Indian Mujahideen
Encyclopedia
Indian Mujahideen (Hindi
: इंडियन मुजाहिदीन ) is a terrorist group based in India
, known for carrying out several attacks against civilian targets in India
.
Believed to be a "shadow amalgam of the Students Islamic Movement of India
", the Indian Mujahideen have been declared a terrorist organization. However, no decision had been made to ban the organisation as of 28 September 2008.
Investigators believe that Indian Mujahideen is one of many groups composed of lower-tier SIMI
members. According to the Indian Intelligence Bureau
, SIMI took new titles because the top leadership of SIMI have been detained and would be available for interrogation. The change in names is also believed to signal a change in tactics as SIMI-affiliated militants attempt to garner more support from India's Muslim community rather than be seen as a group consisting of foreigners.
Two days after the 13 May 2008 Jaipur bombings
, the extremist group sent an e-mail to Indian media in which they claimed responsibility for the attacks and said they would "demolish the faiths (all religions apart from Islam) of the infidel
s of India".
The biggest and boldest attack to date by the group was the 2008 Ahmedabad serial blasts
, where it gained national notoriety with a casualty count towards 50.
In September 2011, the United States
officially placed the Indian Mujahideen on its list of terrorist organisations
, with the State Department acknowledging that the group had engaged in several terrorist attacks in India and had regional aspirations with the ultimate aim of creating an "Islamic caliphate
" across South Asia.
were claimed by alleged offspring of the IM, Islamic Security Force-Indian Mujahideen, though police were still investigating this link. It is assumed and confirmed that most people involved in this organization are living inside India.
:
The complete text of the 14 page carefully drafted Indian Mujahideen email, sent 4 minutes before Ahmedabad blasts can be seen at,. The message refers to Islamic conquerors of India -Ibn-e-Qasim
, Ghauri
, Ghaznawi
.
It warns about havoc about to happen in five minutes:
The email was in the form of a pdf document that included several Arabic quotes from the Quran with translation.
The past emails by Indian Mujahideen include the following :
They did not send any e-mail messages claiming responsibility for the serial blasts in Bangalore on 25 July 2008.
The arrest of ten suspects included the leader, Mufti Abu Bashir Ishlahi alias Abdul Wasir, who was arrested the help of Uttar Pradesh police at his father's home at Sarai Mir
in Azamgarh
UP on 14 August 2008.
Bashir studied in the local Madarsatul Islah and later in Deoband in Saharanpur. According to the reports Bashir claimed that the bombings cost Rs 75,000 a SIMI activist sold his house in Kutch to get the amount.
Bashir, who had stayed in Ahmedabad along with Abdul Subhan Qureshi
alias Tauqeer, a co-conspirator, had bought five SIM cards using local names and addresses. He had used these cellphone numbers to remain in touch with the other members of the module at the planning stage of the conspiracy. Bashir had given the SIM cards to the bomb planters on 26 July, who had used them carefully. Each member had contacted the others through STD-PCO booths after successfully planting the bombs. These numbers were used only for receiving calls. Many of the calls were from Juhapura, where Zahid Shaikh, one of the key members of the group, lived at Sandhi Avenue near the Sarkhej highway. These numbers had become inactive immediately after the blasts.
Key members of the Indian Mujahideen in Mumbai police custody want to turn approver. A report by NDTV.com.
in Delhi
. There is speculation that the prime suspect in the Ahmedabad blasts, Mufti Abu Bashir, a madrasa teacher from Azamgarh, may have pointed out the apartment.
The raid resulted in the death of terrorists Bashir alias Mohammed Atif Amin (son of Mohammed Amin, cloth merchant in Bhiwandi, Mumbai), Mohammad Sajid and a decorated police officer Mohan Chand Sharma
in the gunfight. Mohammad Saif (the son of Samajwadi Party leader Shadab Ahmed) was arrested while two hostiles managed to flee by possibly jumping the rooftops. All of the suspects were from Azamgarh district’s Sarai Mir
town. They claimed to be students, but that was denied by Jamia Millia
The five were responsible for manufacturing bombs used in Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Delhi blasts.
Atif claimed to have been studying for a diploma in Human Resources Development from Jamia Milia Islamia University. However Jamia Milia denied having him as a student. Some residents of Sarai Mir thought he was pursuing his bachelors in technology from Jamia Hamdard.
