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NIA arrests nine more IS suspects across India, 14 now in custody

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delhi-police

New Delhi: Nine more suspected members of the Islamic State (IS) terror outfit have been arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in cooperation with state police forces across India to take to 14 those in custody, a NIA official said on Saturday.

The raids, which have continued since Thursday evening, were conducted at 12 locations in six cities and in the latest development, the agency arrested nine more suspected IS members, taking the total number of those arrested to 14.

“On the basis of information revealed in the interrogation of five accused people, another nine accused people have been arrested from various locations in different cities,” said an NIA official.

The arrested men are Sayed Mujahid, 33, resident of Karnataka, Mohammad Aleem, 20, Lucknow, Mohammed Obedullah Khan, 33, and Abu Anas, 24, Hyderabad, Asif Ali alias Arman Saani, 21, Suhail Ahmed, 23, Muhammed Abdul Ahad, 46, Bengaluru, Mohammad Hussain Khan, 36, Mumbai, and Imran Khan Pathan from Aurangabad in Maharashtra.

The NIA said the arrested people will be produced before the concerned courts for obtaining transit remand and further interrogation and investigation will continue, said the official.

Informed sources said all the raids at 12 locations in six cities were conducted on tip-offs that the IS sympathisers were planning bomb attacks in several cities on Republic Day (January 26).

The raids were conducted in Bengaluru, Tumkur in Karnataka and Mangalore in Karnataka, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh.

Incriminating documents, mobiles, laotops and unaccounted cash and material used in making bombs were seized during the raids. Huge quantities of arms and ammunition were seized from the rented house of two of the suspects in Bengaluru, an official told IANS on Friday.

On Friday, NIA arrested five suspected IS members and nine others were detained. Mudabbir Mushtaq Shaikh, Mohammad Nafees Khan, Mohammad Shareef Mounuddin Khan, Najmul Huda and Mohammad Afzal, arrested on Friday are accused of encouraging the youth to join the IS.

Home Ministry Joint Secretary (Internal Security) had said all suspects are “radicalised youths” and more information would come out once ongoing investigations are over.

(Agencies)

2008 Malegaon blasts case: SC seeks Centre, NIA reply on PIL

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Supreme Court

New Delhi: The Supreme Court today sought response from Centre and National Investigating Agency (NIA) on a plea challenging removal of Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) in the 2008 Malegaon blasts case and alleging that Government was exerting pressure on her to “go soft” on the accused.

A bench comprising Justices J Chelameswar and A M Sapre asked Centre and NIA to file their responses within one week.

The bench, however, did not allow the submission of senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Indira Jaising that hearing on the bail applications of the accused persons be stayed for the time being.

The bench has also issued notice to Maharashtra government in the case. Earlier, a Supreme Court Judge had recused from hearing the plea, saying that he had represented certain accused in the matter.

The PIL, filed by social activist Harsh Mander, has accused NDA government of trying to interfere with the functioning of the prosecutor in the case by exerting “pressure” on her to “go soft” on the accused. It alleged that the executive was attempting to influence the judicial system.

It has alleged that NIA officials had pressured erstwhile Special Public Prosecutor in case, Rohini Salian, “presumably” under instructions from their “political masters”.

Salian, who was SPP in the case, had alleged that an NIA officer had told her to go soft on the accused. She also claimed the same officer had told her that she would be replaced. Salian is no longer on NIA’s panel of lawyers.

The petition has sought the apex court’s intervention to ensure a fair trial as there were reasons to “credibly fear” that “executive is attempting to influence the judicial system to cave in to the pressure exerted by it in all matters, including affording protection to right-wing extremists who sympathize with its ideology”.

The PIL also sought direction to the Centre to appoint an SPP to conduct “fair” trial and constitute a Special Investigating Team of CBI to probe alleged actions of NIA officials who allegedly pressured Salian.

The high-profile accused in the case include Lt Col S P Purohit and Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur.

