Terrorism-related incidents in Rajasthan since 2007
2010
November 3: The Rajasthan Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) arrested a person suspected to be involved in the Ajmer Dargah blast case (October 11, 2007). The arrestee, identified as Mukesh Vasani is the second person from Gujarat, to be arrested by the ATS following the arrest of Harshad Bhai Solanki. Vasani, an anti-cow slaughter activist, was arrested from Godhra in Gujarat. According to the ATS, he had conducted a recce of the Dargah three days before planting explosives there. The ATS has so far arrested five men, including senior RSS functionary Indresh Kumar, in connection with the case.
November 1: The bomb-maker in the Ajmer Dargah blast case (October 11, 2007) was arrested by the Rajasthan Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) in Ajmer in Rajasthan, where he was remanded to Police custody by a local court till November 9. The arrestee, identified as Harshad Bhai Solanki alias Munna alias Raja, resident of Vadodara in Gujarat was also involved in the Best Bakery case (March 1, 2002) and was absconding after the carnage. Additional Director General of Police Kapil Garg, who is also in-charge of the ATS, said that Harshad played an active role in gathering bomb-making material, assembling them and packaging the bombs to Ajmer.
October 26: A lower court in Ajmer in Rajasthan committed the trial of the 2007 Ajmer Dargah blast case to the Sessions Court. Chief Judicial Magistrate Ratan Lal Moond, in whose court the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) of Rajasthan Police filed charge sheet against the five accused on October 22, fixed the next hearing before the District and Sessions Judge on November 2 after the sessions' committal. The five accused in the blast case include Devendra Gupta (who is also affiliated to Abhinav Bharat), Lokesh Sharma and Chandrashekhar Lave. Two of the accused, Sandeep Dange and Ramji Kalsangre are stated to be absconding, while another accused, Sunil Joshi from Indore, was murdered during the course of investigation.
October 22: Rajasthan ATS filed a charge sheet against five accused in the 2007 Ajmer blast. They have been charged with murder and defiling of a place of worship.
October 21: The Rajasthan Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) arrested three suspected LeT militants, Babu alias Nishachandra Ali of Bikaner, Arun Jain of Nagaur and Hafiz Abdul Majid of Jhalawar, allegedly involved in luring youths in terror activities and sending them to Pakistan for training. They were under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act 1967. Preliminary investigations have revealed that the LeT ‘commanders’ based in Pakistan were planning to carry out anti-India activities through the Indians trained as terrorists on Pakistani soil, according to an official release of Criminal Investigation Department. The anti-India activities included bomb explosions, circulation of counterfeit Indian currency, smuggling of arms and ammunition, fuelling communal riots and violence in the country and also working to ensure release of Pakistani terrorists from Indian prisons. During the course of investigations it has also come to light that the imprisoned Pakistani terrorists used to take other jailed Indian criminals into their confidence and involve them in terror activities. After their release, these criminals used to indulge in terrorist activities on the directives of the LeT ‘commanders’ of Pakistan, the release said. During the probe, it was also found that Pakistani spy Asgar Ali, who is being held in Jodhpur jail, used to lure Indian inmates to undergo training in Pakistani training camps and perpetrate terror in the country on the behest of Pakistan-based LeT ‘commander’ Wahid alias Vikki Bhai. Among those who were lured by Asgar were Nisha Chandra Ali and Arun Jain. Both Ali and Jain had direct interaction with Vikki and plans were afoot to hand over huge quantity of counterfeit Indian currency to both of them, the release said. Efforts were made to obtain Indian passports for Ali and Jain and send them to Pakistan. However, as a number of criminal cases were pending against both of them, the passports were not issued, the release said. Plans were also made to send both of them to Pakistan through Nepal but it could not materialise, the release added. However, the LeT ‘commanders’ were successful in inducting Hafiz Abdul, who used to teach in a madrassa (seminary).
