts, in particular of cross-border terrorism. Terrorism in South Asia has increasingly emerged as an effective strategic weapon. Terrorist groups have demonstrated that with simple tactics and low tech weapons, they can produce vastly disproportionate results as it happened in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks,’’ Mr Shinde said while addressing the Interpol General Assembly in Rome yesterday. ‘’Terrorist attacks have exacted a heavy toll of life and property. Terrorists have tried to disrupt our way of life by attempting to initiate the element of fear. Fortunately, the Indian society has time and again shown its resilience and refused to be overawed by the terrorist acts,’’ he added. The Union Home Minister said India is committed to combating terrorism and extremism in all forms, and added: ‘’India has adopted a system to counter terrorism that gives primacy to dialogue, democratic political processes and the rule of law, and we deal with terrorism within the ambit of this structure.’’ ‘’Post 26/11, we have raised the level of preparedness to meet the increasingly sophisticated terrorist threats. Secondly, we have enhanced the speed and decisiveness of the response to a terrorist threat or a terrorist attack,’’ he added. Mr Shinde further said at the international level India has been supportive of all efforts, particularly in the UN, to combat terrorism and has played a leading role in shaping international opinion and urging the international community to prioritise the fight against terror. ‘’Our consistent and basic stand before the international community has been that there could be no justification for terrorism on any grounds: religious, political, ideological or any other. To be effective, the fight against terrorism had to be long term, comprehensive and sustained. Strengthening of international cooperation is vital to ensure that action is not restricted sim ply to the perpetrators but also encompassed States, which sponsor, support or provide safe haven to terrorists,’’ he added. He said international cooperation on matters relating to terrorism is also effected through the mechanism of Interpol, of which India has been a member since 1949. ‘’The specific dimensions of the fight against terrorism in which Interpol can be of immense value is the links of terrorism to organised crime, its emerging links with counterfeiting and the ability of fugitives to simply evade jurisdictions. Be it the Mumbai Bomb Blasts of 1993, the 26/11 attack in Mumbai or the 9/11 attacks in the US, the Inter State nature of planning involved in all of them underscores the need for increased cooperation and coordination amongst intelligence and investigative agencies,’’ he said. He added that ‘’It is indeed very heartening to note that a lot of progress has been made in this regard but a lot more can be done and needs to be done. It is here that I feel the International Criminal Police Organisation has to play a pivotal role’’. (Central Chronicle 7/11/12) India welcomes UNSC sanctions on Haqqani network (1 2) New Delhi: India on Wednesday welcomed the sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council against Pakistan-based Haqqani militant network and its chief of suicide operations and said the international community has to be united in its efforts to isolate such terror groups which threaten peace and security. "India welcomes the move by the UN Security Council to list the Haqqani Network among the entities that now face an asset freeze, a travel ban and an arms embargo. This Group has also targetted Indian interests in the past. "The international community has to be united in its efforts to isolate such terror groups which threaten peace and security in our region, and other parts of the world," official spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs said. The UNSC, under India's presidency, has imposed global sanctions against the dreaded Pakistan-based Haqqani militant network and the group's chief of suicide operations. The Council's Afghanistan/Taliban Sanctions Committee also added the group and Qari Zakir to its list of entities which face an assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo. The move comes on the same day the US State Department designated Zakir as a "global terrorist" and imposed financial sanctions against him. The process to impose sanctions was initiated on October 18 when a 'no

objection' document was circulated among the members of the UNSC and the Sanctions Committee, of which Pakistan is also currently a member, for their comments. Finally the global body cleared the sanction procedure on November five after it received no objection on the process from any of the members. The UN sanctions list now contains 131 individuals and three entities. (DNA 8/11/12) Govt likely to probe money laundering allegations a gainst HSBC (12) New Delhi: Government is likely to conduct a through inquiry into allegations that multinational HSBC Bank was involved in money laundering which may help terror groups operating in India. The probe is likely to be conducted by sleuths of various intelligence wings of Home and Finance Ministries as the allegations, if proved true, would have serious security implications, highly placed sources said. However, the sources said, it has nothing to do with activist Arvind Kejriwal's allegations of money laundering against HSBC Bank. The multinational bank had, however, yesterday denied the charges and said it takes compliance with the law very seriously. The probe agencies will look into reports that funds were being routed from Pakistan and a few Gulf countries to terror groups operating in India using banking networks. Meanwhile, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde today said government has information that the terror groups operating in India and outside India were investing money in stock markets through various methods. "We have information that they have been putting in money in stock exchanges and stock markets. We have received information in international fora. We are keeping a track of them. They are investing in stock exchanges in India and some neighbouring countries," he