The 4,000-page charge sheet had alleged that Malegaon was selected for the blasts because of its sizeable Muslim population. It named Pragya Singh Thakur, Purohit and another accused, Swami Dayanand Pandey, as the key conspirators.

The charge sheet had alleged it was Pandey who had instructed Purohit to arrange for RDX, while Pragya owned the motorcycle which was used in the blast.

Ajay Rahirkar, another accused, allegedly organised funds for the terror act, while conspiracy meetings were held at Bhonsala Military School in Nasik, according to charge sheet.

Rakesh Dhawde, Ramesh Upadhyay, Shyamlal Sahu, Shivnarain Kalsangra, Sudhakar Chaturvedi, Jagdish Mhatre and Sameer Kulkarni were the other accused. The blast on September 29, 2008 had left four dead and nearly 80 injured.

(PTI)

Malegaon terror attack: PIL in SC accuses Modi govt of influencing trial

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Supreme Court

New Delhi: Accusing the NDA government of trying to interfere with the functioning of the prosecutor in the 2008 Malegaon blasts case by exerting “pressure” on her to “go soft” on the accused, an activist today moved the Supreme Court seeking a fair trial “as the executive is attempting to influence the judicial system”.

The PIL filed by Harsh Mander alleged that National Investigation Agency (NIA) officials had pressured erstwhile Special Public Prosecutor in the case Rohini Salian to “go soft” on the accused “presumably” under instructions from their “political masters”.

The petition, filed through senior counsel Indira Jaising, has alleged that Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), which is the controlling Ministry of NIA, “have been allegedly trying to influence/pressurize an honest Public Prosecutor to go soft on the accused persons”.

The petitioner has sought the apex court’s intervention to ensure a fair trial as there were reasons to “credibly fear” that “executive is attempting to influence the judicial system to cave in to the pressure exerted by it in all matters, including affording protection to right wing extremists who sympathize with its ideology”.

Salian, who was SPP in the case, had recently stirred a controversy when she alleged an NIA officer had told her to “go soft” on the accused, a charge denied by the anti-terror agency. She also claimed the same officer had told her that she would be replaced. Salian is no longer on NIA’s panel of lawyers.

“That the factual conspectus afore-stated goes a long way in showing that the government of the day has tried to interfere with the functioning of special public prosecutor, treating the post as if it is under the Government in utter disregard to the principle laid down by this Court…,” the PIL said.

It sought a direction to the Centre to appoint a SPP to conduct “fair” trial and constitute a Special Investigating Team of CBI to probe alleged actions of NIA officials who allegedly pressured Salian. The PIL said pressure exerted on Salian by NIA officials seriously compromised a fair and transparent trial in the case.

“If there is credible reason to fear that public prosecutors are made to succumb to the wishes of their political masters, it is submitted that public faith in the entire edifice on which the free, fair and transparent trial is based would crumble,” it said.

Referring to Salian’s interview to media, the plea alleged that she had made “startling revelations” regarding “hidden hands allegedly nudging the judicial system to free the accused in the 2008 Malegaon case.”

The petition said the case involves people from “right wing extremist fringes of the society whom the present day Government is allegedly seeking to shield by diluting their stance in the prosecution of the case.”

It claimed the government was trying to soften their stance “which inevitablely would result in favouring of the accused, who belong to the majority community and thus strike a blow to the secular ethos of the Constitution and its mandate of protecting the interests of vulnerable minority.”

“This is a case where the systematic victimization based on pre-existing prejudices is writ large and ultimately the fair conduct of the trial would be a very important factor in order to restore the confidence of the minority who have been demoralized to a great extent,” the PIL said.

It said that SPP’s hallmark of being independent from government influence has been “severely compromised” in the case as was obvious from Salian’s statement.

“This is also supported by the fact the NIA since it has taken over the investigation from the Maharashtra ATS has not added any new evidence in the present matter despite strong evidence being available to it,” it claimed.

It said unless the apex court steps in, the victims of the Malegaon blasts cannot expect justice in the current scenario due to the “brazen illegalities” allegedly committed by the government.