Atif was said to have been the leader of a group of 14 young men belong to Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh, all claiming to have been studying in Delhi: Atif (24), Sajid alias Pankaj (19), (both now dead), Shehzad alias Pappu (22), Junaid (27), Shahdab Bhai alias Mallick (27), Sajid (24), Mohammad Khalid (25), Arif (22), Shakil (26), Zia Khan (24) and Salman (25), Zeeshan (24) and Mohammad Saif (23).
Zeeshan Jawed was arrested from the offices of a private TV station, he worked for a private company, Monarch International on Vikas Marg, and is also said to be studying management. Both him and Saif claim to have been recruited by Atif.
It is reported that Mohammad Saif has said that the plans to carry out several blasts across the country were mooted about three years ago when the Indian Mujahideen (IM) was formed. Although the blasts spanned over a period of 10 months (the first blasts took place in August 2007 in Hyderabad), the planning was made far back in 2005. After that series of explosions occurred Uttar Pradesh, Jaipur, Ahmedabad and Delhi.
There is considerable resentment in Sarai Mir
over the death of the local boys. Villagers have blamed the media for giving a bad name to Azamgarh by calling it a "nursery of terror". Dreaded mafia don Abu Salem
and Dawood Ibrahim
also hail from here. Azamgarh used to export its famous country-made pistols, known as kattas, whose factories dot the region. The district was also known for young sharpshooters who joined Mumbai gangs. Individuals from the area have been accused of the murders of Bollywood producer Gulshan Kumar
in Mumbai and Left leader Shankar Guha Niyogi
in Chhattisgarh
.
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
: इंडियन मुजाहिदीन ) is a terrorist group based in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, known for carrying out several attacks against civilian targets in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
.
Believed to be a "shadow amalgam of the Students Islamic Movement of India
Students Islamic Movement of India
The Students Islamic Movement of India is an Islamic student organization that was formed in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, in April 1977. The stated mission of SIMI is the ‘liberation of India’ from Western materialistic cultural influence and to convert its Muslim society to live according to Muslim...
", the Indian Mujahideen have been declared a terrorist organization. However, no decision had been made to ban the organisation as of 28 September 2008.
Investigators believe that Indian Mujahideen is one of many groups composed of lower-tier SIMI
Students Islamic Movement of India
The Students Islamic Movement of India is an Islamic student organization that was formed in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, in April 1977. The stated mission of SIMI is the ‘liberation of India’ from Western materialistic cultural influence and to convert its Muslim society to live according to Muslim...
members. According to the Indian Intelligence Bureau
Intelligence Bureau (India)
The Intelligence Bureau also known as IB is India's internal intelligence agency and reputedly the world's oldest intelligence agency. It was recast as the Central Intelligence Bureau in 1947 under the Ministry of Home Affairs...
, SIMI took new titles because the top leadership of SIMI have been detained and would be available for interrogation. The change in names is also believed to signal a change in tactics as SIMI-affiliated militants attempt to garner more support from India's Muslim community rather than be seen as a group consisting of foreigners.
Two days after the 13 May 2008 Jaipur bombings
13 May 2008 Jaipur bombings
The 13 May 2008 Jaipur bombings were a series of nine synchronized bomb blasts that took place within a span of fifteen minutes at locations in Jaipur, the capital city of the Indian state of Rajasthan, and a tourist destination. A tenth bomb was found and defused. Official reports confirm 63 dead...
, the extremist group sent an e-mail to Indian media in which they claimed responsibility for the attacks and said they would "demolish the faiths (all religions apart from Islam) of the infidel
KUFR
KUFR is a radio station broadcasting a Christian radio format. Licensed to Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, the station serves the Salt Lake City area. The station is currently owned by Family Stations, Inc....
s of India".
The biggest and boldest attack to date by the group was the 2008 Ahmedabad serial blasts
2008 Ahmedabad serial blasts
The 2008 Ahmedabad bombings were a series of 21 bomb blasts that hit Ahmedabad, India, on 26 July 2008, within a span of 70 minutes. 56 people were killed and over 200 people were injured. Ahmedabad is the cultural and commercial heart of Gujarat state, and a large part of...
, where it gained national notoriety with a casualty count towards 50.