October 15: The Rajasthan Police and Karnataka anti-terrorist squad (ATS) arrested two alleged LeT militants from Kasargod (Kerala) and Ajmer (Rajasthan) for their role in the 2008 blasts in Bangalore in which one person was killed and over a dozen people were injured. The suspects were identified as Umar Farooq and Ibrahim Moulvi. "Umar was held in Ajmer and Ibrahim in Kasargod in Kerala," said Bangalore Police Commissioner Shankar Bidari. There were reports that an accomplice of Farooq was also caught in Ajmer, but it could not be confirmed. The Police have named 32 people in the chargesheet in the blasts case. Sources said Farooq was arrested from the railway station, where he had gone to receive a guest. Farooq and another suspect had been staying in Nala Bazaar area of Ajmer for two months and were under Karnataka ATS surveillance. Farooq is also accused of recruiting youth for militant activities in the Kashmir Valley. The case surfaced following the death of four Malayalee youth in an encounter with Security Forces in Kashmir. He is also said to be the key conspirator in the September 2005 case of burning of a bus belonging to the Tamil Nadu State Road Transport Corporation in Aluva near Kochi. This was to protest the TN Government's decision to oppose the bail plea of People’s Democratic Party (PDP) leader Abdul Nasser Madani, who was then in jail for the 1998 Coimbatore serial blasts. Farooq belongs to Prappanangadi in Malappuram District. Police sources said Ibrahim Moulvi was arrested from Badiyadukka in Kasargod District, where he worked as a cleric in a mosque using a fake identity. Moulvi had also played a significant part with LeT south India operative T. Nasir in recruiting Malayalee youth for terror training across the border. Farooq and Moulvi are suspected to be linked to 26/11 plotter Tahawwur Hussein Rana through Sabir, a LeT operative believed to be hiding in the Gulf.
October 10: The Union Home Ministry asked Rajasthan and three other States to be alert during the festival season. The alert has been issued on the basis of some specific inputs about a possible terror strike at certain places, including Jaipur and Pushkar where the Pakistani-American militant David Coleman Headley is reported to have conducted a recce. According to reports just after 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, Headley had stayed for more than 40 days in Pushkar to keep an eye on the situation after the Mumbai mayhem. A National Investigating Agency (NIA) team identified two hotels where Headley stayed as a tourist. The agencies believed that Headley in Pushkar was plotting an attack on Israeli tourists visiting the holy town. Some specific leads, hinted that Headley had done a recce of the Bed-khabad — the prayer hall of the Jews, where hundreds of them gather every evening for routine prayers.
August 29: A huge cache of explosives bought from Rajasthan Explosives and Chemicals Limited (RECL) at Dholpur in Rajasthan in the name of Ganesh Explosives was diverted and sold to 40 parties in different States. During interrogation, the prime accused in the missing explosives case, Jaikishan Aswani revealed that 61 consignments of explosives bought by Ganesh Explosives from RECL between April and June were further sold to around 40 people. Aswani had surrendered before Bahediya Police in Sagar District of Madhya Pradesh on August 27. The three other accused Shivcharan Heda, Deepa Heda and Devendra Singh Thakur are still absconding.
May 21: A local court extended the Police remand of Lokesh Sharma, arrested in connection with the October 2007 Ajmer Dargah blast, till June 1. In addition, the court sent two other accused in the case to judicial custody. The Chief Judicial Magistrate Court here extended the police remand of Sharma by 10 days, and sent Devender Gupta and Chandra Shekhar Leve to judicial custody.
May 14: One more person was arrested by the Rajasthan ATS in connection with the October 2007 Ajmer dargah (Sufi Shrine) blast, Police said. Lokesh Sharma was arrested by the Rajasthan ATS while he was along with his family members at Lasudia Police Station area of Chhindwara District. Sharma, a resident of Indore, is an accused in the murder of All India Congress Committee (AICC) leader Pyar Singh Nenama, who was killed at Manpur locality of the District in August 2003, Police said.
