High alert in Madhya Pradesh

NEW DELHI: BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh, which was also home to the Simi faction that preached violence, could be very high on the target of terrorists, according to dependable sources in the intelligence establishment.

Taking the emails sent before the recent blasts as credible, they are also warning that terrorists could resort to  kidnapping or hijacking to secure the release of members of Simi and other groups who are in jail on terrorism charges.

Sources said there has been a shift in the strategy of terrorists after the police in Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh arrested early this year several key leaders of the Simi faction that supports violent jehad. When they were arrested in Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh, the group was planning sensational serial blasts in Goa to target foreigners, especially Israelis. Simi kingpins like Riyazuddin Naser and others were in the process of buying vehicles and collecting explosives for the Goa strike, according to the sources.
After these crackdowns, their colleagues, who are at large, seem to have shifted their targets to locations with direct links to the arrested men. In Hubli, Karnataka, a bomb went off in the same court where the arrested Simi cadres were to be presented. Ahmedabad and Bangalore, the targets of the latest blasts, bothhave a direct bearing on the arrests — many Simi cadres in Bangalore and Gujarat jails are key local jehad leaders. Moulana Naseerudin, who is in Sabarmati Jail, for instance, is accused of former Gujarat home minister Haren Pandya’s killing.

“If our reading is right, we could expect more attacks in the coming days,” says a senior intelligence source. He and another official said if that pattern were to follow, Madhya Pradesh, where Simi has a strong base and several of the outfit’s leaders are in custody, could be the next target.

Sources said that if the strategy of these terror groups to pressurise the government into releasing  their jailed colleagues fails, they could even take to kidnappings or hijackings.  

A senior official draws a parallel between the present attacks and the efforts by terrorists to secure the release of Mauala Masood Azar, who was released following the 1999 hijack of an Indian Airlines plane. Terrorists kidnapped foreigners in Delhi and even tried a jail-break to ensure Azar’s release. Azar went on to establish Jaish-e-Mohammed, a leading terrorist group in Kashmir.

From the level of attacks, officials conclude that the terrorists do not have access to high quality explosives such as RDX. “One of our aims must be to ensure that they do not get access to RDX-like explosives. If they do it would be a tragedy, several times bigger,” a senior official said.

Sources in Karnataka and central intelligence agencies admit that they do not have any clear idea of the number of second rung activists among Simi and other terror groups that could be involved in the latest attacks. They had uncovered about 20 to 30 key Simi activists.

j_josy@dnaindia.net