India-Pakistan |
Remembering Mumbai 7/11: The role played by the deadly 12 backed by Pakistan |
2021-07-11 |
[OneIndia] It is 15 years since the bloody 7/11 Mumbai train bombings. On this day 15 years back the backbone of Mumbai, its trains were attacked in a brutal fashion in which 209 were killed while over 700 injured. This was an effort by the vicious idiots of ISI- and Al Qaeda-linked Lashkar e-Taiba, may they all suffer forever in the depths of Hell. In around 10 minutes on July 11 2006, seven blasts took place on the Western; one of the Suburban Railway in Mumbai. The trial in case dragged on for nearly 10 years and in 2015, a Special MCOCA court which had convicted 12 accused delivered the verdict on the quantum of sentence. 5 persons were awarded death penalty, while 7 others were given a lifer. Let us take a look at the role that these convicts played: Kamal Ansari: Helped Pak Faisal Sheikh: Worked for Azam Cheema, the criminal mastermind. He trained in Pakistain and even sent his brother Muzzamil and Tanvir to train. Ehteshaam Siddiqui: Harboured Pak Naveed Hussain: Planted the bomb which went kaboom!at Bandra station. Asif Khan alias Junaid: Key conspirator Junaid housed Pak Dr Tanvir Ansari: Helped in assembling bombs. Majid Mohammed Shafi: Helped Pak Sheikh Alam: Surveyed local trains to plan the blasts and planted the at Mira Road station. Mohammad Sajid Ansari: Procured timer electric circuitry and other devices for 7/11. -Housed Pak Muzammil Sheikh: Surveyed local trains to plan the blasts. Ansari, Sohail Sheikh: Received hawala money from absconding accused, Rizwan Dhaware for the exeucution of the blasts. Zameer Sheikh: Surveyed local trains and helped assemble the bombs |
Link |
India-Pakistan |
Karachi Korpse Kount |
2012-04-07 |
KARACHI: Six people, including three PPP and a PSF activist, were killed in the ongoing wave of target and sectarian killings in the city on Friday. Tension engulfed several areas of Orangi Town after four gunmen, riding two motorbikes, opened fire at a shop in Urdu Chowk Orangi Town. Four PPP workers Farhan alias Guddu, Nafees Siddiqui alias Munno Bihari, Umer Hayat and Rana Faraz received bullet injuries and were moved to hospital. Farhan, Nafees and Hayat succumbed to the injuries later. DSP Tariq Malik said the four shooting victims used to meet at the targeted shops, and added that the shooting took place after Friday prayers. He said a heavy contingent of police reached the site of killing to maintain order in the area. The killings triggered violence in Orangi Towns sectors 10, 14 and 15, Bismillah Colony, Faqeer Colony, Urdu Chowk and its surrounding areas. Some armed men also resorted to aerial firing, forcing markets to shut down. Carrying the body of Farhan, scores of PPP workers marched on Shaheen Complex and tried to reach the Chief Ministers House in the red zone. Police moved in a container to block the way of protesters and also baton charged them, injuring six party activists. But the angry mob walked into the Fawara Chowk area where Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah showed up and assured the protesters that the government would arrest the killers. The assurance helped pacify the protesters who then dispersed and moved Farhans body to his home. No case had been registered until the filing of this report. A seminary teacher was also shot dead in Surjani Town in an act of sectarian violence. The incident took place in Sector L-1 near the Maymarabad Mosque where Naeem Sheikh, 55, was driving his car when gunmen, riding two motorcycles, opened fired on him. Sheikh received five bullets and died instantly. Police said Sheikh was the resident of New Karachi and that he was also a teacher at Jalilia Madrassa. They said Sheikh was an active member of the Tableeghi Jamaat and that he could be a target of sectarian killing. A Peoples Students Federation (PSF) worker was also shot dead outside his house in the Mobina Town police area. Saeed Hussain Khan, 29, was the resident of Scout Colony and came under fire from unidentified gunmen. An injured Khan was moved to hospital where he succumbed to the injuries. Soon after Khans murder, scores of PSF workers reached the hospital. PSF Karachi President Faisal Sheikh said the victim was an active member of the federation in the Karachi University. Condemning the killing, the PSF Karachi chief said Khan was not involved in any criminal activity. An activist of the banned outfit Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), was also shot dead in Godhra Society. Abdullah Bhumka, 55, was on his way home after offering Isha prayers when armed men shot him in sector 11-G, New Karachi. |
Link |
Britain |
Mumbai blasts accused held in London |
2008-11-26 |