In September 2011, the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
officially placed the Indian Mujahideen on its list of terrorist organisations
U.S. State Department list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations
"Foreign Terrorist Organization" is a designation of non-United States-based organizations declared terrorist by the United States Secretary of State in accordance with section 219 of the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act...
, with the State Department acknowledging that the group had engaged in several terrorist attacks in India and had regional aspirations with the ultimate aim of creating an "Islamic caliphate
Caliphate
The term caliphate, "dominion of a caliph " , refers to the first system of government established in Islam and represented the political unity of the Muslim Ummah...
" across South Asia.
Factionalism
Even though the IM came to light in 2008, in the same year it was already seen to have a faction. The 30 October 2008 Assam bombings2008 Assam bombings
The 2008 Assam bombings occurred on 30 October 2008, before noon in markets in Guwahati city and the surrounding area of western Assam. Reports indicated as many as eighteen bombs went off, causing at least 77 deaths and 470 injuries.-Bomb attacks:...
were claimed by alleged offspring of the IM, Islamic Security Force-Indian Mujahideen, though police were still investigating this link. It is assumed and confirmed that most people involved in this organization are living inside India.
Suspected leaders
It is suspected that these are the major leaders of the Indian Mujahideen group.- Abdus Subhan Qureshi Alias Tauqeer, 36, sought: A software engineer from Mumbai. An expert in bomb-making and is an expert hacker.
- Safdar NagoriSafdar NagoriSafdar Nagori is the current leader of the outlawed Islamist terrorist group, the Students Islamic Movement of India.Nagori, now in his late 30s, was born in a prominent and respected Pathan Sunni Muslim family in Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh which had a history of service in the Police Force and...
, 38, under arrest: Architect the transformation from SIMI to Indian Mujahideen.
- Mufti Abu Bashir, 28, under arrest: A preacher from Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh.
- Qayamuddin Kapadia, 28, under arrest : A trader of Vadodara, he started the first-ever mosque of the Ahle Hadis Tanzeem in Vadodara a few years ago.
- Sajid Mansuri, 35, under arrest: A graduate in psychology and formerly a marketing executive.
- Usman Agarbattiwala, sought, 25: A PG diploma holder from Vadodara in human rights
- Alamzeb Afridi, 24, sought: A jobless youth from Ahmedabad. He purchased bicycles and then planted them in Ahmedabad after tying bombs.
- Abdul Razik Mansuri, 27, sought: An embroidery unit owner.
- Mujib Shaikh, 25, sought: A stone polishing artisan.
- Zahid Shaikh, 27, sought: A mobile phone repair shop owner from Ahmedabad.
- Amil Parwaz, sought: A native of Ujjain. Believed to be involved in the court bomb blasts in Uttar Pradesh in November 2007.
Delhi groups
The local group at Delhi is thought to include the following, most of them from AzamgarhAzamgarh
Azamgarh is a town in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is headquarters of Azamgarh district and Azamgarh Division.-History:Azamgarh, one of the easternmost districts of the State, once formed a part of the ancient Kosala kingdom, except the north-eastern part of it which was included in the...
:
- Mohammad Atif (24) aka Bashir: alleged planner and recruiter, killed in Batla House, Jamia Nagar encounterBatla House encounter caseBatla House encounter officially known as Operation Batla House, took place on 19 September 2008, against suspected Indian Mujahideen terrorists in Batla House locality in Jamia Nagar, Delhi, in which two suspected terrorist, Atif Amin and Mohamed Sajid, two other suspects Mohd Saif and Zeeshan...
on 19 September. Alleged to have planted a bomb at M-block market in Greater Kailash-I, and Varanasi bombs.
- Mohammad Saif arrested from Batla House in Jamia Nagar after the 19 September encounter. Alleged to have planted a bomb at Regal Cinema in Connaught Place.
- Zeeshan: arrested after the Jamia Nagar encounter. Alleged to have planted a bomb at Barakhamba Road in Connaught Place.
- Mohammed Sajid (16) aka Pankaj, killed during the Batla House encounterBatla House encounter caseBatla House encounter officially known as Operation Batla House, took place on 19 September 2008, against suspected Indian Mujahideen terrorists in Batla House locality in Jamia Nagar, Delhi, in which two suspected terrorist, Atif Amin and Mohamed Sajid, two other suspects Mohd Saif and Zeeshan...
