Author: TN Raghunatha
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: July 28, 2008
After the Interpol Protocol (IP) address of
an e-mail sent purportedly by Indian Mujahideen -- which claimed responsibility
for Saturday's serial blasts in Ahmedabad and warned the authorities about
fresh attacks in Mumbai and elsewhere in Maharashtra -- was traced to a Navi
Mumbai apartment, the State Government on Sunday put the country's commercial
capital and communally-sensitive towns of Bhiwandi, Malegaon and Aurangabad
on a high-alert.
Acting on a tip-off, the Anti-Terrorist Squad
(ATS) sleuths of the State police raided two 15th floor flats at Gunina Apartments
at Sanpada in Navi Mumbai in the early hours of Sunday and seized the hard
disc of a computer from which the e-mail had been sent by Indian Mujahideen.
The 14-page e-mail, which was received by
news television channels from the terror outfit, had been sent from the address
arbi_Gujarat@yahoo.com.
The Internet protocol address was traced to
an American national Kenneth Heywood who works for a multinational company
and is residing in flats 1503 and 1504 in C Wing of Gunina housing society
located on the up-market Palm Beach Road.
Said to have been owned by one Abhishek and
Mamta Sharma, the top-floor flats were rented out to Heywood and his wife
five months ago.
Three persons, including the couple, were
being questioned in connection with the raid on Sanpada flats.
Informed ATS sources said that Heywood had
denied that he had anything to do with the e-mail sent from his IP address
and told the investigators that the e-mail might have been the handiwork of
some mischief mongers.
In a precautionary measure taken on the basis
of a threat purportedly handed by Indian Mujahideen that it would engineer
terror attacks in Mumbai and elsewhere in the State, the bomb squad of the
city police carried out a thorough search of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE),
where 84 people had been killed and 217 others injured in March 12, 1993 serial
explosion. Also searched was a leading newspaper group's office in south Mumbai.
Not wanting to take any chances, the police
have intensified security in and around the 30-storey BSE building. The police
have also beefed up security in and around malls, bus, railway stations and
other public places in Mumbai and Pune and increased personal security cover
for VIPs and VVIPs and celebrities who perceived threats from terror outfits.
In a related development, the ATS has taken
serious cognisance of a lengthy e-mail purportedly sent by the hitherto little-known
Indian Mujahideen.
Signed by one Al-Arbi, the 14-page email is
entitled: 'The Rise of Jihad, Revenge of Gujarat' and is released by 'Indian
Mujahideen In the Land of Hind'.
Apart from taking responsibility for the Ahmedabad
blasts, Indian Mujahideen has threatened Maharashtra's senior politicians
-- Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, his deputy RR Patil and leading industrialist
Mukesh Ambani. It has also warned the Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh Governments.
In a threat handed to Deshmukh and his deputy
Patil, the e-mail reads thus: "Don't think we are unaware of the SRPF
attacks on our Masjids and our homes, the insult of our Quran and your enmity
with the Muslims in Digras and the nearby areas in Yavatmal and of the burning
alive of three Muslims in Jalna with the backing of police. Yes! It is all
being recorded and you will face the ill consequence thereof. And also the
troubles faced by the madarsa students and Muslim women in Mumbai Western
Railways. We wonder at your memory. Have you forgotten the evening of 7/11/2006
so quickly and so easily?".
Similarly in a warning handed to Reliance
Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani, the e-mail states: "We also alert
Mukesh Ambani to think twice before usurping and building a citadel on a land
in Mumbai that belongs to the Waqf Board, lest it turns into horrifying memories
for you which you will never ever forget," it says.
Indian Mujahideen goes on to claim responsibility
for Saturday's serial blasts in Ahmedabad and states in its e-mail: "The
Indian Mujahideen hereby claim the sole responsibility of the Gujarat serial
blasts, planned and executed by Indians only and it is our request to Lashkar-e-Tayyeba
and other organisations, for the sake of Allah, not to claim the responsibility
for these attacks."
In a warning given to Madhya Pradesh and Andhra
Pradesh Governments, the e-mail states: "You agitated our sentiments
and disturbed us by arresting, imprisoning, and torturing our brothers in
the name of SIMI and the other outfits in Indore, Ujjain, Mumbai, and in other
cities of Karnataka. We hereby notify you, especially the ATS and the STF
and the Governments of Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh, to release them
all, lest you become our next targets and victims of our next attack. Don't
consider us heedless about the crimes you have committed in recent Indore
riots and all this will be, Insha-Allah brought to account very soon."