The investigations into the July 11, 2006, Mumbai serial blasts on Tuesday looked set to get a big push with the detention of a prime suspect, who's alleged to have funded the operation, by the Interpol in London. Raheel Sheikh, one of the key accused in serial train blasts, was detained by the British Interpol on Tuesday. He is one of the alleged masterminds of the conspiracy and was involved in the funding of the bombings that killed 200 and wounded another 700. The Interpol action came in response to a request from the Mumbai ATS, which had supplied relevant details to the international agency. A Red Corner notice was subsequently issued against Raheel Sheikh. There are two ways available with India to seek his custody. First, by initiating extradition procedures, in which a request is sent through diplomatic channels. The matter is finally decided in a court. The other way is to seek his deportation, which is an executive decision. Raheel Sheikh is supposed to have strong links with the Pakistan-based jihadi outfit, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), where he was supposedly involved in imparting training to new recruits. Seven deadly blasts occurred in Mumbai local trains on July 11, 2006, that were caused by RDX and Ammonium Nitrate packed in pressure cookers. The ATS had alleged that Pakistan's ISI had a direct role in the planning and execution of the terror act. The ATS had set up a separate team to investigate the alleged LeT operative's involvement in the blast. He was also wanted in the serial blasts that rocked Delhi on the eve of Diwali in October, 2005. Raheel Sheikh was cornered in Mumbai, but managed to escape. A crime branch team, however, stumbled upon his name while interrogating Pune-based ex-Simi activist Feroz Deshmukh. He revealed that Raheel Sheikh had taken a loan of Rs 15,000 in May, 2006, and promised him that a certain Noman would return it to him. The trail led to Noman who confirmed that he was supposed to collect the same amount from Faisal Sheikh. While the police couldn't get Raheel Sheikh it managed to nab Faisal Sheikh, who's alleged to be closely associated with Azam Cheema, on July 27 from Mumbai. All the 16 accused arrested so far by the Mumbai ATS have been booked under Mcoca. |
Link |
India-Pakistan |
New facts emerge on Mumbai blasts |
2008-04-15 |
A Lashkar-e-Taiba operative, arrested by the Uttar Pradesh police in February, has provided investigators with new insights into the command-level architecture of the 2006 Mumbai serial bombings that claimed 209 lives. Sabahuddin Ahmed told the interrogators that the bombings were executed under the command of Mohammad Yusuf, code-named Muzammil, who controls the Lashkars military operations outside Jammu and Kashmir. Lashkars overall military chief Mohammad Azam Cheema supervised the operation. Ahmeds testimony corroborates the findings of the Mumbai Police, which said the bombings were executed by Pakistani Lashkar operatives with assistance from members of the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI). By Ahmeds account, the Lashkar saw the Mumbai attacks as a model operation, since Indian investigators were unable to link its perpetrators to Pakistan. While several Indians including Mumbai residents Mohammad Faisal Sheikh, his brother Muzammil Rehman Sheikh and former SIMI Maharashtra general-secretary Ehtesham Siddiqui are now being tried for their alleged role in the citys suburban train system, none of the Pakistani perpetrators could be arrested or conclusively identified. Sabahuddin, who allegedly commanded the Lashkar cell that attacked the Indian Institute of Science and a Central Reserve Police Force camp in 2007, worked at the Lashkars central offices during 2006-2007. He later became the firstand so far, onlyIndian known to have commanded a Lashkar cell involving Pakistani nationals. Mumbais Anti-Terrorism Squad is also investigating the possible role of the SIMIs former general-secretary, Safdar Nagori, in the Mumbai bombings. He was held at Indore last month along with 13 other SIMI leaders who, police allege, were involved in recruiting and training new cadre for the Lashkar-led jihad at camps across southern, central and western India. Questioned after being administered hypnosis-inducing drugs, Nagori said he was present in Mumbai at the time of the bombingssuggesting a possible link between the SIMIs leadership and the terror strikes. He was known to have participated in a meeting at Ujjain a week before the bombings, where the SIMI discussed plans to escalate the jihad. However, police sources familiar with the investigation said Nagoris statement has not, so far, been corroborated by material evidence or the confessional statements of close associates, including the Sheikh brothers and Siddiqui. While narco-analysis was a key tool in the bombings investigation, it is known that it elicited fantasies and false statements from several suspects. |
Link |
India-Pakistan |
Indore raids net top SIMI leadership |
2008-03-30 |