The high-profile accused in the case include Lt Col S P Purohit and Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur. The 4,000-page charge sheet had alleged that Malegaon was selected for the blasts because of its sizeable Muslim population. It named Pragya Singh Thakur, Purohit and another accused, Swami Dayanand Pandey, as the key conspirators.

The charge sheet had alleged it was Pandey who had instructed Purohit to arrange for RDX, while Pragya owned the motorcycle which was used in the blast.

Ajay Rahirkar, another accused, allegedly organised funds for the terror act, while conspiracy meetings were held at Bhonsala Military School in Nasik, according to the charge sheet. Rakesh Dhawde, Ramesh Upadhyay, Shyamlal Sahu, Shivnarain Kalsangra, Sudhakar Chaturvedi, Jagdish Mhatre and Sameer Kulkarni were the other accused. The blast on September 29, 2008 had left four dead and nearly 80 injured.

(PTI)

Modi government pressurizing me to go 'soft' on Hindutva terrorists: Rohini Salian

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Rohini Salian

Mumbai: In a shocking revelation, Rohini Salian, Special Public Prosecutor in the case related to the 2008 Malegaon terror attack carried out by Hindutva extremists during Ramadan, has said that over the past one year, since “the new government came to power,” she has been under pressure from the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to go “soft” saffron terrorists involved in this case.

Ms Salian, who hails from Mangaluru, told a reputed Indian English daily that immediately after Narendra Modi-led government came to power she received a call from one of the officers of the NIA — the agency investigating all the alleged Hindu extremist cases — asking to come over to speak with her.

“He didn’t want to talk over the phone. He came and said to me that there is a message that I should go soft,” she revealed.

Matters came to a head this month, on June 12, she said, when just before one of the regular hearings in the case in the Sessions Court, she was told by the same NIA officer that “higher-ups” did not want her to appear in the court for the State of Maharashtra and that another advocate would attend the proceedings.

Ms Salian, 68, a leading prosecutor who has handled important cases like the J J shootout, Borivili double murder, the Bharat Shah case and the Mulund blasts amongst others, said: “The meaning (of that message from the officer) is very clear — don’t get us favourable orders.”

She said she wants the NIA to officially denotify her from the case to which she was appointed in 2008, “so that I am free to take up other cases, against the NIA, if need be”. The Malegaon blast, on September 29, 2008, claimed four lives and injured 79 while another blast at the same time in Modasa in Gujarat killed one. Initially, Muslims were seen as suspects in the case but it was under Hemant Karkare of the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) that investigations led to Hindu extremists based in Indore.

Investigations revealed the blasts were allegedly the handiwork of extremist Hindu organisations. Twelve people were arrested in the case, including Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and Colonel Prasad Shrikant Purohit. Of the 12, four are on bail.

That probe — later given over to the NIA that was constituted after the 26/11 terror attack in which Karkare was killed — led to a relook at other cases: Malegaon blasts of 2006 (31 killed, 312 injured); 2007 Ajmer blast (3 killed, 15 injured); 2007 Mecca Masjid blast in Hyderabad (9 killed, 58 injured); and 2007 Samjhauta Express attack (68 killed, 13 injured). The probe found many common accused in these cases.

Salian said that the Supreme Court has now decreed that the case should be tried in a special court with a specially appointed judge to see to the matter. “So in a way it’s all back to square one,” said Salian.

On April 15, the Supreme Court held that the Malegaon accused cannot be charged under MCOCA since there was no evidence as on date. Opening the doors for their release on bail, it further said that the trial court should decide their bail plea on merit and without applicability of MCOCA, preferably within one month. This, Salian said, now leaves it open for the accused to once again appeal for bail in the court under changed circumstances.

“A day before June 12, when the case came up again for regular hearing (in the trial court), the same officer who had come to my office came up to me and said there are instructions from higher-ups, someone else will appear instead of you. I said I was expecting this and, good, you have told me this, so please settle my bills…I also said that now they should now denotify me so that I can appear against the NIA in other matters — not this one — in the future. He must have conveyed it to the higher-ups and I am waiting for their action. I have not heard from anyone since then,” said Salian.