. Alleged to have planted a bomb at Barakhamba Road in Connaught Place.
- Junaid: Escaped during the Batla House encounterBatla House encounter caseBatla House encounter officially known as Operation Batla House, took place on 19 September 2008, against suspected Indian Mujahideen terrorists in Batla House locality in Jamia Nagar, Delhi, in which two suspected terrorist, Atif Amin and Mohamed Sajid, two other suspects Mohd Saif and Zeeshan...
. Alleged to have planted a bomb at M-block market in Greater Kailash-I, and Varanasi bombs.
- Mohammad Shakeel (24): arrested him on 21 September from Jamia Nagar. Alleged to have planted a bomb at Nehru Place in south Delhi
- Zia-ur-Rehman (22): arrested on 21 September from Jamia Nagar. Alleged to have planted a bomb at Connaught Place and on a cycle in Ahmedabad.
- Saqib Nisar (23): arrested him on 21 September from Jamia Nagar.
- Shahzad alias Pappu:Arrested from Azamgarh by UP STF, He was escaped during the Jamia Nagar encounter. Alleged to have planted a bomb at in Central Park, Connaught Place.
- Alihas Malik: sought. Alleged to have planted a bomb at Central Park, Connaught Place.
- Mohammad Khalif: sought.
- Arif: sought.
- Salman: Arrested by Special Cell.
- purav mehta
Attacks claimed by Indian Mujahideen
The emails sent by Indian Mujahideen claimed that they were responsible for the following terror incidents. One warning email was received 5 minutes before the first blast in Ahmedabad. Another was received soon after the first blast of the Delhi bombings. The timing makes it impossible for any other groups to have sent the two emails.- 23 November 2007 Uttar Pradesh serial blasts23 November 2007 Uttar Pradesh serial blastsSix consecutive serial blasts rocked Lucknow, Varanasi and Faizabad courts in Uttar Pradesh on 23 November 2007 afternoon in a span of 25 minutes, in which reportedly many people were killed and several others injured....
- 13 May 2008 Jaipur bombings13 May 2008 Jaipur bombingsThe 13 May 2008 Jaipur bombings were a series of nine synchronized bomb blasts that took place within a span of fifteen minutes at locations in Jaipur, the capital city of the Indian state of Rajasthan, and a tourist destination. A tenth bomb was found and defused. Official reports confirm 63 dead...
- 25 July 2008 Bangalore serial blasts
- 26 July 2008 Ahmedabad serial blasts
- 13 September 2008 Delhi serial blasts
- 2010 Pune bombing2010 Pune bombingThe 2010 Pune bombing occurred on 13 February 2010 at approximately 7:15 pm ISTwhen a bomb exploded at the German Bakery in the city of Pune, Maharashtra, India. The blast killed seventeen people, and injured at least 60 more...
- 2010 Jama Masjid attack2010 Jama Masjid attackThe 2010 Jama Masjid attack occurred on September 19, 2010 when two gunmen on a motorcycle fired at a tourist bus near Gate 3 of the Jama Masjid in Old Delhi, India and injured two Taiwanese tourists. The incident provoked fears about security for the upcoming Commonwealth Games in Delhi...
- 2010 Varanasi bombing2010 Varanasi bombingThe 2010 Varanasi bombing was a blast that occurred on 7 December 2010, in one of the holiest Hindu cities, Varanasi. The explosion occurred at Sheetla Ghat, adjacent to the main Dashashwamedh Ghat, where the sunset aarti, the evening prayer ritual to the holy river, Ganges had commenced, on these...
- 2011 Mumbai serial blasts
Threats and claims
The Indian Mujahideen have sent several emails claiming responsibility for several bombings.The complete text of the 14 page carefully drafted Indian Mujahideen email, sent 4 minutes before Ahmedabad blasts can be seen at,. The message refers to Islamic conquerors of India -Ibn-e-Qasim
Muhammad bin Qasim
Muhammad bin Qasim Al-Thaqafi was a Umayyad general who, at the age of 17, began the conquest of the Sindh and Punjab regions along the Indus River for the Umayyad Caliphate. He was born in the city of Taif...
