Did riots upset terror plans?- The Times of India
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AHMEDABAD/SURAT: Vadodara was to be the rendezvous for the two Lashkare-Taiba (LeT) operatives who were arrested by the Delhi police on Monday.

But the city suddenly erupted with communal fervour, throwing the operatives' plans out of gear. The LeT module busted in Delhi had its roots in Gujarat.

In fact, the two LeT operatives - Feroz Ghaswala alias Abdullah and Mohammad Ali Chhipa alias Ali - arrested by the Delhi police on May 8 at Nizamuddin railway station, were in Gujarat till the Vadodara riots.

The duo are on remand with Delhi police till May 20. TOI sources revealed that Ali stayed at Kachia Sheri in Jamalpur while Abdullah, who belongs to Mumbai, had settled in Bharuch since two years.

"The duo used to smuggle arms, explosives through the porous Indo-Pak border in Kutch and were also paid money through illegal hawala channels in Gujarat by LeT's chief of India operations, Azam Cheema, who is in Pakistan,"said sources.

The two were carrying four kg RDX, four detonators and Rs 50,000 in cash when arrested by Delhi police. TOI sources added: "A team of Delhi police is expected to reach Ahmedabad soon to investigate this.

"The sources added: "A massive search has been launched in Gujarat, Mumbai and Delhi for a top LeT operative (incharge of all the subversive units in western I n d i a ) .

Bharuch police is already working on several leads."The LeT 'handler' has gone underground since another key terror operator from Pakistan, Abu Hamza, was killed in a police encounter at Delhi on May 8.

Though Delhi police is divulging little on simultaneous raids on the Maharashtra and Delhi hideouts of LeT, Gujarat police have also begun probing the matter.

DIG of the Anti Terrorist Squad (Gujarat), DG Vanzara, said: "We are in contact with our counterparts in Delhi and Mumbai.

Investigations are on to track LeT's terror links in Gujarat."According to sources, Ali had met Abdullah near Surat before boarding the Golden Temple mail at Bharuch. Cops believe that the two have ferried many explosive consignments through the Kutch border to LeT contacts in western India in the recent past.

Surat police commissioner Sudhir Sinha said: "We are waiting for Delhi police to complete interrogation. This will also help us confirm whether they had chosen Surat as a rendezvous to exchange information, arms and explosives."

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How come none of the 200+ governments in the worl| Read - samynarayana
Excellent reporting! Media should give credit whe| Read - ranganayaki_srinivasan

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