“The meaning (of the message from the government) is very clear — don’t get us favourable orders. Unfavourable orders are invited — that goes against the society,” said a perturbed Salian. When asked how she saw the case proceeding further, Salian said, “For a layman or a fresh prosecutor it’s very difficult — one cannot do anything. Maybe they want to loosen it and ultimately lose the case because they can’t withdraw it.”

(Agencies)

Hand-chopping case: 13 accused found guilty

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T J Joseph

Kochi: A special court here Thursday found 13 accused persons guilty in the sensational ‘hand-chopping’ case involving college professor T J Joseph.

Of the 31 people who underwent trial, the NIA court here exonerated 18 persons of all the charges.

The quantum of punishment will be announced on May 5.

The court had examined over 300 prosecution witnesses, four defence witnesses, over 950 prosecution documents, nearly 30 defence documents and 227 material objects in the case during its trial which started in July 2013.

A total of 37 people, including six persons who are absconding, were named in the charge sheet in the case.

According to the charge sheet, the accused persons hatched a conspiracy to attack Thodupuzha Newman College Professor Joseph.

He was attacked and his right hand chopped off, allegedly by activists of Popular Front of India on July 5, 2010, accusing him of hurting religious sentiments of a community through a question paper he set for his students.

A magistrate court in Idukki had exonerated Joseph of the charge of hurting religious sentiments.

(Agencies)

Demand action against special cell personnel in Liaquat Shah case: PUDR

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Liaqat Shah

by People’s Union For Democratic Rights

The recent chargesheet filed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) absolving former Hizbul Mujahideen militant, Syed Liaquat Shah, of all charges, has yet again exposed the Special Cell of the Delhi Police for planting false evidence and for framing Shah. Shah had been arrested by the Delhi Police on March 20, 2013 on grounds that he intended to launch a fidayeen or suicide attack in Delhi. A ‘recovery’ of a cache of arms, ammunition and explosives from a guest house near Jama Masjid (where allegedly Shah was planning to visit) was presented as evidence. He had been charged under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 1967 (UAPA) and sections of the IPC including waging war against the State. The Centre ordered for an impartial probe by the NIA in the matter as there were conflicting positions emerging from the Delhi Police and the J&K Police. It was stated by J&K Police that Liaquat Shah was returning to Kashmir in order to surrender under J&K’s rehabilitation policy. The NIA has now found that these arms were in fact placed there by Sabir Khan Pathan, an informer of the Special Cell working under the express orders of the Special Cell officials.

While the chargesheet names several officers and personnel of the Special Cell such as DCP Sanjeev Yadav, Inspectors Sanjay Dutt and Rahul Kumar, and Head Constables Manish, Mohd. Iqbal Dar and Gulvir Singh as being involved, the NIA in its report to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in January 2015 demanded departmental inquiry against all but the name of the DCP has been dropped. Moreover, though names of police officers involved have been mentioned in the chargesheet for being in touch with the informer Sabir Khan Pathan on 20-21 March 2013, only the informer has been named as the main accused. The NIA has also failed to indict the senior officials including the police commissioner who had all insisted that they had ‘evidence’ against Shah. It is vital that command responsibility be established in such cases rather than letting the higher officials escape punishment. Additionally, the NIA has also not explained where from did the cache of arms and explosives recovered from the guest house actually emerge. In response, the MHA had said that it would take ‘tough action’ against the officials if required. Reacting to this, the Delhi Police has now called upon the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and the MHA arguing that any action would have a ‘demoralising’ impact on the officers involved in counter-terror operations. A senior police official has also reportedly said that it is a ‘bonafide case of mistaken identity’ and not of any wrong or malafide intent and whatever they did was done in the best interest of ‘national security’.