told a press conference. Early this week, addressing the Interpol General Assembly in Rome, Shinde had said stock markets have emerged as a new mode for terrorists to route their money into the country's economy and leverage it to carry out their nefarious designs. "It is a cliche to say that terror-funding is the lifeblood of terrorism. Credible intelligence suggests that terrorist outfits are investing in stock markets through spurious companies, setting up fictitious businesses and laundering money," he said. Sources said the information came following arrest of a few couriers who had confessed that money was being sent from Gulf countries through Western Union money transfer. In September, market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India had said 35 stock brokers have been probed by it for possible lapses in controls related to money laundering and terror financing. The inspections by SEBI followed actions taken by stock exchanges and depositories against more than 300 market entities for violations and discrepancies related to Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Financing of Terrorism (AML and CFT) regulations in the 2011-12 fiscal. Last year, government had told Parliament that it has received information about 10 suspected instances of terrorist financing using the stock exchanges between 2009-11. The Financial Intelligence Unit had received five suspicious transaction reports (STRs) during the 2009-10, four during 2010-11 and one case till November 2011. The STRs, suspected to be linked to terrorist financing, have been received from intermediaries of stock market such as stock brokers, asset management companies, etc, and disseminated to intelligence agencies by the FIU. (Deccan Herald 10/11/12) Two militants, 3 soldiers killed in Kashmir gunfigh t (12) Srinagar: Two militants and three soldiers were killed Wednesday when the army foiled an infiltration bid from across the Line of Control (LOC) in Kashmir's Kupwara district, an army spokesperson said. Lieutenant Colonel J.S. Brar, spokesperson of the army's Srinagar-based 15th Corps, told IANS: "Alert troops challenged a group of intruding terrorists in Nowgam sector of the LoC in Kupwara district in the wee hours of the morning today (Wednesday)." "The terrorists started firing at the troops triggering a gunfight in which two terrorists and three troopers were killed. The infiltration bid has been foiled," he added. He said firing had stopped in the area although search operations were continuing. The identity of the slain militants is being established. Security forces are on high alert along the borders in Kashmir as intelligence reports suggest guerrilla groups are trying to sneak in their cadres before the winter snow closes mountain passes into the Valley. (New KERALA 14.11.12)

Counter insurgency operation begins in Kerala fores ts (12) The Kerala government has launched a counter-insurgency operation on a moderate scale in forest areas, especially in the northern parts of the State, in the wake of intelligence reports from the Union Home Ministry about possible activities of extremist organisations in areas close to tribal settlements. Official sources said here on Tuesday that the police and the forest and wildlife department had joined hands to constitute forest-level vigilant committees (Jagritha Samitis) in all police station limits and forest sections in areas vulnerable to threats from the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) and fundamentalist outfits at the tri-junction of Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu borders. Adivasis, elected representatives, revenue officials, police officers, voluntary agencies and eco-groups would be part of such committees. Around 300 committees will be formed at the station-level, 100 at the range-level and 14 at the district level. The forest range officer will be the chairperson at the station-level, while the revenue divisional officer and the district collector will be chairpersons of the range-level and district-level committees. At least three of the committee members, including a woman, will be from the Scheduled Tribes. Members from tribal settlements, who are not part of the previously formed forest protection committees (vana samrakshana samiti) and eco development committees, will be given preference. Teachers and Kudumbasree volunteers will be made part of the programme, officials said. The committees are expected to gather information about unlawful activities in tribal settlements in the forests. Details of the volunteers attached to non-governmental organisations entering the Adivasi hamlets would be collected and passed on to law enforcing agencies. The operation has also been aimed at empowerment of the tribal communities by providing them better healthcare and educational facilities. Intelligence sources said Maoists from Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Tamil Nadu could have infiltrated the border areas of Kerala and Karnataka looking for a hideout ever since the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) launched “Operation Green Hunt.” Most of these fugitives slowly moved to the jungles in the Western Ghats. The tri-junction of Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu had already developed into a “perspective area” for the Maoists for building their organisational base. They planned to set up a “Dalam” (guerilla squad) in Mananthavady after infiltrating the tribal populace. It is believed some Islamist outfits, such as the proscribed Students Islamic Movement of India, had forged a secret pact with the Maoists, the sources said. Home Ministry sources said the Maoists had lost 150 members, including senior leaders, cadres and guerilla fighters, in 2011. Nine of them were Politburo members and 18 were from the Central Committee. Many of the guerilla fighters belonged to Dandyakaranya, a forest area located among the borders of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Odisha. At the same time, the seizure of a large consignment of arms and ammunition from Bihar and Jharkhand recently has also put the CRPF in alert mode. The supply of arms