May 12: The ATS of Rajasthan has informed that out of the 13 identified terrorist who planted bombs at eight places in the Walled City in May 13, 2008, four are still absconding. They include Khalid, Arif, Shajid Bhai and Salman.
May 2: A team of the Rajasthan ATS detained one more suspect, identified as Sanjay Gupta, a small-scale industrialist, from Mhow, 25 kilometres from Indore for questioning in connection with the 2007 Ajmer (Rajasthan) Dargah (Sufi Shrine) blast. In all, two people have been arrested and two others detained for the Ajmer blast so far.
April 26: A person, identified as Devendra Gupta, a resident of Bihari Ganj in Ajmer, was arrested in the night of April 26 by Rajasthan Police in connection with the 2007 Ajmer Dargah bomb blast, in which three people were killed and over 30 injured. He reportedly had links with ‘Abhinav Bharat Sangathan’ and is suspected to be involved in the bomb blast inside the Dargah of Khawaja Moinuddin Chishty at Ajmer in October 2007, Police said.
March 23: Security was beefed up at Marwar Junction after authorities received two separate letters containing threats to blow up the station, reports PTI. While a postcard threatening to blow up the station was received by the Government Railway Police (GRP) and the Railway Police Force (RPF) at the junction this morning, a similar letter was found outside the station master's office, Superintendent of Police (GRP-Ajmer) Veerbhan Ajwani said. Written in Hindi, the postcard bears the name of Indian Mujahideen (IM) at the end and mentions the date 24 for the strike but does not specify the month, he said. However, taking no chances and assuming the date to be 24th of March, security has been tightened at the station, the official said.
February 18: Rajasthan Police issued a terror alert for the One-Day International (ODI) cricket match between India and South Africa to be played at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium (SMS) in Jaipur on February 21, reports IANS. "We do have intelligence inputs, though a bit vague, of a terror threat to the first ODI," Inspector General (IG) of Police of Jaipur B. L. Soni said. "We don’t want to take any chances, especially after the Pune blast," Soni added.
2009
September 13: Rajasthan Police and the Special Operations Group (SOG) seized a consignment of explosives and firearms from a village in the Barmer District. With the latest seizure, the Police have foiled attempts by the Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) to execute attacks in the country, said official sources. Intelligence agencies and the SOG in Rajasthan have come across facts which indicate that the Pakistani ISI was using the India-Pakistan border in Rajasthan to push in lethal material into India. Two carriers, Fotia and Alia, belonging to Pakistan, were entrusted with the task of pushing the consignment.
September 10: A consignment containing illegal arms, cartridges, explosive and equipment for making bombs were recovered in the Barmer District of Rajasthan, Police sources said. Following a tip off, the consignment, which was sent from across the Indian border for an unidentified terrorist outfit, was recovered in the night of September 9 near Moradi village in the Barmer District before its delivery, the sources said. Eight foreign-made revolvers, over 400 cartridges and several detonators have been recovered.
July 10: The intelligence agencies sounded an alert of a possible terror strike by LeT militants in Jodhpur city of Rajasthan in the coming days. Intelligence sources said the militants were planning blasts in the city on either July 11, 14 or 28 or on August 21. According to sources, the Intelligence Bureau sounded the alert on the basis of inputs received from Jammu and Kashmir.
June 1: A court in Bikaner remanded the arrested agent of Pakistan’s ISI, Mohammad Sajid, to five days’ Police custody to facilitate investigation into his local contacts and his alleged espionage activities. The accused was also sent to the P.B.M. Government Hospital in Jaipur for medical examination. As reported earlier, Sajid, who allegedly carried out printing work for the Indian Army, was arrested in Bikaner District on May 31.