, Ghauri
Muhammad of Ghor
Sultan Shahāb-ud-Din Muhammad Ghori , originally called Mu'izzuddīn Muḥammad Bin Sām , was a ruler of the Ghurid dynasty who reigned over a territory spanning present-day Afghanistan, Pakistan and northern India.Shahabuddin Ghori reconquered the city of Ghazna Sultan Shahāb-ud-Din Muhammad Ghori...
, Ghaznawi
Mahmud of Ghazni
Mahmud of Ghazni , actually ', was the most prominent ruler of the Ghaznavid dynasty who ruled from 997 until his death in 1030 in the eastern Iranian lands. Mahmud turned the former provincial city of Ghazni into the wealthy capital of an extensive empire which covered most of today's Iran,...
.
It warns about havoc about to happen in five minutes:
- "... Here we are back - the Mujahideen of India - the terrorists on the disbelievers - the radicals of Islam - after our triumphant and successful assault at Jaipur, once again calling you all, who disbelieve in AllahAllahAllah is a word for God used in the context of Islam. In Arabic, the word means simply "God". It is used primarily by Muslims and Bahá'ís, and often, albeit not exclusively, used by Arabic-speaking Eastern Catholic Christians, Maltese Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox Christians, Mizrahi Jews and...
and His Messenger MuhammadMuhammadMuhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
to accept Islam and bear witness that there is none to be worshipped except Allah, and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. Accept Islam and save yourselves.
- O Hindus! O disbelieving faithless Indians! Haven’t you still realized that the falsehood of your 33 crore dirty mud idols and the blasphemy of your deaf, dumb, mute idols are not at all going to save your necks, Insha-Allah, from being slaughtered?
- We call you, O Hindus, O enemies of Allah, to take an honest stance with yourselves lest another attack of Ibn-e-QasimMuhammad bin QasimMuhammad bin Qasim Al-Thaqafi was a Umayyad general who, at the age of 17, began the conquest of the Sindh and Punjab regions along the Indus River for the Umayyad Caliphate. He was born in the city of Taif...
sends shivers down your spines, lest another GhauriMuhammad of GhorSultan Shahāb-ud-Din Muhammad Ghori , originally called Mu'izzuddīn Muḥammad Bin Sām , was a ruler of the Ghurid dynasty who reigned over a territory spanning present-day Afghanistan, Pakistan and northern India.Shahabuddin Ghori reconquered the city of Ghazna Sultan Shahāb-ud-Din Muhammad Ghori...
shakes your foundations, and lest another GhaznawiMahmud of GhazniMahmud of Ghazni , actually ', was the most prominent ruler of the Ghaznavid dynasty who ruled from 997 until his death in 1030 in the eastern Iranian lands. Mahmud turned the former provincial city of Ghazni into the wealthy capital of an extensive empire which covered most of today's Iran,...
massacres you, proving your blood to be the cheapest of all mankind! Have you forgotten your history full of subjugation, humiliation, and insult? Or do you want us to repeat it again? Take heed before it is too late!
- So wait! ................ Await now……….! Wait only for five minutes from now! .... Wait for the Mujahideen and Fidayeen of Islam and stop them if you can - who will make you feel the terror of Jihad. Feel the havoc cast into your hearts by Allah, the Almighty, face His Dreadful Punishment, and suffer the results of fighting the Muslims and the Mujahideen. Await the anguish, agony, sorrow and pain. Await, only for 5 minutes, to feel the fear of death...".
The email was in the form of a pdf document that included several Arabic quotes from the Quran with translation.
The past emails by Indian Mujahideen include the following :
- Serial blasts in three towns of Uttar Pradesh in November 2007
- 13 May 2008, after the Jaipur blasts email, traced to a Ghaziabad cyber cafe.
- 26 July 2008, four minues before Ahmedabad blasts, email traced Kenneth Haywood's WiFi IP address in Sanpada, Navi Mumbai.
- August 2008, after the press conference held by the Gujarat Police, IP address traced to WiFi network of Khalsa college in Matunga, central Mumbai.
- 13 September 2008,during the Delhi serial blast, IP address traced to WiFi network of Kamran Power Control Pvt Ltd, at 201-202 Eric House, 16th Road, Chembur.
They did not send any e-mail messages claiming responsibility for the serial blasts in Bangalore on 25 July 2008.
