Did riots upset terror plans?  Sourav Mukherjee & Paul John [ Wednesday, May 10, 2006 09:43:55 pm TIMES NEWS NETWORK ]
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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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