May 31: A suspected ISI agent, Mohammad Sajid, who allegedly carried out printing work for the Indian Army, was arrested in Bikaner District. Sajid, a resident of Bilalganj at Lahore in Pakistan, infiltrated into India via Bangladesh and Nepal and had established himself as a resident of Bikaner as a tenant under the assumed name of Lakhan Joshi since 2005, the Additional Director General of Police (Intelligence), M. K. Devarajan, said. Sajid had been reportedly running a printing press in the city where he purportedly managed to get some job works for Army units located there. Devarajan affirmed that the ISI gave him training in intelligence work and Hindi in the Lahore Military Hospital for three months. Meanwhile, the Rajasthan Police have registered a case against Sajid under the Official Secrets Act, 1923, and the Foreigners Act, 1946.
2008
November 18: Police filed charge sheets against 11 Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) cadres, identified as Mohammad Qureshi, Mahndi Hassan, Imran, Nazakat Hussain, Shahbaz Hussain, Mohammad Toufiq, Munnavar Khan, Ateeq-ur-Rahman, Mohammad Iliyas, Mohammad Sohail and Mohammad Azam, in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate in capital Jaipur. The charge-sheets claimed that they were associated with the SIMI and had taken part in the meetings held by the banned group across the country. They were also accused of conspiracy against the nation for giving shelter to main accused of the Jaipur serial blasts, Sajid, Karimudeen and Taukir.
September 7: Two youths, identified as Mohammad Sohail and Azam, detained in Jodhpur were arrested by the Special Investigation team (SIT) of Rajasthan Police on charges of involvement in the May 13, 2008 Jaipur serial blasts case. During investigation, it was found that both had links with the banned SIMI and the main accused of the Jaipur serial blasts, including Sajid, Karimudeen and Taukir. They had allegedly arranged hotel rooms for the meetings of Sajid and his accomplices. The SIT sources claimed, "Sajid and his associates like Taukir, Karimudeen and others had visited Jodhpur many times and generated funds from there. It was found that Sohail and Azam had also gathered Zakat (charity) for them". With these two arrests, the total number of people arrested in connection with the Jaipur serial blasts has gone up to 14.
September 1: Police arrested four SIMI cadres suspected to be involved in the May 13 explosions in Jaipur. The arrested were identified as Munawar Husain alias Muzaffar Husain, Atiqur Rehman alias Abdul Hakim, Nadeem Akhtar alias Yaminuddin, all residents of Kota and Mohammed Iliyas alias Mohammed Husain from Baran. All of them were produced in the court and were sent on 11 days Police remand.
August 25: Rajasthan Police arrested seven persons from Kota District for their involvement in the May 13 explosions in Jaipur. Police sources said the suspected mastermind behind the explosions, Shahbaz Hussain, who has since been arrested and remanded to 10 days Police custody held three terror camps in Nanta of Kota District between November 2007 and January 2008, along with other SIMI activists, Mufti Abu Bashir and Sajid Mansuri.
August 24: Rajasthan Police, with the assistance of the Anti-Terrorism Squad of the Uttar Pradesh Police, arrested Shahbaz Hussain, a resident of the Maulviganj area of capital Lucknow, for his suspected involvement in the May 13 terrorist attack in Jaipur. A. K. Jain, the Additional Director General of Police (Crime) and chief of the Special Investigation Team in Rajasthan, said, "Shahbaz was a key player in planting the bombs in Jaipur as he was instrumental in mobilising resources as well as selecting the team, which executed the blasts." Police sources said that 25-year old Shahbaz, a diploma holder in mass communications and owner of a cyber cafe in Maulviganj, was a key aide of Sajid Mansoori who reportedly masterminded the Jaipur blasts.
June 13: Ajmer District Police received a letter from the Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI) threatening to carry out bomb blasts in the State between June 12 and 20. The letter, sent on a postcard and written in English, warns of dire consequences if the Rajasthan Government and Police do not stop their crackdown on illegal Bangladeshi migrants. The letter also demands the release of Bangladeshis detained in Rajasthan for suspected terror links.