Suspects and arrests
According to Gujarat police, the breakthrough in the Ahmedabad blasts case came from five ‘switched-off’ mobile phone numbers. Joint Commissioner of Police (crime) Ashish Bhatia said that the terrorists had procured five SIM cards of phones that were switched off on the day of the blasts — 26 July. The analysis of the phone calls made to those SIM cards from PCOs provided them the key leads.The arrest of ten suspects included the leader, Mufti Abu Bashir Ishlahi alias Abdul Wasir, who was arrested the help of Uttar Pradesh police at his father's home at Sarai Mir
Sarai Mir
Sarai Mir is a town and a Nagar Panchayat in Azamgarh district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is well known in the Islamic educational circles because of existence of many big and small madrasas such as Madrasatul Islah in north east & Madrasa Baitul Uloom in west while the Faizul Uloom...
in Azamgarh
Azamgarh
Azamgarh is a town in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is headquarters of Azamgarh district and Azamgarh Division.-History:Azamgarh, one of the easternmost districts of the State, once formed a part of the ancient Kosala kingdom, except the north-eastern part of it which was included in the...
UP on 14 August 2008.
Bashir studied in the local Madarsatul Islah and later in Deoband in Saharanpur. According to the reports Bashir claimed that the bombings cost Rs 75,000 a SIMI activist sold his house in Kutch to get the amount.
Bashir, who had stayed in Ahmedabad along with Abdul Subhan Qureshi
Abdul Subhan Qureshi
Abdul Subhan Qureshi is a suspected bomb-maker and one of the most wanted terrorists in India . He is suspected to be associated with the Students Islamic Movement of India , and is thought to have been responsible for participating in the Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Delhi bombings...
alias Tauqeer, a co-conspirator, had bought five SIM cards using local names and addresses. He had used these cellphone numbers to remain in touch with the other members of the module at the planning stage of the conspiracy. Bashir had given the SIM cards to the bomb planters on 26 July, who had used them carefully. Each member had contacted the others through STD-PCO booths after successfully planting the bombs. These numbers were used only for receiving calls. Many of the calls were from Juhapura, where Zahid Shaikh, one of the key members of the group, lived at Sandhi Avenue near the Sarkhej highway. These numbers had become inactive immediately after the blasts.
Key members of the Indian Mujahideen in Mumbai police custody want to turn approver. A report by NDTV.com.
Jamia Nagar encounter
On 19 September 2008, the police raided an apartment in Jamia Nagar, near Jamia Millia IslamiaJamia Millia Islamia
Jamia Millia Islamia is an Indian Central University located in Delhi. It was established at Aligarh in United Provinces, India in 1920. It became a Central University by an act of the Indian Parliament in 1988...
in Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
. There is speculation that the prime suspect in the Ahmedabad blasts, Mufti Abu Bashir, a madrasa teacher from Azamgarh, may have pointed out the apartment.
The raid resulted in the death of terrorists Bashir alias Mohammed Atif Amin (son of Mohammed Amin, cloth merchant in Bhiwandi, Mumbai), Mohammad Sajid and a decorated police officer Mohan Chand Sharma
Mohan Chand Sharma
Mohan Chand Sharma was an Indian Police Inspector who served in the Delhi Police, Special Cell and was killed during the Batla House encounter in Delhi with suspected terrorists. Sharma was a much-decorated police officer and had won seven gallantry medals including the President of India's Medal...
in the gunfight. Mohammad Saif (the son of Samajwadi Party leader Shadab Ahmed) was arrested while two hostiles managed to flee by possibly jumping the rooftops. All of the suspects were from Azamgarh district’s Sarai Mir
Sarai Mir
Sarai Mir is a town and a Nagar Panchayat in Azamgarh district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is well known in the Islamic educational circles because of existence of many big and small madrasas such as Madrasatul Islah in north east & Madrasa Baitul Uloom in west while the Faizul Uloom...
town. They claimed to be students, but that was denied by Jamia Millia
The five were responsible for manufacturing bombs used in Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Delhi blasts.
Atif claimed to have been studying for a diploma in Human Resources Development from Jamia Milia Islamia University. However Jamia Milia denied having him as a student. Some residents of Sarai Mir thought he was pursuing his bachelors in technology from Jamia Hamdard.