could have been routed through extremist groups in the northeast, the sources said. (The Hindu 14/11/12) FBI adds US 'rapping jihadi' to terror wanted list (12) Washington: The FBI said Wednesday it had added to its list of most wanted terrorists the American "rapping jihadi," an operative for Somalia's Al-Qaeda linked Shebab insurgents who uses rap as a propaganda tool. Omar Shafik Hammami, who was born in Alabama but is now thought to live in Somalia, is believed to be a senior leader of the Shebab rebels, who were placed on the US State Department's terror blacklist in 2008. The group has "repeatedly threatened terrorist actions against America and American interests," the Federal Bureau of Investigations said in a statement. Also known as Abu Mansour al-Amriki, Hammami has been releasing rap songs in English on the Internet since 2009 as a recruitment tool, although music is forbidden in Al-Qaeda's strict interpretation of Islam. In the songs, Hammami says he hopes to be killed by a drone strike or in a cruise missile attack so he can achieve martyrdom. He invites young people to join the jihad to "wipe Israel off the globe," and he encourages strikes against the US military in Afghanistan and Somalia. Hammami, who has been indicted in the United States on various terrorism charges, has been the subject of an international arrest warrant since 2007. Also added to the terror most wanted list Wednesday was Filipino Raddulan Sahiron, wanted for

his alleged role in the kidnapping of an American in the Philippines in 1993 by the al-Qaeda-linked Islamist group Abu Sayyaf. Sahiron is believed to be the leader of the group, which was put on the US terror blacklist in 1997, the FBI said. The Abu Sayyaf was set up in the 1990s with seed money from Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network, according to the Philippine military, and has been blamed for that nation's worst terrorist attacks. These include the bombing of a passenger ferry in Manila Bay that killed over 100 people in 2004, as well as many kidnappings of foreigners and Filipinos in the Muslim-populated south of the country where it is based. The State Department's Rewards for Justice program is offering a reward of up to $1 million for information leading to the arrest of Sahiron, who is believed to be in the Sulu archipelago. Sahiron was indicted in US federal court in 2007 in connection with the kidnapping of an American citizen who was held hostage for 23 days on the island of Jolo. The FBI said it is seeking information on a third man, Shaykh Aminullah, who is suspected of providing material support to terrorists with the help of the Pakistani militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba, designated a terrorist group in 2001. The suspect, who is believed to be living in the Pakistani city of Peshawar, is accused of having provided support in the form of funding and recruits to the Al-Qaeda network and to the Taliban. The FBI most wanted terrorist list was created in October 2001, shortly after the September 11 attacks. The Seeking Information -- Terrorism list was then created to publicize efforts to find suspects not yet charged with crimes. (Hindustan Times 15/11/12) Terrorists striking India will be brought to justic e: Manish Tewari (12) Panaji; Information and Broadcasting minister Manish Tewari on Wednesday said the hanging of 26/11 attacker Ajmal Kasab has sent a message that perpetrators of terror attacks on India would be brought to justice while following the due process of law. “A very dastardly terrorist attack took place. Innocent people lost their lives, there was a fair investigative process which culminated in a three tier judicial process at the end of the day. The law has taken its course,” Tewari said. He was asked for a response to comments by BJP leaders that the execution of Kasab was a delayed. “It would not be proper to view this in terms of time taken. The larger message is that if at all there is a terrorist incident or a terrorist attack which is perpetrated, those people who are responsible would be brought to justice,” he said. Tewari was replying to a question if the government would also act in the matter related to the Afzal Guru, who stands convicted in Parliament attack case. “If at all there are specific questions with regard to the investigative or the judicial process in any other terrorist-related activity, I am sure that the appropriate ministry at the appropriate time will address it to your satisfaction,” he said. The I&B minister was asked if he thought that the criticism of being soft on terrorism could now no longer be made against the government. “It is not a matter of being hard or soft but we are a democratic country and our structure is a based on law. If someone takes law in his own hands then after an investigative process, a conclusion or result is reached by the courts and after that if a mercy petition is filed then after its disposal whatever is the verdict, the government implements it,” he said. (Indian Express 21/11/12) Ajmal Kasab hanged: A puppet's life ends on a strin g (12) MUMBAI: Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab exited this world as stealthily as he had entered Mumbai four years ago. The lone surviving gunman of 26/11 was hanged to death in Pune's Yerawada jail at 7.30am on Wednesday in an extremely hush-hush operation. Asked for his last wish, the 25-year-old terrorist from Faridkot village in Pakistan's Punjab province said: "Gharwalon ko milna hai (I want to meet my family members)." He was told the Islamabad government had been informed about his hanging but had failed to respond. As his hands and legs were tied, his last words, according to officials who witnessed the hanging, were: "Allah kasam maaf karna. Aisi galati dobara nahi hogi...(Allah, please forgive me, this mistake won't happen again)." Sources said Kasab was babbling incoherently before the hangman pulled the lever at Yerawada, about 150km from Mumbai's Arthur Road Jail, his home for four years. His body was buried in a pit in the prison premises as there were no claimants. He was convicted in May 2010 by a special judge for murdering seven people directly with his AK-47 and 65 others in common intent with

