The Hindu : National : Police had information about possible attack

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jun 02, 2006

National

National

Police had information about possible attack

Special Correspondent

There was credible information for almost a year suggesting such an attack, says police officer

MUMBAI: The Maharashtra police had credible information for almost a year that there would be an attack on the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) headquarters, Nagpur police commissioner S.P.S. Yadav told The Hindu . For the last month, a special squad had been assigned to watch the building and for the last two or three days, there had been further information about a possible attack, he said.

Car intercepted

Between 4 a.m. and 4.15 a.m. on Thursday, a white Ambassador car with a red police light was intercepted as it circled the RSS headquarters in the crowded Mahal area of Nagpur city. When challenged, the three men inside it, dressed in Maharashtra police uniforms, reportedly opened fire. When police returned fire, all three in the car were killed while two policemen escaped injury as they were wearing bullet-proof vests.

Mr. Yadav said that inside the car, the police found 12 hand grenades (excluding one that had been used), three AK modified rifles and around 5.6 kg of an explosive yet to be identified. Each of the men in the car had approximately 120 rounds of ammunition on them.

`Not local boys'

Asked about the identity of the men, Mr. Yadav said that nothing could be confirmed at the moment. "We believe they were Islamic militants who had planned to attack the RSS building. They were not local boys and might have come from Patna," he said. But other details about their affiliations were not known, he said.

False plates

The number plate on the car, MH20B8979 was apparently false, as the police had found another number plate inside. To trace the origins of the car, the police had sent out the chassis number of the engine.

Asked how many people were inside the RSS building at the time, Mr. Yadav said there were no more than a handful as most RSS functionaries were attending a function in a different part of the city. None of the important RSS leaders was present in the building, located in the old part of Nagpur city in a dense and crowded area, he said.

Maharashtra's Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) chief K.P. Raghuvanshi also said that for the last seven months they had information that terrorist attacks could take place at several important places, including the RSS headquarters. He said security had been tightened at these places and thus the attempted attack was "not unexpected." Last month, the ATS had intercepted large quantities of ammunition and arms en route to Aurangabad and from Malegaon. This included a consignment of 30 kg of the explosive RDX.

Reward for the police

Maharashtra's Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister, R.R. Patil announced a reward of Rs. 10 lakh for the Nagpur police who foiled the attempted attack. He told reporters that he believed such attacks were aimed at creating problems between Hindus and Muslims "but we will not let these people succeed."

Government criticised

The state unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party criticised the State Government even as it commended the Nagpur police. In a press statement, state BJP chief Nitin Gadkari blamed the State Government for the increase in terrorist activities.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail