30 Minutes: Cracking the terror code

Saturdays have become synonymous with acts of terror and a blast at Mehrauli in New Delhi on September 27 added to the terror timeline. But repeated terror attacks across the country have thrown up many questions.

There has been a wave of terror attacks since 2005. First there was Varanasi, followed by Jaipur, Bangalore, Ahmedabad and then Delhi. India has never witnessed such continuous assault on its homegrounds.

There have been two events - a shootout in Jamia Nagar in New Delhi and a series of raids in and around Mumbai that have broken the back of the terrorist group - the Indian Mujahideen, claim the Delhi and Mumbai police.

Joint Commissioner of Police in Mumbai, Rakesh Maria said, “From 2005 till now, practically every blast which has taken place, they (the Indian Mujahideen) have assisted or participated in that blast.”

The IM and SIMI link

The police claim that they have identified the key players in the terror network that has killed over a hundred people since 2005, striking regularly, almost at will.

The top tier of the outfit consists of three people claim the police. One of them is Atif Ameen, a 24-year-old killed in a shootout in Jamia Nagar on September 19.

The second person is Mohammad Sadiq Sheikh, who was arrested from Mumbai on September 23.

The third man is Roshan Khan also known as Riaz Bhatkal who is still absconding and is known to have links with the Mumbai underworld.

Police say that the three took orders from Amir Raza Khan who in turn reported to Abu Alqama, the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) chief of all operations in India.

Joint Commissioner of Police in Delhi, Karnal Singh said , “The front organisations are Indian Mujahideen and Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI). But the total support comes from Lashkar-e-Toiba.”

The Mumbai police say that several other men worked with the top tier. Among them is Abdul Subhan Quereshi also known as Tauqeer, a computer engineer who is absconding and Abu Bashar, a cleric from Azamgarh who has been arrested. Bashar supposedly led the police to the Jamia Nagar house.

Police say that Bashar's statement after arrest clearly indicates the link between the IM and SIMI and that the IM was formed by a breakaway group of SIMI led by Safdar Nagori.

Nagori is already arrested. Young activists are controlled by older radical members who circulate books and hold regular meetings.

Police say that about 250 foot soldiers of the Indian Mujahideen are operating on behalf of the outfit.

Interestingly, all those arrested so far, hail from Azamgarh, a small town in Uttar Pradesh.

All roads lead to Azamgarh

On an early morning in a village called Sanjarpur in Azamgarh, the Delhi police assisted by the Uttar Pradesh police, raided many houses in search of documents and evidences.

This village is only 25 kilometers from Azamgarh and is part of the larger district. For more than a century now, people from this village have been going to places far and wide, in search of a living.

Presently, about 40,000 people from Azamgarh are working outside India, adding to the prosperity and fame of the region.

But the town has been getting more than its share of notoriety, of late. Interestingly, all the bad press has been coming from one part of the town called Sarai Mir. Almost all the main suspects in the recent cases hail from this region.

Sarai Mir is a prosperous oasis in the middle of eastern Uttar Pradesh. But hidden behind the prosperous glitz is a darker side of Sarai Mir. The place houses residents who have links with the underworld and with the hawala network.

Nobody admits it openly, but Abu Salem and other members of the D-Company enjoy a cult status in the place. The last elections, Abu Salem was even offered a ticket to contest from his native constituency.

With growing prosperity, there is also a growing wave of orthodoxy in the region. Once a prosperous region, now the place has over 179 madarassas.

“The Babri Masjid demolition gave an opportunity to radicals to harvest a crop of conservatism. These hardliners began telling the Muslim citizens that the country cannot offer a safe haven to the followers of Islam anymore,” said Prakash Jalan, a senior journalist.

Once places of pride, now battling infamy

Long before Azamgarh became a hub of terrorism and conservatism, it was a hub of modernism. Shibli College, in the heart of the city, is a symbol of that past. But the latest terror link has affected life here, too.

Ahsan Ahmed, a lecturer of Accountancy for over 16 years in Shibli College has had to make tough decisions of late. His son Zeeshan, who lived with the other suspected terrorists in L-18 of Batla House, called him up on September 17 after the shootout.

“Since he shared the accomodation with the other boys, his name too featured on the list of suspects and so my son told me that he was going forth to surrender before the police,” said Ahmed.

Many other reputed families of Azamgarh are also under the police scanner. Among them is the leading orthopaedic in the city, Dr Javed Akhtar.

His son Asadullah has not returned home for many days now and therefore the medic father had to undergo police interrogation.

The doctor defended his son by saying, “My son may be out of station or absconding or for any reason. Why should I assume that he is wanted?”

Many of Azamgarh’s well educated sons have gone the wrong way. No one can answer why these boys could have chosen the path of terror when their families had a reputation to shield back at home.

The families too are stunned but hope and pray that the nightmare ends soon and peace descends on the place.

Azamgarh, a town polarised

Older community member from Azamgarh are angry with the fingers being pointed at their small town. One elderly person said that the students killed at Jamia Nagar were victims of a conspiracy.

If they were suspects, they should have been arrested, argue the elders. Why is it that they were shot at instead, one such elderly person questions.

Young men are even more restive. The ‘poor boys’ were sitting ducks for the police hunting for scapegoats to pin the blame of the terror acts on, say some young boys in Azamgarh.

But the families of the boys from Batla House in Jamia Nagar are more restrained.

Shadab Amhed, whose son Mohammad Saif was arrested by the Delhi police after the shootout says that all he wants is a fair enquiry and a fair trial for his son. The Samajwadi Party MP from Azamgarh said, “If he is guilty, give him the strictest of punishments. They can even shoot him down.”

Rizwan Ahmed, the father of the alleged terror master mind Atif Ameen who died in the shootout, said that he would want to see the final outcome of the inquiry. He wants to see the truth emerge. “At least then, my soul will be at peace as to who was telling the truth,” said Ahmed.

In August the police had arrested Mufti Abu Bashar Kasmi from Binapara. It was then that a Member of the Parliament from the Samajwadi Party, Abu Asim Azmi and the Delhi Jama Masjid Imam Ahmed Shah Bukhari had tried to make the most of the situation.

Abu Asim Azmi had tried to remind the huge gathering at his rally that history proves that Azamgarh is a town that had given the British rulers a tough time.

It wasn't just the Muslim leaders who tried to make the most of the situation.

BJP MP, Swami Adityanath tried to polarise the town further by reminding the crowds that not only was it amply proven that Abu Bashar a terrorist but also that he had close links with IM, SIMI and the LeT.

A town in denial

“All these are baseless tales,” said Abu Bashar's brother, Abu Zaid.

“Our town is being targeted because the Muslims in Azamgarh are prosperous and well-to-do,” added Abu Zaid.

No trust in police

The police too find it a tough task to bridge the rift with the local populace. No matter what evidence is offered, the Muslims in Azamgarh simply refuse to trust the men in khakhi.

Senior Superintendent of Police, Ramit Sharma does not entirely deny the charge.

“It’s more like a particular village will have certain questions. These are being answered and the local police are in constant touch with everyone here. The measures to restore normalcy are continuously going on,” said Sharma.

But the local people of Azamgarh are now convinced that it is the envy of their prosperity that draws these allegations of terror. Their collective resentment is now targeted at the media, the police and the state.

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