It should be noted that this is not the first time that the Special Cell is being indicted by another investigative agency. In 2008, in the case of State v. Maurif Qamar and Md. Irshad Ali, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had submitted a closure report in the court of the Additional Session Judge in which it was clearly mentioned that the two accused (who were special cell informers earlier) were innocent and falsely implicated as dreaded terrorists in the case by the Special Cell which had fabricated and planted evidence. The CBI had also recommended that legal action be taken against the officials involved. Again, it need not be reminded that it was the Special Cell which was involved in the Batla House encounter case which has been widely criticized as a staged one.

PUDR’s findings in the past also show that the Special Cell has been a ‘habitual offender’ when it comes to faking encounters or in acts of planting evidence or falsely implicating people and routinely subverting justice in a number of important investigations it has undertaken. However, in the absence of any independent investigation, these crimes by Special Cell personnel have not been not brought to light, unlike as in the Liaquat Shah’s case has been.

A few instances would show this long lineage of crimes by the Special Cell. The case against Mohd. Arif, accused in the Red Fort attack case in the year 2000, for instance, rests mainly on the supposed ‘recovery’ by Special Cell official M.C. Sharma and his team, of a slip of paper bearing a mobile number which belonged to the accused. Despite contradictory statements in court by different Special Cell officers about the timing of their so called ‘recovery’, this ‘evidence’ was used to charge Arif with the crime and award him the death sentence. He is presently awaiting execution in this case.

Even in the 2001 Parliament Attack case, the case hinged on the Special Cell’s investigation on these kinds of alleged ‘recovery’ of slips of paper with phone numbers, mobile phones and sim cards from the dead (terrorists). These were then used to implicate a number of people who were arrested, tried and, in one case, later executed. Doubts about the authenticity of sim cards and allegations that they had been cloned and call records altered were raised at the time. The fact that the investigation methods of the Special Cell were a combination of extracting ‘confessions’ and ‘recovery’ of evidence was criticized and suspicion that this evidence was planted and doctored were raised at the time.

Another case in point was the picking up and killing of Rafiq, a resident of Sikandrabad, Uttar Pradesh in August 2003 as a ‘dreaded terrorist’ in the so called ‘Millenium Park encounter’. In this case also, which was investigated in detail in 2004 by PUCL and PUDR (See: http://www.pudr.org/?q=content/close-encounter-report-police-shoot-outs-delhi), there were no independent eye witnesses and ‘recovery’ of detonators and money was shown on the basis of which Rafiq’s brothers were also charged under serious offences. In October 2003, the Special Cell came under cloud for its role in the Ansal Plaza ‘encounter’ when an eyewitness came forward to expose the cold blooded killing.

The Special Cell of the Delhi Police has enjoyed impunity despite its consistent violation of rights and subversion of justice because of the protection given to it by draconian anti-terror laws like the erstwhile POTA and, especially, the present UAPA. While S. 58 had been added to POTA, allowing punishment for ‘malicious action’ by the police under this law after large scale institution of false cases by the police under anti-terror laws, the UAPA has excluded this clause cementing the impunity of police and protecting the ‘Special’ status of the police even when they commit heinous crimes.

Finally, as is indicated in the above mentioned cases, violations have been fearlessly committed by State personnel in the name of ‘national security’ and ‘fighting terrorism’. These labels help absolve officials from any kind of accountability even while the crimes committed are serious in nature, involving fabrication of evidence and false implication of persons—sometimes also leading the accused onto the death row.

PUDR demands that the guilty personnel of the Special Cell, including commanding officials, be immediately charged, prosecuted and punished in the Liaquat Shah’s false arrest case, and not be shielded by laws like the UAPA despite committing grave crimes. PUDR also demands that action be taken against higher officials of the Delhi Police who defended the Special Cell and supported the ‘evidence’ against Shah.

Megha Bahl and Sharmila Purkayastha

(Secretaries)

Another Slap: NIA absolves Liaqat Shah of all terror charges levelled against him

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Liaqat Shah

New Delhi: In an embarrassment to Delhi Police, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has given a clean chit to Liaquat Shah who had been arrested by it and labelled as a terrorist two years back.

The NIA, instead, named absconder Sabir Khan as the main accused who had allegedly planted weapons on Shah to project him as a militant of the banned Hizbul Mujahideen.

