Weekly Report on Terror: 1

Arms and ammunition recovered from militant hideout

The Hindu, Feb 22, 2010
A cache of arms and ammunition was recovered from a militant hideout by the security forces in Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir, police said today. Acting on a tip off, troops of 61 Rashtriya Rifles, CRPF and Police launched a search operation at Ranjati Sherni Nallah in Mahore area and busted the hideout yesterday, they said. The recoveries from the hideout include one AK-56 rifle, four magazines, a Chinese pistol with one magazine and 34 rounds, 410 AK rounds among other things. http://beta.thehindu.com/news/national/article111174.ece

Dated 23-02-2010

Take effective action against anti-India groups: Rao to Pak
Indian Express, Feb 23, 2010
London: Ahead of the Indo-Pak talks this week, India on Monday made it clear that process of normalization of ties with Pakistan can be sustained only by ‘effective Action’ against groups there calling for jihad against India. "Calls of jihad, hostility and aggression continue to be made openly against India. This reflects the real and tangible difficulties that we face in dealing with Pakistan," Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said, delivering the key note address at the 3rd International Institute of Strategic Studies-MEA Dialogue here. Describing terrorism as the pivotal security challenge for India, Rao said terror groups implacably opposed to India continue to recruit, train and plot attacks "from safe havens across our borders."
www.indianexpress.com/news/take-effective-action-against-antiindia-groups-rao-to-pak/582888/

Feeling the heat, Kishenji offers ‘72-day ceasefire’
Indian Express, Feb 23, 2010

Kolkata/ New Delhi: Feeling the heat after the Silda camp attack, the Maoists today offered a conditional ceasefire, asking the government to halt its offensive for 72 days and involve mediators for talks. Home Minister P Chidambaram had said last week that the government would find “a way out” if the Maoists gave up violence for 72 hours. There was no official reaction from the government but sources said the Maoist move appeared to be a ploy to buy time when cornered. The sources said the Maoist groups were certain that a crackdown would follow the Silda incident and were, therefore, offering a ceasefire.
www.indianexpress.com/news/feeling-the-heat-kishenji-offers-72day-ceasefire/583148/

Next hearing in Mumbai case set for March 6
Indian Express, Feb 23, 2010
Islamabad: The hearing in the Mumbai attack case against LeT’s operations chief Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and six other suspects could not take place today in a Pakistani anti-terror court in Rawalpindi in view of local Bar Council elections and the trial will now resume on March 6. The proceedings, scheduled for Saturday, could not take place because of the Bar Council elections, sources said. The accused — Lakhvi, Zarar Shah, Abu al-Qama, Hamad Amin Sadiq, Shahid Jamil Riaz, Jamil Ahmed and Younas Anjum — were last year formally charged with planning and helping execute the assault on India’s financial hub in November 2008.Meanwhile, Lakhvi’s lawyer Khwaja Sultan told PTI in Lahore that he believed the proceedings in the anti-terrorism court could not go ahead till a bench of the Lahore High Court gave its verdict on Lakhvi’s appeal for acquittal.
www.indianexpress.com/news/next-hearing-in-mumbai-case-set-for-march-6/582250/

Pakistani militant killed in encounter
The Hindu, Feb 23, 2010
A Pakistani militant was killed in a gunbattle with security forces in Reasi district in which two special police officers were injured, police said on Saturday. Acting on a tip off, troops cordoned off an area in Arnaf in the district, 130 kms from here, late last night. Militants fired on a party of Rashtriya Rifles troops who retaliated. In the encounter, a Pakistani militant Abu Bakr was killed and an AK rifle and two grenades were recovered from him. In the encounter, two SPOs Ashraf and Murtaza were injured. http://beta.thehindu.com/news/national/article110017.ece

Army Jawan killed in J&K gunbattle
The Times of India, Feb 23, 2010
SRINAGAR: An army jawan was killed in a gunfight between militants and security forces in Sopore town of north Kashmir on Tuesday morning. The jawan was killed when militants opened indiscriminate fire on the joint search party of army and police at Chankipura, 55 km from here, at around 5 AM, a defence spokesman said.The exchange of fire between the two sides was going on when reports last came in.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Army-jawan-killed-in-JK-gunbattle/articleshow/5605714.cms

NYC terrorism suspect pleads guilty to conspiracy
The Times of India, Feb 23, 2010
NEW YORK: Terrorism suspect Najibullah Zazi has pleaded guilty in New York City to conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction. The 25-year-old former Denver airport shuttle driver also pleaded guilty Monday to counts of conspiracy to commit murder in a foreign country and providing material support for a terrorist organization. He faces a life prison sentence without parole in the plea deal. He was arrested in the fall after arousing authorities’ suspicions by driving cross-country from Denver to New York around the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/NYC-terrorism-suspect-pleads-guilty-to-conspiracy-/articleshow/5605199.cms