fellow terrorist Ismail. He was also found guilty of being part of a Lashkar-e-Taiba conspiracy that led to 166 deaths. The Mumbai high court in February 2011 and the Supreme Court in August this year upheld the sentence. (Times of India 22/11/12) Fallout fear: India on alert over possible Lashkar strike (12) New Delhi: India requested greater security for its missions in Pakistan and the home ministry directed all states to move to a higher state of alert following Ajmal Kasab's execution on Wednesday. These moves reflected concerns that the Lashkar-e-Taiba or other militant groups would strike Indian targets following the terrorist's death. Former Indian intelligence officer B Raman, in a blog post, wrote that Lashkar and its affiliates "would want a quick retaliation". Attacks in most parts of India would require a period preparation. Therefore, he warned, "quick retaliation might be possible in J&K and in Afghanistan" where militant networks remained in place. He recommended that possible targets in these places "should receive the highest priority" when it came to security. So far, say Indian officials, New Delhi has not felt it necessary to increase security for its facilities in Afghanistan. Terrorism expert Ajai Sahni felt the terrorist groups' response would be more circumspect. Kasab's execution has been on the cards for a long time, he noted, so Lashkar could hardly be surprised. "Lashkar would prefer to portray Kasab as a martyr and use his death to assist in recruitment," he said. He pointed out that Islamicist militant groups expect their fighters to die in action. An LeT commander in Pakistan, speaking to Reuters, called Kasab a hero and an inspiration. "To die like Kasab is the dream of every fighter," he said. The Tehreek-e-Taliban, a group that has rhetorically denounced India but has never actually carried out an attack on Indian targets, said only that it was "a big loss that a Muslim has been hanged on Indian soil." (Hindustan Times 22/11/12)

IM terrorist indicted in Jama Masjid shootout (12) New Delhi: The Delhi Police has charge-sheeted a suspected Indian Mujahideen operative for his alleged role in the Jama Masjid blast-cum-shootout case. The Special Cell of Delhi Police filed a supplementary charge sheet against Kamaal Hassan alias Bilal, also an accused in Bangalore's Chinnaswamy Stadium blast case, in the court of Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Vidya Parkash. It was filed 134 days after Hassan's arrest. Bihar-native Hassan was indicted in the charge sheet for allegedly committing various offences under the IPC including waging war against India and offences under the Explosive Substances Act and the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. The charge sheet said Hassan had arranged a rented house in Shastri Park area in New Delhi, in which co-accused Quateel Siddiqui and Mohd Adil and others had stayed before carrying out the attack. It added that Hassan had disclosed that "in 2010 he and his co-accused along with two Pakistani nationals Waqas and Tabrez and IM chief Ahmed Siddhibappa under instructions from their Pakistan-based chief conspired to attack foreign tourists in Delhi before Commonwealth Games to dissuade foreign countries from participating in the Games." It said the conspiracy was hatched at the residence of co-accused Gauhar Aziz, who is currently in judicial custody. The charge sheet said Ahmed Siddibappa procured one carbine and other ammunition for this purpose. "In the first attempt in mid-2010, Quateel was accidentally shot at while he along with Adil were about to attack foreign tourists at German Bakery in Paharganj here," it said. (Hindustan Times 2/12/12) PUCL condemns UAPA amendments (12) Jaipur: Though Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde had assured Parliament that the government would never allow the misuse of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) unanimously condemned the passage of amendments to the Act in the Lok Sabha on Friday. At its 11th national convention here on Sunday, the PUCL alleged that the Unlawful Activities Prevention (Amendment) Bill 2011 was “stealthily passed by the Lok Sabha without any debate and discussion.” The PUCL has been campaigning for the repeal of the UAPA, claiming that there was enough evidence to show that it was being extensively abused in the name of combating left wing

extremism, forcing innocent citizens to languish in prisons. “It is shocking to learn that the new amendments aim at changing the definition of person [Section 2] which is a direct attack on Article 19 [of the Constitution], as now the government can label any unregistered association of persons as unlawful,” Kavita Srivastava, PUCL national secretary, told The Hindu. “It is also disturbing that the government, by amending Section 6, is planning to extend the ban on organisations from two to six years. These and other amendments go against the letter and spirit of the Constitution and represent one more step towards silencing people posing a challenge to the government,” she said. The PUCL resolved to lobby against the passage of the amendments in the Rajya Sabha. The PUCL’s convention, which was inaugurated by activist Teesta Setalvad, saw the new executive taking over. While Prabhakar Sinha continues to be the president, V. Suresh, senior advocate from Tamil Nadu, took over as the general secretary. Ritu Priya from Jawaharlal Nehru University took over as treasurer, while Dr. Binayak Sen, Sanjay Parikh and P.B. D’Sa continue to be the vice-presidents. Mahipal Singh, Chittranjan Singh and Ms. Srivastava will continue as national secretaries. The two-day conference, in which over 400 people from 18 States participated, also witnessed the release of Adrishya Bharat, a book on manual scavengers. The book, written by Bhasha Singh, was released by Justice Rajinder Sachar, Seema Azad and Sohan Lal from the Safao Karamchari Andolan of Rajasthan. Wilson Bezwada, president of the Safai Karamchari Andolan, said there was no political will on the part of the government to even spend one rupee on the