Ironically, according to chargesheet filed by NIA in a special court, the address of Khan alias ‘Pathan’ as mentioned in a lodge in old Delhi as well as for his SIM card was “Barrack NO. 2, Special Cell Niwas, BG 21, Lodhi Colony, New Delhi”.

The NIA, while absolving Shah of terror charges, has also submitted the report to Ministry to Home Affairs seeking permission for carrying out investigations against two Delhi Police officials for allegedly “conspiring” to target Shah.

Shah was arrested by the Special Cell of Delhi Police on March 20, 2013 while he was returning from Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir to the Kashmir Valley via Nepal and he was projected as a terrorist of Hizbul Mujahideen who had come to carry out strikes in the national capital.

Jammu and Kashmir police had protested the arrest, saying Shah was returning home as per the state government’s policy of allowing people, who had ex-filtrated to PoK in early 1990s, to come back.

Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who had flagged the issue about his arrest with the Union Home Ministry, welcomed the NIA move and said “at least I am happy that truth has finally come out and I hope that security agencies do not target Kashmiris to achieve their ulterior motives.”

Shah was arrested by the anti-terror Cell of Delhi Police on March 20 at Saunali border when he was crossing over with his wife and children.

To buttress its case, Special Cell had claimed that on the basis of his disclosure statement of Shah, the Special Cell also conducted a raid at Room No.304, Haji Arafat Guest House, Jama Masjid, New Delhi and recovered arms, ammunition and explosives.

The NIA contradicted the claims of the Delhi Police and said in the chargesheet that the probe “conducted by NIA has revealed that the charges against the accused (Shah) were not proved and that he was coming into India to obtain the benefit of the surrender policy of the Government of Jammu and Kashmir.”

Further, NIA investigation has “revealed” that Khan was allegedly responsible for the placement of weapons and explosives in the guest house room, it said in its chargesheet.

Khan had booked the room Haji Arafat Guest House in Jama Masjid and has been missing ever since the case was shifted to NIA. He has been declared as a Proclaimed Offender by court.

A native of Gelana of Shajahpur district in Madhya Pradesh, Khan’s family had expressed its inability to give his whereabouts and also told the visiting sleuths of NIA that they were fearing for his life, official sources said.

“Further investigation is being conducted to unravel the conspiracy behind the placement of weapons,” he said.

(PTI)

‘Burdwan blast part of BJP's devious gameplan drafted by RSS’

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derek-o-brien

New Delhi: The Trinamool Congress has called national security adviser Ajit Doval a known RSS sympathizer and revealed that the Burdwan blast was a part of a “devious” master gameplan of the BJP that was “conceived, drafted and approved by RSS”.

“The NSA is a known RSS sympathizer, these plans are hatched at RSS headquarters,” TMC leader Derek O’Brien said on Sunday reacting to Arun Jaitley’s comment on Mamata Banerjee.

Calling it a part of a larger BJP gameplan, the TMC leader said they will come out with more facts in the next 48 hours.

Making a pointed reply to finance minister’s comment stating that Mamata’s action in Burdwan blasts probe was “neither responsible nor nationalistic”, the TMC leader said, “Jaitley ji do what you want but TMC doesn’t need lessons on nationalistic ideas.”

Questioning BJP’s funding, Derek O’Brien asked, “Where did BJP raise their money for LS polls, where is the party getting their big money?”

“Why don’t they (BJP) provide transparent accounts?” he said adding, “If nation knows how much black money is spent by BJP, they will become a blacklisted party.”

Trinamool Congress leadership has said it will raise the issue of black money on the floor of Parliament and seek support of like-minded parties on this issue.

Earlier, Arun Jaitley expressed disappointment over Mamata’s reaction to Saradha scam and Burdwan blasts. “Some individuals connected with the TMC have been involved in making easy money from the Ponzi schemes. The schemes have looted small investors. As a new political Party, it was incumbent on any responsible leader to purge the Party of such leaders. It is regrettable that Mamta Didi instead of doing that has chosen identify herself with the cause of these leaders,” Jaitley said in a Facebook post.