Date: 24/02/10
BARC scientist found murdered in Mumbai

The Indian Express, Feb 24, 2010
A scientist of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) was found murdered at his residence in south Mumbai, police said on Tuesday. “Mahadevan Padmanabhan Iyer (42), a mechanical engineer working in BARC’s Reactor Group, was found murdered at his residence ‘Anand Bhavan’ near Breach Candy Hospital late last night," Deputy Commissioner of Police Sanjay Mohite said.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/barc-scientist-found-murdered-in-mumbai/583514/

Kashmir villagers in shock after infant’s death

The Hindu, Feb 24, 2010

This remote village in North Kashmir is in complete shock after the tragic death of an 11-day-old infant who got caught in a clash with stone-pelting youths near Baramulla town on Monday. People are demanding stern action against those responsible for the incident. The family of Baby Irfan is struggling to cope with the situation. His four-year-old brother, Obaid, is injured and is in pain. “How can I explain this tragedy,” asked Ghulam Rasool Teli, Irfan’s grandfather, who was accompanying his daughter, Kulsoom, to Baramulla for treating the infant at the district hospital.http://beta.thehindu.com/news/national/article112316.ece

Captain, 2 jawans killed in Sopore gun battle
The Hindu, Feb 24, 2010
A captain, two soldiers and a militant were killed and three soldiers injured in a fierce gun battle in Sopore on Tuesday. Police sources told The Hindu that on a tip-off a column of Army’s 1 Para Regiment cordoned off the Chinkipora locality in Sopore. As they launched a house-to-house search, the militants hiding there opened fire, triggering a gun battle. The militants, the sources said, were hiding in three houses. Captain Davinder Singh Jass got trapped in a house and was killed by militants. His body coul
d not be retrieved till late in the evening. . Even as the Army offered the militants safe passage, they refused it and told them that the captain was dead. The captain was in the thick of the battle with his AK rifle, ammunition and a cellphone. Two soldiers Naik Selvakumar and Imtiaz Ahmad were killed. The troops, assisted by the Jammu and Kashmir police, later blasted two houses.
http://beta.thehindu.com/news/national/article112097.ece

15 killed in suicide bombing: Afghan police
The Hindu, Feb 24, 2010
A police official says a suicide bomber has killed 15 people in eastern Afghanistan, including a key tribal leader. Police Gen. Mohammad Ayub Salangi, says the bomber set off his explosives next to a small group of tribal elders and government workers as they were meeting on Monday with a few hundred Afghan refugees who had recently returned from Pakistan. He says 15 people were killed in the blast in Nangarhar province and at least 15 others wounded. Among the dead was Mohammad Zaman, an influential tribal leader in the area and a former mujahedeen fighter. http://beta.thehindu.com/news/international/article111518.ece

Army officer killed in gunbattle in J&K
The Times of India, Feb 24, 2010
SRINAGAR: Security forces on Tuesday killed five top terrorists and lost an officer and two jawans in an encounter at Chinkipora near north Kashmir town of Sopore. Defence spokesperson Lt Col J S Brar said captain Devinder Singh Jass, Naik Selva Kumar and Paratrooper Imtiyaz Ahmad Thokar of 1-PARA were killed in the 18-hour long encounter that started after security forces, on a tip-off, raided a terrorist hideout in the area on Monday night. Sources identified the slain terrorists as Bhasharat of Hizbul Mujahideen, Noman and Hamza of Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, Sallahuddin of Lashkar-e-Taiba and local militant Tauseef Mir.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Army-officer-killed-in-gunbattle-in-JK/articleshow/5609721.cms

Gunfight rattles Sopur

Greater Kashmir, Feb 24, 2010
Sopur, Feb 23: At least three troopers, including an army captain, were killed, while four to five militants were believed to be dead and three houses destroyed in an encounter in this north Kashmir town, police and reports said on Tuesday. “A joint party of army’s 22-Rashtriya Rifles, 1-Para, Special Operations Group of Police and paramilitary CRPF troopers cordoned off Chinkipora village this morning and launched searches,” police sources said. “Militants of Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), Haraktul Mujahideen (HuM) and Hizbul Mujahideen were holding a meeting inside a residential house in the area when forces laid a siege,” they said, adding, “Initially militants fired four to five riffle grenades on the search party and resorted to indiscriminate firing killing an army captain, Devinder Singh Jass and two troopers, Naik Selva Kumar and paratrooper Imtiyaz Ahmad Thokar of Shopian, while two soldiers were wounded.” http://www.greaterkashmir.com/today/full_story.asp?Date=24_2_2010&ItemID=71&cat=1

Date: 25/02/10
Militant, soldier killed in fresh shootout at Sopore
Daily Excelsior, Feb 25, 2010
SRINAGAR , Feb 24: There was dramatic turn of events at the site of encounter where three Army soldiers were killed yesterday as one of the militants rose from the rubble and opened indiscriminate firing on security forces, killing one soldier before being shot dead. Official Sources said a soldier, identified as Sepoy Lakhvinder Singh, was injured in the firing of the militant, who tried to escape from the spot but was shot dead by security forces. Identity of the slain militants was being ascertained but the police officials said they were affiliated to Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT). Captain Devinder Singh Jass, Naik Selva Kumar and Paratrooper Imtiyaz Ahmad Thokar were killed in the gunbattle with the militants while four jawans and a civilian sustained injuries.Meanwhile, a civilian was injured when he was hit by a rubber bullet at Chanakhan, 1.5 kms from Chinkipora, as security forces used force to chase away a group of protestors, sources said. Jehangir Ahmad Shaikh sustained an injury in the thigh when he was hit by a rubber bullet fired by police during protests. www.dailyexcelsior.com/