Atif was said to have been the leader of a group of 14 young men belong to Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh, all claiming to have been studying in Delhi: Atif (24), Sajid alias Pankaj (19), (both now dead), Shehzad alias Pappu (22), Junaid (27), Shahdab Bhai alias Mallick (27), Sajid (24), Mohammad Khalid (25), Arif (22), Shakil (26), Zia Khan (24) and Salman (25), Zeeshan (24) and Mohammad Saif (23).
Zeeshan Jawed was arrested from the offices of a private TV station, he worked for a private company, Monarch International on Vikas Marg, and is also said to be studying management. Both him and Saif claim to have been recruited by Atif.
It is reported that Mohammad Saif has said that the plans to carry out several blasts across the country were mooted about three years ago when the Indian Mujahideen (IM) was formed. Although the blasts spanned over a period of 10 months (the first blasts took place in August 2007 in Hyderabad), the planning was made far back in 2005. After that series of explosions occurred Uttar Pradesh, Jaipur, Ahmedabad and Delhi.
There is considerable resentment in Sarai Mir
Sarai Mir
Sarai Mir is a town and a Nagar Panchayat in Azamgarh district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is well known in the Islamic educational circles because of existence of many big and small madrasas such as Madrasatul Islah in north east & Madrasa Baitul Uloom in west while the Faizul Uloom...
over the death of the local boys. Villagers have blamed the media for giving a bad name to Azamgarh by calling it a "nursery of terror". Dreaded mafia don Abu Salem
Abu Salem
Abu Salem is an underworld don originally from Azamgarh district in Uttar Pradesh, India. He is convicted for the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case and killing of India's music baron Gulshan Kumar in 1997. He has unsuccessfully attempted to kill Bollywood film directors Rajiv Rai and Rakesh Roshan....
and Dawood Ibrahim
Dawood Ibrahim
Dawood Ibrahim , also known as Dawood Ebrahim, and Sheikh Dawood Hassan, is the head of the organized crime syndicate [[D-Company]] in Mumbai. He is currently on the wanted list of Interpol for organised crime and counterfeiting. He was No. 4 on the Forbes' World's Top 10 most dreaded criminals...
also hail from here. Azamgarh used to export its famous country-made pistols, known as kattas, whose factories dot the region. The district was also known for young sharpshooters who joined Mumbai gangs. Individuals from the area have been accused of the murders of Bollywood producer Gulshan Kumar
Gulshan Kumar
Gulshan Kumar was the founder of the T-Series music label , the best known in India, and an Indian Bollywood movie producer. T series is now run by his son Bhushan Kumar...
in Mumbai and Left leader Shankar Guha Niyogi
Shankar Guha Niyogi
Shankar Guha Niyogi was founder of Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha, a labor union run in the town of Dalli Rajhara Mines in Chhattisgarh, who succeeded in sustaining the Mine Worker movement for 14 years from 1977 till his death in 1991.-Early Life:Dhiresh Guha Niyogi was born in 1943 in Jalpaiguri,...
in Chhattisgarh
Chhattisgarh
Chhattisgarh is a state in Central India, formed when the 16 Chhattisgarhi-speaking South-Eastern districts of Madhya Pradesh gained separate statehood on 1 November 2000....
.
See also
- Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-IslamiHarkat-ul-Jihad-al-IslamiHarkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami is an Islamic fundamentalist organization most active in South Asian countries of Pakistan, Bangladesh and India since the early 1990s. It was banned in Bangladesh in 2005. The operational commander of HuJI, Ilyas Kashmiri, was reportedly killed in a U.S. Predator drone...
- Students Islamic Movement of IndiaStudents Islamic Movement of IndiaThe Students Islamic Movement of India is an Islamic student organization that was formed in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, in April 1977. The stated mission of SIMI is the ‘liberation of India’ from Western materialistic cultural influence and to convert its Muslim society to live according to Muslim...
- Lashkar-e-ToibaLashkar-e-ToibaLashkar-e-Taiba – also transliterated as Lashkar-i-Tayyaba, Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, Lashkar-i-Taiba, Lashkar Taiba or LeT – is one of the largest and most active militant Islamist terrorist organizations in South Asia, operating mainly from Pakistan.It was founded by Hafiz Muhammad...
- Abdul Subhan QureshiAbdul Subhan QureshiAbdul Subhan Qureshi is a suspected bomb-maker and one of the most wanted terrorists in India . He is suspected to be associated with the Students Islamic Movement of India , and is thought to have been responsible for participating in the Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Delhi bombings...