Referring to the Burdwan blasts probe, Jaitley wrote, “The National Intelligence Agency (NIA) has arrested several people who have engineered the blast. They are enemies of the State. The West Bengal Police or the other intelligence agencies have no substantive material to establish that the blast was stagemanaged? If there is no such material, why has Didi chosen to allege that the blast was stagemanaged? Such allegations clearly help the actual culprits. This is neither responsible nor nationalistic.”

Burdwan blast – act of criminal gang: Mushawarat fact finding report

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A rally organised by Muslims in Burdwan on October 20 against maligning of religious institutions in the wake of the blast in the town.

A rally organised by Muslims in Burdwan on October 20 against maligning of religious institutions in the wake of the blast in the town.

Kolkata: The Burdwan blast was merely a case of criminals fabricating simple crude bombs and selling them to politicians and criminals but the BJP-led central government has employed it for its own political agenda to polarise voters on communal lines ahead of the West Bengal assembly elections in 2016, a fact finding report by All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat has said.

The occasion has also been used to revive the BJP’s old propaganda about madrasas, fact finding team speakers told a press conference here yesterday, as published by the Milli Gazette website.

Two persons that police claim to be terrorists were killed, while a third was injured in what was termed as ‘accidental’ explosion on October 2 in a rented house at Khagragarh on the outskirts of Burdwan.

While announcing the preliminary report of the All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat West Bengal fact-finding delegation – it visited Burdwan on 24 October – the report said the criminals were outsiders who rented an accommodation in a locality of Burdwan and were exposed only as a result of the blast.

The press conference was addresses among others by the AIMMM president Dr. Zafarul-Islam Khan, who said, “We have no faith in the NIA investigations because it is a puppet of the Modi regime, which thrives on communal polarisation. The Mamata government has failed to withstand central meddling due to its current problems due to Saradha Group financial scandal.”

Following is the text of the fact-finding report:

Burdwan is a district of West Bengal state situated at a distance of around 150 kms from Kolkata. A bomb blast took place here in a mohalla called Khagragarh at 11 am on 2 October, 2014. A Police team which rushed to the place, found three persons seriously injured. Two women with their children escaped unhurt because they were in an adjacent room. Shakeel Ghazi, one of the three, was blown into pieces, while Sobhan Mondal, alias Swapan Mondal, and Abdul Hakeem were profusely bleeding. Mondal succumbed to his injuries while being taken to the hospital but Abdul Hakeem survived. Razia, Ghazi’s wife and Ameena Bibi, Abdul Hakeem’s wife, were taken into custody. Chemicals and explosive materials were found in the room. It seems the persons living in the house were using it to manufacture crude bombs under the guise of running a burqa factory.

After this incident, Rahul Sinha, President of BJP West Bengal, used the media to issue a series of explosive statements to disseminate fear among Muslims and accuse them of indulging in terrorism. Small incidents started taking place in various parts of the state and an attempt was made to burn a madrasa student alive. He was hospitalized and is still fighting for his life.

Under this situation, a team of leaders of Muslim organisations and others visited Khagragarh and Samulia village on 24 October, 2014, met officers of the administration, spoke to the people of the area and inspected the Samulia madrasa. The delegation also met with the secretary of a madrasa located near the Khagragarh building where the explosion took place. The delegation included representatives of the West Bengal unit of the All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat, Milli Ittehad Parishad, Jamaat–e-Islami Hind West Bengal, Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR), Students Islamic Organsation of India (SIO), Welfare Party of India, Markazi Jamiat Ahle-Hadees and All India Muslim Personal Law Board. The delegation also included Mr. Monisha Sen of Welfare Party of India and Mr. Sukhnandan Singh Alluwalia, a Sikh leader. The delegation was led by the General Secretary of AIMMM West Bengal, Mr. Abdul Aziz. A number of mediapersons also accompanied the delegation.