elimination of the shameful practice of manual scavenging. (The Hindu 2/12/12) NIA announces Rs 4 lakh reward on absconding IM ter rorist (12) New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency has announced a reward of Rs four lakh on information leading to the arrest of absconding Indian Mujahideen terrorist Abdul Subhan Qureshi alias Touqeer. Qureshi is accused of being originally a commander of the banned terror outfit Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), who later with the help of other terrorists launched the Indian Mujahedeen. He is also allegedly involved in various terror-related cases being probed by Delhi, Gujarat and Maharashtra police forces. Qureshi is allegedly wanted by the NIA in a case which was initially registered by the Kerala Police in Kottayam in 2008 and later in 2010 transferred to the agency for further investigation which registered an FIR. It was alleged in the FIR that members of the banned organisation SIMI conducted three days training camp at Vagamon in Kottayam district, Kerala, and underwent a course in physical training, arms training including firing practice, rope climbing, rock climbing, motorbike racing and manufacture of petrol bombs. It was alleged they also made speeches about jihad in India and incited the participants to wage war against the country. A chargesheet has been filed against 30 accused persons under different sections of the Indian Penal Code, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Arms Act and Explosive Substances Act before the Special Court, NIA, Ernakulam in January this year. 41-year-old Qureshi hails from Maharashtra. A Red Corner Notice has also been issued against Qureshi by Interpol, besides an arrest warrant by a court in Gujarat for his alleged involvement in Ahmedabad blasts case of 2008. (Deccan Herald 4/12/12) Changes in Armed Forces Special Powers Act on cards , government tells SC (12) NEW DELHI: The Centre on Wednesday informed the Supreme Court that it was considering amendments to the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, which provides sweeping powers to security forces in areas declared disturbed due to militancy. The ministry of home affairs, in its response to a petition by Th Suresh Singh seeking repeal of the law, said it would not be prudent to repeal AFSPA or withdraw it from northeastern states, even though the Justice Jeevan Reddy Committee had recommended its repeal and amending Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) to achieve the purpose of AFSPA. "However, the grim security situation in the northeast, more so in Manipur, caused by unlawful underground militant groups bent upon separation of Manipur from the country, has also been considered by the government on the basis of the advice of the Army, police and other security and intelligence agencies," the ministry said. "Therefore, it was considered not a prudent step to repeal

AFSPA as recommended by the committee. The matter was placed before the Cabinet for making a few amendments in the act after following inter-ministerial consultation procedure. It was advised to place the matter before the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) first." Narrating the procedure for amendment of the act, the ministry said, "The CCS did not approve the same. As suggested by the competent authority, the process of further consultation between the ministries has been undertaken and a final decision can only be taken by the Cabinet." It added, "Moreover, the unmanageability of the powerful militant groups by the local police also compels the state government of Manipur to seek aid of central security forces to keep the insurgent groups under check. Nevertheless, the exercise of amending AFSPA is under consideration of the government." The Union government said around 1,500 militants were holding a population of 23 lakh in Manipur to ransom and keeping them in constant fear. "The root cause of militancy in Manipur is the constant endeavour of these insurgent groups to spread fear so that they can continue to extort money and the leaders of such groups can continue to lead luxurious life in foreign countries," it said. Referring to the high percentage of voting in the last two assembly elections in Manipur, the home ministry said people of the state had always demonstrated their faith in the country's institutions. It said, "The ethnic rivalries among different tribes, viz Meiteis, Kukis and Nagas, are deep-rooted and the militant groups fervently advance their ideologies by taking advantage of the porous international border with Myanmar, which is 256 km long, heavily forested and contains some of the most difficult terrain. "Taking advantage of this situation, the militant outfits utilize the other side of the border (which is beyond the jurisdiction of the Indian armed forces) for conveniently conducting their operations of extortions/kidnapping/killing/looting and ambushing the security forces." The government said counter-insurgency operations seldom affected the common man. The petitions on extra-judicial killings in Manipur and a plea for withdrawal of AFSPA from the state will come up for hearing in the Supreme Court on Thursday. (Times of India 6/12/12) Terrorists, mercy petitions and the great hypocrisy (12) Mohammad Amir Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving gunman of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, was finally hanged to death. He was executed in the utmost secrecy with the knowledge of only a selected team of 17 government officials. And as this most awaited trial came to an end, what lessons do we draw from it? First, considering the long years that simple hit-and-run cases take to reach a logical conclusion in India, this trial proceeded faster than usual. True, it is frustrating that it took four years to punish the terrorist despite his being caught on CCTV butchering innocents, but then it was no usual crime. The courts had to study an 11,000-page charge sheet, hear endless arguments and deal with inconsistent statements. And, finally after a marathon hearing, spanning over two and a half months, the Supreme Court found him guilty