Police in Indore have arrested 10 leaders of the Students Islamic Movement of India in a dramatic intelligence-led operation that could help to unravel jihadist networks responsible for major terrorist bombings. Key among those arrested are general-secretary Safdar Nagori, the organisations top jihadist ideologue and organiser, and Shibly Peedical Abdul, a Kerala-born computer engineer sought by police ever since the Lashkar-e-Taiba-led 2006 serial bombings of Mumbai. Officials say side arms, cartridges and special jungle ropes used in combat-hardening courses for SIMI cadre were found in the safehouse. Police also recovered two computers and external hard drives which, they believe, may contain data on SIMIs structure, finances and strategy. Top leaders Wanted by police in six States, Nagori had evaded arrest ever since SIMI was proscribed in September 2001. Little is known about Nagoris activities over the last seven years, other than that he sustained SIMIs organisational networks in central and western India through front organisations such as the Tehreek Ihya-e-Ummat, or the Movement for the Revival of Muslims. Nagori is not thought to have personally carried out terrorist operations, but investigators believe that he provided logistics support and finance to SIMIs jihadist cells. Much of this is thought to have been sourced from West Asia-based supporters, Pakistan-based terror groups such as the Lashkar, and the Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate. One of Nagoris most successful networks was run by Abdul, who worked as computer engineer in a multinational company before setting up an independent firm. Ehtesham Siddiqui, SIMIs Maharashtra general secretary and one of the alleged architects of the 2006 bombings, first told police that Abdul had a parallel life as one of top operatives of the proscribed Islamist group. Operating through a religious front-organisation, Abdul recruited over a dozen local men to SARANI men who set up the jihad cell discovered by police in Bangalore last month. He is believed to have participated in a conclave of SIMI members at Ujjain from July 4 to 7, 2006, where plans to revitalise the jihad in India were discussed. Several members of the terror cell that executed the 2006 Mumbai bombings, which claimed 209 lives and left 704 injured, participated in the Ujjain discussions among them computer technician and SARANI member Muzammil Sheikh, who is now being tried for his role, along with his brother, Faisal Sheikh, in the serial bombings. Unconfirmed reports suggest that one of the men arrested in Indore could be Mohammad Adnan, a key south India SIMI organiser. A resident of Bijapur in Karnataka, Adnan is alleged to have provided weapons and training to Abduls Bangalore jihad cell. However, sources in the Indore police said confirmation of the suspects identity was still awaited. Back to roots Wednesdays arrests could strengthen political Islamists within SIMI who have been struggling to bring the organisation back to its political roots. SIMI leaders grouped around its former president, Shahid Badr Falahi, long argued that the organisations turn to terror would be disastrous, and made persistent efforts to marginalise jihadists in its ranks. In January, 2006, SIMI members met in secret to discuss means to have the ban on the organisation revoked, and elected West Bengals Mohammad Misbah-ul-Islam their new president. Again, in January 2007, a senior New Delhi-based Jamaat-e-Islami leader hosted a meeting of the political Islamists to discuss strategies to distance SIMI from the jihadists. |
Link |
India-Pakistan |
Pak hawala link in LeT funding |
2006-07-31 |
The interrogation of a 32-year-old engineering dropout, Faisal Sheikh, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT)'s western India commander, arrested for his alleged role in the 11/7 blasts, established that the outfit's city module was being funded by its Pakistan-based leadership through hawala channels. Investigation also revealed links between the LeT's local module, under Faisal's direct command, with the Kashmir based modules of the outfit. According to Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS)'s chief joint police commissioner K.P. Raghuvanshi, Faisal told his interrogators that he had received 25,000 Rials (Saudi Arabian currency) barely a few days before the 11/7 blasts from Pakistan and 12,000 Rials - through the same channel - just after the blasts. The total sum - 37,000 Rials - is worth Rs. 4.4 lakh. "The recovery of the money - from Pune and Mumbai - sent to Faisal is an important circumstantial evidence that would help the sleuths zero in on the perpetrators," Raghuvanshi said. The money, according to ATS and Mumbai crime branch officials, was sent to Faisal by LeT's India commander Azam Cheema. Cheema sent the money through hawala channels to a conduit Rizwan, from Pune. Rizwan befriended Faisal, who also stayed in the city with his family and was pursuing a course in Industrial Electronics at Eklavya College few years ago. Rizwan, in turn, re-routed the money to Faisal. Faisal's brother, Muzammil(22), a software engineer with a global software giant in Bangalore, has also been arrested for his alleged role. Another brother, computer engineer Rahil is based in UK. Investigations have also revealed that LeT's top commander Raheel Abdul Sheikh, the alleged mastermind of the 11/7 blasts, had visited Kashmir's border towns twice before the blasts. During one such visit, Raheel, said a senior CB officer, had spent "two months" in the border areas, trying to cross over to Pakistan. The police suspect Raheel was one of the 11/7 plotters along with LeT's Mumbai, Bangladesh and Nepal modules. |
Link |