The Hindu : Front Page : Ludhiana investigators zero in on terror cell

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Thursday, Oct 18, 2007
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Ludhiana investigators zero in on terror cell

Praveen Swami

RDX bomb-fabrication technique consistent with a Babbar Khalsa International unit

Punjab police say they are optimistic of rapid progress
Over two dozen former terrorists linked to suspects being questioned

NEW DELHI: New forensic findings have sharpened suspicions that Sunday’s bombing of the Shringar Cinema in Ludhiana was carried out by the sole major Khalistan terror group that still survives — the Babbar Khalsa International.

Experts at the NSG’s National Bomb Data believe that the explosive device was fabricated from some 450 gm of cyclotrimethylene-trinitramine, or Research Department Explosive. It was most likely triggered by a simple, battery-powered timing device, like an alarm clock.

The National Security Guard’s findings are consistent with accounts provided by eyewitnesses, who reported that the bomb generated a cloud of brown-black smoke — a feature typical of RDX-based explosive devices.

RDX seizure

The Punjab police said the RDX bomb-fabrication technique was consistent with a BKI cell known to have become active earlier this year. Last month, the Punjab police seized 3.5 kg of RDX from a car owned by Jagraon resident Gurpreet Singh, son of the former Dal Khalsa terrorist Avtar Singh. However, Gurpreet Singh succeeded in escaping from the routine police checkpost which discovered the explosive, hidden inside a sack full of wheat husk.

Punjab police detectives later learned that Gurpreet Singh, who is absconding, met BKI chief Wadhawa Singh earlier this year, after travelling to Lahore through Kuala Lumpur. He is also thought to have been in contact with a prominent Khalistan activist, Wadhawa Singh’s Germany-based daughter Bhupinder Kaur, who, Indian officials claim, has helped to funnel funds to terror groups in Punjab.

Ever since the Eid-day bombing in Ludhiana, which claimed seven lives and left 32 people injured, the Punjab police have been trying to question three of Gurpreet Singh’s known associates. “We learned that the men had gone missing just before the bombing,” a senior police official told The Hindu. Over two dozen former terrorists linked to the suspects are now being questioned, and Punjab police officials say they are optimistic of rapid progress.

Reconnaissance operations

Investigators believe that the men carried out reconnaissance operations at the Shringar Cinema in the week before the bombing, during which they learned that no system was in place at the theatre to search movie-goers’ bags. “The reconnaissance team would also have discovered that large numbers of migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar were likely to attend movie shows on the Eid holiday,” a police source said.

Police sources said the failure to keep a closer watch on Gurpreet Singh’s cell was linked to local politics.

Top Shiromani Akali Dal leaders believed that the explosives recovery had been staged by officials close to the former Chief Minister, Amarinder Singh — notably the former Director-General of Police S.S. Virk — in an effort at shielding themselves from punitive action.

As a result, the Punjab police sources said, the search for Gurpreet Singh’s cell was pushed down the police’s list of priorities after the new Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party government took power.

In New Delhi, intelligence sources said Punjab’s failure to focus its police resources on pro-Khalistan groups flew in the face of credible intelligence warning of strikes.

Home Ministry’s report

Earlier this year, the Home Ministry’s Annual Report for 2006-2007 recorded the existence of intelligence “reports to indicate that Pakistan-based pro-Khalistan militants have been making efforts to carry out terrorist activities in Punjab.” Several Khalistan terrorists, it noted, “continue to be sheltered in Pakistan.”

According to the report, “pro-Khalistani elements based elsewhere are also reported to be in touch with the pro-Khalistan militants in Pakistan for subversive and violent activities in Punjab.”

Earlier, the 2005-2006 Annual Report said, “Inputs continue to be received about the plans of the ISI and Pakistan-based Sikh militant leaders to create violence and revive militancy in Punjab.” It also recorded that during the period five terrorists had been arrested and 6.45 kg of RDX was recovered from them.

While Home Ministry officials concede that intelligence warnings could not in themselves have guaranteed that no terror strike took place, they argue that Punjab ought to have ensured that counter-terrorism operations received a higher priority.

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