of 80 charges, including waging war against India, murder and terrorism, and upheld his death sentence. Within two months, his mercy plea was dismissed and he was hanged at the Yerwada jail in Pune. Although Kasab’s death can hardly be called a closure for, the pain suffered by the victims and their families is too great, it will go a long way in instilling the faith in our judicial system. Kasab’s hanging is also significant in the light of the fact that there are 11 mercy petitions pending before his plea, some as old as 20 years. The mercy petitions lying with President Pranab Mukherjee include that of Parliament attacker Afzal Guru (was to be hanged in 2006), Rajiv Gandhi’s assassins Santhan, Murugan and Perarivalan (were to be hanged in 2011) and the former Punjab Chief Minister, Beant Singh’s killer Balwant Singh Rajaona (was to be hanged in March, 2012). Back in April, the Supreme Court expressed its anguish at the long delays in disposing of mercy pleas, saying it rendered relief meaningless. Seven months after that court rap, the long queue of mercy pleas raises another big question — when will our governments and leaders give up hypocrisy? Our governments and intellectuals never miss a chance to say “terrorism has no religion or colour.” A message relayed time and again during bomb blasts or riots. Isn’t it duplicity in behaviour that these same governments and intellectuals do exactly the opposite of what they preach by attempting to save criminals or seek clemency for them under the garb of religion? Isn’t it sad that in attempts to seek pardon for people like Afzal Guru, a terrorist suddenly acquires a

religion and colour? Political parties such as the PDP in Jammu and Kashmir have voiced their support for Afzal Guru, implying that hanging a Kashmiri Muslim would risk peace in the Valley. Last year, the Centre’s interlocutor on Kashmir, Dileep Padgaonkar, said any decision on Guru’s mercy petition should be taken keeping in mind the present situation in the State. It is frustrating that a criminal, guilty of killing eight people, has been turned into a “defenceless and harassed minority.” Back in 2011, the former President, Pratibha Patil, rejected Khalistani militant Devender Pal Singh Bhullar’s mercy petition but his death sentence is yet to be carried out. Instead, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, seeking his intervention in getting Bhullar a lease of life. Again, his Sikh status and the possible benefits of vote-bank politics outdid his crime of bombing a car and killing nine people. Similarly, Rajiv Gandhi’s killers have been saved by pro-LTTE organisations and Tamil politicians. Of course, why legally argue about one’s crime when playing politics with religion can do the work?... (The Hindu 15/12/12) India urged to reject changes in anti-terror law (1 2) New York: The Indian parliament should reject proposed amendments to its counterterrorism act that could lead to further misuse of the draconian law, Human Rights Watch has said. Parliament should call on the government to withdraw the amendments to the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967 (UAPA), which is scheduled for a vote in the Rajya Sabha Monday. On Nov 30, the Lok Sabha passed the amendments to the UAPA, India's principal counter-terrorism law, without significant input or scrutiny from the general public or civil society groups. The amendments would allow the government broad leeway to increase bans on proscribed organisations to five years and widen the definition of a person to any association of individuals. "While India has a responsibility to protect citizens from terror attacks, the counter-terrorism law has long been abused to detain suspects for excessive periods, file charges on fabricated evidence, and ban organisations without due process of law," said Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "These amendments will make the law an even more dangerous tool in the hands of officials who seek to oppress peaceful critics and minority communities." The proposed amendments expand the definition of the "person" who can be charged under the law to include "an association of persons or a body of individuals, whether incorporated or not". Human Rights Watch expressed concern that this would allow the police to charge an individual merely on the grounds of contact with a suspect. "Extending the ban on groups from two to five years without a court determination is a recipe for abuse," Ganguly said. "The police and investigating agencies could arrest people for being part of a banned organisation even though a court never found it to be involved in terrorism." The amendments also expand the definition of "terrorist act" to include acts that threaten the economic security of India and damage its monetary stability by production, smuggling, or circulation of "high quality" counterfeit currency. These crimes are not recognised terrorism offenses and are already covered by the Indian Penal Code. Including them under a more stringent counterterrorism law seems intended to make obtaining bail more difficult and to allow for a longer pre-charge detention period, Human Rights Watch said. (Pioneer 16/12/12) How a budding wrestler became Hindu terrorist (12) New Delhi: Alleged Samjhauta train and Mecca Masjid bomber Rajendra Pehelwan alias Samandar first wanted to be a wrestler. That’s how Pehelwan got suffixed to his name. The next aim was to qualify for MP civil services exams. But he ended up getting involved with the gang of right-wing extremists that carried out bomb blasts in mosques and places frequented by Muslims in retaliation to jehadi terrorism in the country. “In the initial interrogation, Samandar claimed that he cleared preliminary examination of Madhya Pradesh Public Service Commission but could go further. He failed to clear the next — mains — level of exam. His claim is being verified. Before attempting to become a civil servant, sports was another arena he was interested in. He claims to have competed at national level in wrestling at junior level. But again we need to check it,” a home ministry official said. Samandar was arrested by the National

