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January 21, 2006
India: More Islamists Arrested For Scientist's Murder
On December 29 a mathematics professor at India's Institute of Technology, M.C. Puri, was shot dead and four other scientists injured, leaving a lecture auditorium of the Indian Institute of Science.
On New Year's Day central security services announced that the attack was masterminded by Lashkar e-Taiba.
Today's Hindustan Times announces that two Lashkar e-Taiba terrorists were apprehended on Friday night in connection with the attack which killed Professor Puri.
The individuals, Afsar Pasha and Irfan, revealed under interrogation that they had buried weaponry. This led to the recovery of a quantity of arms, buried in soil at Chintami in Kolar district. Irfan was a maulvi, a Quran teacher.
A police source claimed: "We have seized 17 electronic detonators, 20 gelatine sticks, 120 gel sicks, three hand grenades, packets of iron pellets and books on Jehad."
Pasha, a mechanic, revealed that he had been involved in a bomb explosion in Dhaka in 2003. He had planned to lay explosives at some of the software companies, which thrive in the region, at Bangalore and Mangalore.
So far, there are four individuals who have now been arrested in connection with the attack on the Indian Institute of Science. A police source suggests that there may soon be three more to add to that list.
Lashkar e-Taiba is primarily concerned with wresting Kashmir from Indian control. It initially denied responsibility for the bombings at Delhi on October 29, but it now seems almost certain the blasts were the group's handiwork.
Meanwhile, there have been developments in the case of the Mumbai imam, who was arrested on January 14. 44-year old Maulana Ghulam Yahya Allah Baksh was imam at the Haj House Masjid in South Mumbai. He was charged under sections of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act of 2004, for giving refuge to three Lashkar e-Taiba militants, Haji Mohammad Ramzan, Khursheed Amhad Lone and Arshad Badroo. The cleric assisted these to conceal weapons and materials for use in bomb manufacture.
Initially the imam was not believed to have been a fully fledged member of Lashkar e-Taiba. Express India stated on Thursday that the imam is now thought to have been in frequent contact with Salah-ud-din, the Bandipore-based commander of Lashkar e-Taiba in northern India, for the past year.
Police have found that he channelled substantial sums of money into the terror group's funds. He channelled 1,200,000 rupees in June, Rs 2,500,000 in July and Rs 5,000,000 in December, in 2005.
The imam had a 10 year passport made up in Kolkata in 1995, and travelled to Saudi Arabia. In September last year, he applied for a renewal of the passport, but his request was denied. Police are now requesting documents on this from the Security Branch.
Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at January 21, 2006 6:06 PM
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