Author: Somit Sen
Publication: The Times of India
Date: May 20, 2006
URL: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-1539464.cms
The huge haul of RDX, AK-47s and other arms
and ammunition from Aurangabad and Malegaon recently has brought into focus
the mushrooming of Lashkar-e-Toiba modules in the Marathwada region in recent
years.
Since 2002, the police have been affecting
seizures and arresting members of the banned Students Islamic Movement of
India (SIMI) in the Marathwada belt-namely Beed, Parbhani and Aurangabad.
The areas are considered strongholds of SIMI,
many of whose cadres have been indoctrinated by the LeT to carry out subversive
activities in Maharashtra and Gujarat, according to police.
In the recent seizures (43kg RDX, 16 AK-47s),
the anti-terrorist squad (ATS) has named former SIMI member Zainuddin Ansari
as the pointsman for the LeT in Marathwada.
Ansari has been reportedly gunning for Gujarat
chief minister Narendra Modi and VHP general secretary Pravin Togadia ever
since the post-Godhra riots of 2002, and the ATS believes he was planning
to use the RDX to carry out blasts in Gujarat.
Said an inspector-general of police: "The
LeT camps in Marathwada have been used only for storing the explosives and
firearms and sheltering sleeper cells comprising terrorists trained in Pakistan
and Bangladesh. The LeT has spread its base so extensively that it becomes
difficult to identify an operative. Many run cyber cafes and are software
engineers, others have legitimate transport businesses, while a few are homoeopaths."
In the recent operation, the police have arrested
a transport operator and a homoeopath.
"Marathwada provides the LeT with good
cover. It is difficult to track down a terrorist or his module without good
intelligence,"said deputy inspector-general (ATS) Laxminarayan.
Apart from the ATS headquarters in Mumbai,
which is 400km from Marathwada, the state is now setting up another ATS base
in Aurangabad to tackle the local menace.
Another anti-terrorist squad unit will operate
from Nagpur, Mahrashtra's winter capital."There is a need to strengthen
our police base in Marathwada so that we keep a round-the-clock vigil on Lashkar
operatives and improve our intelligence gathering,"he said.
In the recent case, local villagers tipped
off the cops, leading to the first arms seizure. The locals were
rewarded Rs 2 lakh each by the government.
"We want to encourage local residents
to act as the eyes and ears of our department,"said state director-general
P S Pasricha.
Said an IPS officer at state police headquarters:
"A significant number of Marathwada Muslims indoctrinated by the Laskhar
are people who have been to the Gulf for semi-skilled work. For example, there
are 12 places in Dubai where Pakistan-trained operatives conduct lectures
near mosques to attract Indians to the Lashkar."
Besides Ansari, who was indoctrinated in the
Gulf by the Pakistani Junaid, another glaring example is of Syed Hanif, a
member of the Gujarat Muslim Revenge Force (GMRF), which carried out the twin
blasts at the Gateway and Mumbadevi on August 25, 2003.
The blasts claimed 52 lives and injured more
than 150.The police suspect that several members of the GMRF are ensconced
in the Marathwada region.