Investigation Agency (NIA) on Saturday in Ujjain district where he was living in hiding for last few years. The NIA has alleged that Samandar along with three more accused — Kamal Chauhan, Lokesh Sharma and Amit alias Ashwini Chauhan —planted four improvised explosive devices in Samjhauta on February 18, 2007 killing 68 people. Besides the Samjhauta train, he is also suspected to have planted an IED at Meeca Masjid in Hyderabad on May 18, 2007. Out of the four alleged Samjhauta bombers, only Amit is yet to be arrested. Kamal Chauhan and Lokesh Sharma have already been chargesheeted in the case and they are in judicial custody. Samandar is in NIA’s custody till December 29. “Samandar had known Lokesh and that’s how he became part of the gang of right-wing extremist led by Sunil Joshi, an RSS prachark who was killed in December 2007,” said a source. (Hindustan Times 17/12/12) Railway Protection Force unleashes squad to track t error (12) MUMBAI: Wizened after the terror attacks on the city's rail network, the Railway Protection Force (RPF) has launched a counter-terrorism squad on the Western line to secure trains and station areas. The squad, called Operation Eagle, comprises 30 RPF personnel and carries out surprise checks on railway premises every fortnight. "We try to focus on smaller stations such as Nalasopara or Vile Parle and not just nodal stations on the Western line. Five teams are formed and checks are conducted at six stations between Churchgate and Virar. Sniffer dogs are roped in and the squad is armed with bomb-proof jackets, helmets and hand-held metal detectors. We also have our own bomb detection equipment," said a senior RPF official. The exercise has helped the RPF find out the inflow and outflow of commuters at every station as well as the type of crimes that take place and how to deal with them effectively. "The checks are conducted at random and not even the members of the squad are told about the location till the last minute. Other agencies such as Government Railway Police (GRP), city police, fire brigade and hospitals are also involved. Later, an analysis is done as to which authority failed to turn up or performed inadequately," the official said. The RPF also conducts mock drills from time to time. "There are occasions when passengers panic on seeing uniformed personnel searching station areas," admits an officer. "The exercise will be continuous and is a part of the terror preparedness measures," he said. (Times of India 18/12/12) Changes in terror law raise human rights alarm (12) New Delhi: The latest changes to India's main anti-terror law, ratified by Parliament this week, has again become a concern for human rights organisations at home and abroad, which claim the legislation has become more prone to abuses now. London-based Amnesty International's secretary general Salil Shetty said the legislation fell short of international rights standards, and the Amnesty wanted the President to reject the changes made to Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. Muslims, to whom the war on terror has often looked like a war on the community itself, too are worried. They have called for rejections of the changes mainly because it uses terrorism as an overbroad term. The law expands the definition of "person" to now include a "Hindu Undivided Family" (HUF) or "an association of persons or a body of individuals", a broad-brush term that gives police sweeping powers, activists say. The Constitution holds right to association as a fundamental right. Rights icon Binayak Sen, a 61-year-old doctor and rights activist, had to face long periods of incarceration on charges of carrying messages to Maoists, or left-wing extremists. The latest amendments increases the period for which an organisation or association can be declared as unlawful from two years to five years. It expands the definition of a 'terrorist act' to include acts that threaten the economic security. Responding to the debate in Rajya Sabha, minister of state for home, Ramachandran Mullapally had rejected such suspicions. "The Act does not give sweeping powers to the police and there are checks and balances that will prevent misuse of the Act." India had repealed previous anti-terror legislations, such as the POTA, 2002 and the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act 1985 (TADA), respectively in 2004 and 1996 after criticism of wide abuse, and serious human rights violations, including arbitrary detention, torture and fabrication of evidence. The police can now "legitimately" arrest people who have raised monies or sent remittances home on the merest

suspicion that they had knowledge that the sums might be for terrorists, the Jamia Teachers' Solidarity said in a statement. "India has a duty to fight terror. But counter-terror without justice will not result in a sustainable security," Shetty said. (Hindustan Times 22/12/12) Samjhauta accused also involved in Jammu blast: NIA (12) New Delhi: Investigations into right-wing terror network in the country have led sleuths of NIA to suspect that some blasts in Jammu in 2004 were carried out by the group which was involved in Samjhauta train and Malegaon blasts. After arresting three persons from Madhya Pradesh recently, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) teams were in for a surprise when it was claimed by one of the nabbed persons that their group was also involved in throwing a grenade outside a mosque in Jammu in 2004, official sources said today. The three persons were arrested in connection with the Samjhauta train and Malegaon blasts. At least 20 people were injured when a grenade was thrown during Friday prayers at Peer Mitha, an Ahle Hadees mosque, on January nine, 2004. Two of the injured later succumbed to their injuries. Police had then claimed that the attack was a handiwork of Tehreek-ul Mujahideen terror outfit but with the fresh leads emerging now, NIA plans to request the Jammu and Kashmir Police to hand over investigations of the case to see if there is any link with the ongoing probe into right-wing teror activities. The fresh leads in the case emerged after the arrest of Rajesh Chaudhury, Dhan Singh