June 9: The Special Operations Group (SOG) of Rajasthan Police investigating the May 13 Jaipur blasts case formally arrested Bharatpur cleric Mohammed Ilyas, who had been detained by the Police on May 26 under the Passport Act. Ilyas was also charged with possessing disproportionate assets and has been taken to Jaipur for further interrogation. Police recovered two forged passports from Chandigarh and Jaipur, a computer, a mobile phone and diaries from him. Police sources said that Ilyas is the imam (priest) of the Bharatpur mosque and also the convener of the Madarsa Jamia Islamia Arabia Darool Uloom's Bharatpur chapter.
May 27: The Special Investigation Team probing the May 13 serial bomb blasts in Jaipur detained a madrassa (seminary) teacher and a telephone booth owner in Bharatpur for their alleged role in the bombings that killed 80 people. The teacher, identified as Hakimuddin, a resident of Nagla Imam Khan village in Mathura District, was living in Bharatpur for the past two years. The telephone booth owner, Kamil, had his shop at Khumer Gate in Idgah Colony in Bharatpur. The name of both persons had been disclosed by Mohammed Ilyas, the imam of the Jama Masjid, who was arrested on May 23.
May 17: Police conducted raids across the State targeting SIMI activists. A SIMI cadre, Mohammad Shajid, was detained for questioning. Raids were conducted at Jaipur, Ajmer, Fatehpur, Godhpur, Tonk and Sikar on the basis of Intelligence inputs. A senior Police officer said, "Raids were conducted, but it seems most of the activists have gone underground fearing arrests."
May 14: A day after the serial bomb blasts in Jaipur, the Rajasthan Police released the sketch of a suspected terrorist on the basis of details provided by a shopkeeper at Kishenpole Bazaar who sold him a cycle, which was used in planting a bomb in the crowded area of the walled city. Inspector-General of Police, Pankaj Kumar Singh, said the shopkeeper remembered the suspect as he behaved suspiciously and seemed to be in undue hurry to buy the cycle.
An e-mail by an outfit known as Indian Mujahideen has claimed responsibility for the serial bomb blasts in Jaipur. The e-mail, which was sent on May 14-night to various television channels, has given the frame number (129489) of the bicycle which was planted at Choti Chaupad near Kotwali in Jaipur. The frame number of a bicycle recovered by the Rajasthan Police from the spot is same, official sources said, adding the e-mail was written on May 14 from a cyber cafe in Sahibabad in the outskirts of the national capital New Delhi. The e-mail id used was "guru_alhindi_jaipur@yahoo.Co.Uk", the sources said. The e-mail said India should stop supporting the US in the international arena, "and if you do continue then get ready to face more attacks at other important tourist places..."
May 13: At least 80 persons were killed and over 150 others wounded when eight serial bomb blasts were triggered at Johari Bazaar, Hanuman temple, Hawa Mahal, Badi Chaupad, Tripolia Bazaar and Chandpole in Jaipur, capital city of Rajasthan. The first blast took place at 7.20pm (IST) in the crowded Johari Bazaar and within 15 minutes seven more blasts occurred in adjoining areas in the walled city area - near the Hanuman Mandir, which was reportedly crowded with devotees, near Hawa Mahal, at Badi Chaupad, Tripolia Bazaar and Chandpole. "We have information that 80 people have died," Rajasthan Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria was quoted as saying.
2007
October 13: Rajasthan Police sources said six people, including two Bangladeshis, had been detained for questioning following the blast that killed two people and injured nearly 17.
October 12: A live bomb was found near the main gate of the shrine of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer.
October 11: Two persons, including one identified as Mohammed Shoaib, were killed and 17 others injured when a bomb exploded in the dargah (shrine) of the Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer. Official sources said that the bomb exploded at 6.12 pm (IST) near the Ahata-e-Noor courtyard. Intelligence sources revealed that the device used to execute the explosion was fabricated by packing a low-intensity explosive and metal fragment inside a metal lunch-box. Some fragments of a mobile phone were also recovered from the incident site.
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