Author: Pranab Dhal Samanta
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: November 10, 2008
URL: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/after-assam-blasts-congratulations-from-bangladesh-to-planner-in-agartala/383608/0
Papa bada khush hua, ab apne agle muqaam par
chale jao
A congratulatory message from Bangladesh,
intercepted a day after the serial blasts in Assam, holds the key to the investigation
into the bombings. The intercept suggests the main planner was in Agartala
and adds to evidence against the Harkat-ul-Jehad-al-Islami, which New Delhi
will soon take up with Dhaka.
Security agencies picked up the conversation
from a mobile phone number somewhere in Bangladesh to the suspected mastermind
in Agartala on October 31: "Papa bada khush hua, ab apne agle muqaam
par chale jao (Father is very happy, you now move to your next destination)".
Over 70 people were killed in nine blasts
in five cities including Guwahati in Assam on October 30.
The intercept was made by communications intelligence
units on the Indo-Bangla border. Security agencies, working with the local
police to locate the person to whom the call was made, have made significant
headway in the past few days, sources said, but are unwilling to reveal details
because they hope to take up the matter with Bangladesh and continue the probe
on that end.
Sources said investigators were not ruling
out a link between the Assam bombings and the serial blasts in Agartala on
October 1. Security agencies are certain both attacks were planned in Bangladesh,
with the involvement of some cadres of militant outfits in the North-East,
and backing of bigger groups like HuJI.
Indian agencies had identified a recent trend
of estranged cadres of groups like the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA)
being trained and used as footsoldiers by HuJI and even the Lashkar-e-Toiba
to gain better access to the North-East. As reported by The Indian Express
earlier, security agencies had intercepted a message from Muzaffarabad in
PoK to operatives in Bangladesh, which spoke of a retaliation in Assam after
the Udalgiri incident (in which Muslims were targeted by Bodo militants).
Fisal Naeem, the Lashkar's Bangladesh in-charge, had revealed to his Bangladeshi
interrogators that he had met ULFA leaders.
Over the past month, large quantities of explosives
have been seized in the North-East from militants belonging to Muslim fundamentalist
organizations. The Army, sources said, seized 26 kg of explosives, including
over five kg of RDX, between October 1 and November 7, mainly from border
areas in Assam and Tripura. The BSF is understood to have seized another 30
kg, among them 235 gelatine sticks, which have so far not been used.
Clearly, sources said, a body of evidence
is piling up suggesting Bangladesh is being used in a big way as a base from
where terrorist attacks can be planned and launched in India, particularly
in the North-East. Explosives are being smuggled with the help of N-E militant
outfits that have now lost support there. All this is expected to be taken
up with Bangladesh as India looks to push for greater cooperation from Dhaka
in the fight against terrorism.