When this delegation entered the Khagragarh mohalla, it found that NIA Chief Mr. Sharad Kumar too was visiting it to inspect the place of the explosion. The delegation tried to meet him but police officers forcefully intervened and did not allow the delegation to meet the NIA Chief, while mediapersons accompanying the delegation were allowed to meet Mr. Kumar though he refused to talk to team.

The delegation met Mr. Muhammad Ali Biswas, Secretary and Maulana Shaikh Abdur Rahman, principal of a madrasa located near the place. A number of senior residents of the mohalla also joined in. They confirmed that an explosion did take place but the way BJP, RSS and some media sections are twisting, it is condemnable as it has nothing to do with reality. This effort to implicate all Muslims is equally condemnable as are those who were fabricating bombs. These people want to make the whole Muslims of India responsible for the criminal activity indulged in by around five individuals, which is contrary to the requirements of justice and humanity.

Women of the mohalla told the delegation that media people have turned their life into hell. They enter their houses with a request to drink water, then speak to them about strange things seeking information about the explosion while the fact is that no one here knows who were the men and women involved in the bomb-making because these people were not locals and had only rented an accommodation here. Local people thought they were traders but it came out only after the explosion that they were criminals. It is unacceptable that BJP leaders and mediapersons want to punish the mohalla people for a crime committed by strangers.

The delegation also met the SP of Burdwan district Mr Mirza for about 30 minutes trying to understand the incident and connected issues. The delegation also visited Samulia village, situated at a distance of around 30 kms from Burdwan. A madrasa here is the target of the police here. The kutcha madrasa building speaks volumes about its plight. The delegation met a numbers of the residents of the village. They all expressed their bewilderment at what is being said. They told the delegation that young girls between the age of 8-10 years studied here. They were from outside the village. Village girls, they said, studied in two village mosques.

Nothing untoward or suspicious was seen in this madrasa. This was an elementary education madrasa which should be described as a ‘maktab’ instead. Elementary books were taught here. Villagers showed the delegation two ponds which was dried by the police. A handle of an umbrella was found at the bottom of one of the ponds. Police people said this may be the butt of a gun. Police also found two air-guns while searching the madrasa. Nothing else objectionable was found here. Yet a police team is camping here. Three youths of the village, who work in Kerela, were not given tickets at the railway station counter when they said they belonged to Simulia village. Those youths had come here to spend the Eid with their parents. Village people are finding it difficult to find work. Marriage proposals of boys and girls of the village are being spurned. Villagers are terrified and have no one to help them. They sought the advice of the delegation about what to do to face the situation.

The delegation, after carefully studying the matter and speaking to many responsible people in the area, reached the following conclusions:

  1. The bomb-making activity in the Khagragarh house was going on for some months but it was not unknown to the local police and politicians because in the same building a political party had opened its temporary office during the last parliamentary elections. Political workers and policemen liberally frequented the place.
  2. The bomb-makers had opened a bomb-making unit which supplied bombs to politicians and extortionist criminals. Criminals and politicians patronised these bomb-makers. They enjoyed the backing of some influential power with far-reaching access.
  3. A section of the biased and communal media is trying to debase Muslims.
  4. There is suspicion that BJP too was in cahoots with the bomb-makers because the BJP is trying to control the districts of Birbhum, Burdwan and Nadia etc. competing with Trinamool Congress. The BJP is feeling ecstatic after the Loksabha and by-election results. It is said that the BJP is eyeing the 2016 assembly elections, therefore it is feared that such incidents will be repeated in the run-up to the elections and communal riots will take place in various parts of the state.
  5. The current West Bengal Government is weak and discredited as a result of the Saradha Scam. To influence people or to control areas by dislodging others, such dirty tricks will be played ahead of the 2016 elections.

Members of the fact finding delegation included: Maulana Shah Md Nooruddin, Khalid Ebadullah, Maulana Md Rafique, Monisha Sen, Maulana Md Yahya, Tahiruddin, Qamruddin Mallick, Sabir Ali, Mashihur Rahman, Kazi Massom, Abdul Aziz, Hilaluddin and Sukhnadan Alluwalia.

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