The Hindu : New Delhi News : Terrorist organisations strike roots in Bihar

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jul 22, 2006

New Delhi

New Delhi

Terrorist organisations strike roots in Bihar

Terrorist outfits have built a support base in Bihar, where young men are being indoctrinated and trained to take to militancy, says Devesh K. Pandey...

The reported arrest of two young men from Bihar in connection with the recent serial blasts in Mumbai substantiates the suspicion that terrorist organisations have managed to build up a support base in the State that is also being used by militants as a transit point for infiltration through the neighbouring countries of Nepal and Bangladesh.

If revelations made by certain terrorists and anti-social elements arrested by the Delhi police last year are anything to go by, outfits like Harkat-ul-Jehad-e-Islami (HuJI), Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Hizbul Mujahideen have been on the lookout for young recruits in Bihar to initiate them into terrorism. They are initially used as couriers of arms, ammunition and hawala money and also as providers of logistical support to core strike teams.

Investigations into an LeT module smashed by the Special Cell of the Delhi police in March last year, which had been assigned to target the Indian Military Academy in Dehra Dun and some prominent IT firms in the cyber-city of Bangalore, disclosed that systematic indoctrination of young men was going on in a clandestine manner and financial support was being provided to those who showed an inclination to work for the outfit. An alleged LeT conduit, Mohammad Iftekhar Ahsan Mallick, who was arrested in Dehra Dun, disclosed that his handler Shams was arranging funds for his biotechnology studies.

Iftekhar, a resident of Arha in Bihar, allegedly revealed that Shams, who along with two alleged Pakistani militants was killed in an encounter with the Special Cell of the Delhi police, was an active member of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and used to attend its secret meetings in Bihar. His disclosures indicated that the banned organisation, which is alleged to have links with LeT and Hizbul Mujahideen, had penetrated deep into the State.

The police have learnt that constant efforts are being made to initiate young men in Champaran, Darbhanga, Madhubani, Muzaffarpur, Saharsa and Purnea districts into terrorism. In fact, militants have been using Purnea, which shares borders with two districts -- Murshidabad and Malda -- of West Bengal, as a major transit point between India and Bangladesh. Besides, they have been infiltrating into the country through the porous Indo-Nepal border along Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. The police suspect that new recruits from Bihar are also being sent to terrorist camps operating in neighbouring countries for training.

The bomb that exploded aboard Shramjeevi Express last year had actually been planted in Patna. It had been supplied by two Bangladeshis allegedly belonging to the banned outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), who were arrested this February by the Special Cell of the Delhi police. The two were also associated with HuJI.

Another disturbing trend is that huge amounts of fake Indian currency are being pushed into the market via Bihar from Nepal. The Delhi police last year unearthed a racket that was also being used to fund extremist elements and the Hizbul Mujahideen militants operating in the Valley.

In view of these disturbing developments, the intelligence-gathering apparatus in the border townships needs to be strengthened. Random checking of people in border areas and profiling with the help of locals is a must. Also, there is need for a special task force exclusively to track down local operatives and their harbourers.

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

New Delhi

News Update

Stories in this Section