and Tej Ram, against whom the NIA was on the look out since the arrest of Kamal Chauhan last year, the sources said. The interrogation of the trio has put the NIA sleuths on the trail to unravel further conspiracies in various cases which were till now either unsolved or had been closed for want of evidence. The cases also include two murders in Madhya Pradesh apart from that of Sunil Joshi, who is being alleged to be the main bomber in the 2007 Samjhauta train blast in which 68 people were killed. (DNA 27/12/12) 2012 saw courts doubting their power under anti-ter ror law (12) New Delhi: Year 2012 saw the trial courts dealing with several terror cases including those of the 26/11 Mumbai mayhem coordinator Abu Jundal and terror strike on an Israeli diplomat here, while also grappling with an intricate legal question on their powers under the anti-terror law. As the Delhi Police went about catching many wanted terrorists involved in strikes across India, the year saw a motorcycle-borne terror module sticking an explosive on an Israeli diplomat's car and blowing it up a few hundred yards away from the Prime Minister's official residence, 7, RCR on February 13. The terror attack led to the arrest of Indian journalist Syed Mohammad Kazmi in March for his alleged role in the blast with the prosecution booking him on charges of various offences under anti-terror law Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and the Explosive Substances Act and the court denying him bail twice. As a magisterial court, while denying him bail, also extended the probe period in the case, Kazmi moved a sessions court challenging extension of the probe period in the case beyond 90 days. While adjudicating Kazmi's plea, the sessions court put "a big question mark" on the magisterial court's power to extend his remand under the UAPA and questioned police for continuing to produce Kazmi and others booked under the UAPA before the magisterial courts for extension of their remands. The intricate legal point did not remain restricted to Kazmi's case alone and was raised by five Pune blast accused to contest Mumbai ATS plea for their custody. Besides the arrest of Jundal on June 21, the Special Cell of Delhi Police also arrested Fasih Mehmood, the alleged "key facilitator" in various terror attacks across the country and deported from Saudi Arabia amid controversy over his whereabouts with his wife Nikhat Parveen approaching the Supreme Court claiming her husband was in the custody of Indian security agencies, a charge denied by the Government. Following arrests of Jundal, Fasih, the Pune blast accused and other Indian Mujahideen operatives, the Delhi court saw various agencies like Mumbai ATS, Mumbai CID, National Investigation Agency, Gujarat ATS etc. Making a beeline before it to secure their custody in a string of terror cases lodged in various states. The year also had a Delhi court issuing non-bailable warrants against Pakistani-American David Coleman Headley, his accomplice Tahawwur Rana, LeT founder Hafiz Saeed and 26/11 Mumbai attack mastermind Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi for allegedly

executing various terror strikes in India. The court has also issued NBWs against Pakistan Army officials Major Iqbal and Major Sameer Ali, al Qaeda operative Illyas Kashmiri, Headley's handler Sajid Malik and former Pakistani Army officer Abdul Rehman Hashmi, co-accused in the case. The NIA had charge-sheeted them last year for their alleged roles in various terror strike in India, while detailing the 293-day stay of Headley in India to carry out surveillance of various crucial installations, including recce of Mumbai before the 26/11 terror strikes. The year also saw beginning of trial of one of the accused in the September 7, 2011 terror strike at the Delhi High Court, allegedly aimed at getting commuted the death penalty of the December 2001 Parliament attack case convict Afzal Guru to life sentence. The court framed charges against accused Wasim Akram Malik under the strict anti-terror UAP Act and a string of other offences under IPC. The high court blast had claimed 15 lives and injured 79 others. Meanwhile, with the year drawing to a close, a Delhi court concluded the re-trial of Pakistani national and the 1997 Delhi Blueline bus blast case convict Mohammad Hussain after the Supreme Court set aside his death sentence and ordered a re-trial on his plea that he was not represented by a counsel during the trial. Hussain, a native of Jindrakhar village in Okara, Pakistan, was sentenced to death in November 2004 by the trial court. The sentence had been upheld by the high court in August 2006. (Zee News 27/12/12) Pune blasts planned after murder of terror accused (12) Mumbai: Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad, which today arrested three more members of terror outfit Indian Mujahideen in August 1 Pune blasts case, said the conspiracy began after the murder of Qatil Siddiqui, an accused in German Bakery blast case, at Pune’s Yerawada jail. “The plan to carry out blasts started immediately after Siddiqui was killed,” said Rakesh Maria, ATS chief, here. ATS today arrested Sayyed Arif alias Kashif Biyabani (32), Munib Iqbal Memon (31) and Farooq Bagwan (31). A Pune court remanded them in ATS’s custody till January 1. Maria said these three were arrested after the ATS took into custody Firoze Sayyed, Irfan Landge, Imran Khan and Asad Khan from the Delhi police in the present case. Biyabani was the one who identified potential recruits for IM, and put them in touch with Fayyaz Kagzi, a wanted accused in the German Bakery case, currently in the custody of Saudi Arabian authorities. “Kagzi directed them to IM founder Iqbal Bhatkal and Riyaz Bhatkal,” Maria added. Biyabani had connections in Marathwada, Pune, Ahmednagar, Maria said, adding that Memon and Bagwan procured SIM cards that were used in phones used in the conspiracy. According to ATS, Firoze was one of the planters, and it is now looking for two others. Maria said that Firoze, Asad, Irfan and Imran underwent training to assemble improvised explosive devices (IEDs) at Asad’s farm-house in Aurangabad. (Deccan Herald 28/12/12)