US cites secret evidence in Mumbai attack case
Indian Express, Feb 25, 2010
Chicago: US prosecutors preparing to try a Pakistani-born Chicago businessman on charges he aided the 2008 Mumbai attackers invoked a secrecy law on Wednesday to control evidence disclosures in the case. Defendant Tahawwur Rana looked on during a federal court hearing where Patrick Fitzgerald, the US attorney in Chicago, and other prosecutors asked the judge for a private hearing to lay out the government’s classified evidence. The judge set the hearing for March 29. The newspaper plot, which never came off, was to be in retaliation for cartoons it published in 2005 depicting the Prophet Mohammad that enraged Muslims, the papers said. The plots were backed by Pakistani-based Islamic militant groups that included Lashkar-e-Taiba, the papers said.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/us-cites-secret-evidence-in-mumbai-attack-case/584304/

Three Maoists arrested in Orissa
The Hindu, Feb 25, 2010
Three suspected Maoists were arrested from Rasol village in Keonjhar district of Orissa, police said Thursday. The arrested people have been identified as Rengal Munda, Daitari Munda and Jhula Munda. “We have arrested three Maoists. They were involved in several Maoist incidents,” said Superintendent of Police Ashish Kumar Singh.
http://beta.thehindu.com/news/national/article113101.ece

Pakistan violates ceasefire again
The Times of India, Feb 25, 2010
JAMMU: A BSF havaldar got injured on Wednesday when Pak Rangers reportedly started unprovoked firing from across the international border (IB) in Samba sector of J&K, a senior officer said. BSF sources said that small arms fire came from Pakistan side on Indian troops at a Kataau border outpost in Samba sub-sector early Wednesday morning. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Pakistan-violates-ceasefire-again/articleshow/5613869.cms

Date: 26/02/10

Gunmen kill government employee
The Hindu, Feb 26, 2010
Unidentified gunmen barged into the house of a government employee and shot him dead in Pulwama district of south Kashmir on Thursday. Nisar Ahmad Lone, a storekeeper of the Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution Department, was attacked in his house at Brah-Bandina, 35 km from here. He was shifted to the S.K. Institute of Medical Sciences, Soura, where he died, the police said. The police have launched a hunt to nab the assailants, believed to be militants.
http://beta.thehindu.com/news/national/article113717.ece

Another nuclear scientist missing
The Times of India, Feb 26, 2010
CHENNAI: Another case of a scientific officers from a nuclear power plant in the country disappearing mysteriously has come to light. Anantha Narayanan (37), a scientific officer working in the computer department of Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) in Kalpakkam, has been reported missing for the last ten days. According to police, Anantha Narayanan, who joined IGCAR in 1997, left home for work on February 15 around 8.30am as usual but didn’t return.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Another-nuclear-scientist-missing/articleshow/5617706.cms

Somali pirates seize ship with nine Indians on board: Watchdog
NAIROBI: Somali pirates h
ave hijacked a small cargo ship with a crew of nine Indians, an NGO monitoring maritime activity in the region said today.

Ecoterra International said in a statement that the 40-metre ship, the Abdul Razak, was taken earlier this week before heading into the Gulf of Aden, on its way from Kandala, India, to Dubai. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/rest-of-world/Somali-pirates-seize-ship-with-nine-Indians-on-board-Watchdog/articleshow/5616619.cms

Missing nuclear scientist dead
The Times of India, Feb 27, 2010
CHENNAI: S Anantha Narayanan (37), scientific officer with Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR), Kalpakkam, who had been missing since February 15, was run over by a train near Guduvancheri, 30km south of Chennai, on the same day, police said on Friday. A body in Chromepet Government Hospital was identified as Narayanan’s. Whether it is a case of suicide or accident is not yet clear. After the post-mortem was conducted, the body was taken to Salem by his family members.http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Missing-nuclear-scientist-dead/articleshow/5622769.cms

Blast rocks Navy sub, sailor killed
The Times of India, Feb 27, 2010
NEW DELHI: A sailor was killed and some others injured when a blast occured in one of the Navy’s Russian-origin Kilo-class submarines at Visakhapatnam in the east coast on Friday afternoon. The submarine, INS Sidhurakshak, was fortunately docked at the harbour when the explosion took place in the battery compartment of the vessel. "A board of inquiry has been ordered to find out the exact reason behind the explosion… it’s too early to come to any conclusion. The submarine did not suffer major damage," said an officer. If such an incident had taken place at sea, then the lack of deep-submergence rescue vessles (DSRVs) in the Navy would have been sorely felt. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Blast-rocks-Navy-sub-sailor-killed/articleshow/5622044.cms

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