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2008 western India bombings

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29 September 2008 western India bombings
LocationMaharashtra and Gujarat, India
Date29 September 2008
21:30 (UTC+05:30)
Attack type
Bombings
WeaponsLow intensity crude bombs
Deaths7-8
Injured80[1]

In the 29 September 2008 western India bombings, three bombs exploded in two western provinces of India killing 8 and injuring 80.[1] Two bombs went off in Malegaon, Maharashtra which killed seven people while another blast in Modasa, Gujarat resulted in the death of one person.[citation needed] According to Times of India, the bombs which went off were quite similar to those which exploded in Delhi two days ago.[2] These blasts took place a day after police in Ahmedabad, Gujarat found 17 crude bombs.[3]

Background

India witnessed a surge in terror attacks since May 2008 when a series of blasts in Jaipur killed 63.[4] Since then, other major Indian cities including Bangalore,[5] Ahmedabad[6] and Delhi have been targeted.

On 29 September 2008, police in Ahmedabad, Gujarat foiled another terror attack when 17 bombs were found and defused.[7] However, a low-intensity bomb exploded at a market packed with Muslims breaking their Ramadan fast, killing one and wounding 15.[8] Another bomb in Faridabad was found and defused.[9]

The explosions in Malegaon and Modasa took place on the eve of Navratri, a major Hindu festival celebrated across India.[10]

Blast

The Malegoan blast occurred near a hotel at Bhikku Chowk in Maharashtra. The bombs were allegedly fitted onto an Hero Honda motorcycle and rigged to detonate.[11] Both blasts were said to be of low intensity.[12]

There had been confusion earlier as to what caused the blast with some suggesting that it was caused by an accidental explosion of a gas cylinder. But the police later confirmed that the blast was a terrorist attack.[13]

The Modera blasts, resulting in the death of a 15-year-old boy, as well as several others injured, was a result of a low-intensity bomb kept on a motorcycle went off near a mosque at the Muslim-dominated Sukka Bazaar. The incident took place around 21:26 when special Ramzan prayers (tarawih) were offered inside the mosque.[14]

Aftermath

CNN-IBN reported that after the blast a mob of 20,000 gathered near the blast site, following which the state of Maharashtra deployed Reserve Police Force to prevent any mob violence.[15] The police brought the situation under control after a brief clash with the mob.[11]

Amidst rising security concerns, Gujarat plans to deploy police in heavy numbers during the garba festivities.[16]

Investigation

Mumbai Police deployed Anti Terrorism Squad to assist the local investigating authorities in Malegaon.[17] Police say that unsophisticated, crude bombs, identical to those which detonated in Delhi 3 days ago, were used.[10]

Police across India, especially in Delhi, received a number of hoax calls and SMSes, hampering the investigation.[18]

On October 5 police said they had arrested a man in connection to the bombings. PTI reported that further investigations were under way, with more arrests expected.[19]

Alleged perpetrators

Malegaon blasts

During investigation by the Maharashtra government led by the Congress, allegations are made about the involvement of a Hindu group in the blasts. The three arrested were identified as Pragnya Singh Chandrapal Singh, 38, a sadhvi;[20][21] Shiv Narayan Gopal Singh Kalsanghra, 36; and Shyam Bhawarlal Sahu, 42. All three were produced before the Nashik Chief Judicial Magistrate’s court, which had remanded them to police custody till November 3.[22] This follows from an earlier claim by the Maharashtra ATS' claim that Hindu groups were behind the blasts triggering a political war of words. The ATS breakthrough was the motorcycle used in the blast, which was traced to the owner in Surat who was said to have, or have had, Hindutva links. The ATS added that this group could also be behind the blast in Modasa, Gujarat. The BJP, however, said Hindu groups couldn't possibly be involved in acts of terror, while the Congress said the matter should be investigated.[23]

Adding to this suspicion, the name of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) came up during investigations after a bike was found near the blasts site in Malegaon. However, the bike allegedly belonged to Pragya Singh, who had been an ABVP activist in 1997, but she had sold the bike before she took to a spiritual quest. The issue was consequently brought up in the upper house of the Indian parliament, the Rajya Sabha. In response, members of the BJP's student wing insisted that the party had nothing to do with the blasts in Malegaon and it was just a political conspiracy to defame the ABVP and other Hindu groups. Sunil Bansal, regional organizing secretary of the ABVP, said: "First ATS mentioned the possibility of Vidyarthi Parishad and VHP being involved in the blasts and then the matter was also raised in Rajya Sabha by a Congress MP. But ABVP is in no way involved in the blasts. ABVP has even demanded that there should be a proper inquiry and ATS should come out with an evidence and not talk without any basis. They don't have any proof against any ABVP activist."[24] After the arrest of the 3 Hindus, a Hindu group, Sri Ram Sena, (SRS) offered legal assistance to the accused. SRS had recently been in news for allegedly vandalising an M F Hussain exhibition in Delhi, as well as for attacking churches in Karnataka. The SRS said the three accused were being made "political victims" by the Congress to hide its own inadequacies. General secretary, Binay Singh, said: "The Maharashtra government is raking up the Malegaon blast issue to divert attention from the hooliganism of Raj Thackeray while in the Centre the government is looking for an issue to cover up the Batla House encounter incident."[25] Additionally, Bharatiya Janashakti president Uma Bharti also defended Sadhvi Pragya Thakur, saying: "Pragya had been a disciple of Maharaj Avdesh Anand and there was no way in which she could be part of any violent activity."[26]

On October 25, two more persons, suspected ex-army personnel, were also questioned in Pune in connection with the Malegaon blast Mumbai.[27]

Two days later, the total arrest count mounted to 7 when the ATS took in Sameer Kulkarni from Bhopal and Sangram Singh from Indore for questioning. According to the State Police, these arrests brought to light the workings of two groups, Rashtriya Jagran Manch and Abhinav Bharat, the latter of which the latest arrests are said to be office bearers.[28]

Further inroads were said to be made when the Maharashtra ATS believed it was close to solving the jigsaw of the attack. The alleged mastermind, Sameer Kulkarni, who hails from Pune, was said to be a former member of the BJP’s student wing, the ABVP. The director-general of Madhya Pradesh police had on confirmed that Kulkarni, around 35, was picked up by Maharasthra ATS for questioning from Indore. His family, however, refused to speak to the media, alleging that the police were instead harassing them. A Maharashtra police office said that the "Investigations have revealed that Kulkarni is the planner of the Malegaon blast." Having moved to Indore 4 years ago he was said to be in touch with a colonel and a major — both retired. The officer added "He had sought their help on the use of explosives and its procurement. The two retired armymen would be arrested and charged with criminal conspiracy." Accordingly he was said to have hatched the blast in conspiracy with the sadhvi two others, who were already arrested in connection with the blast.[29] The Additional Commissioner (ATS), Sukhwinder Singh, said Sameer Kulkarni and Major (retd) Ramesh Upadhyay were part of an alleged "larger conspiracy,." without elaborating what the conspiracy, or the basis for it, was.[30] A serving lieutenant colonel in the army also came under the scanner for his alleged role in the blasts. It was reported that the army had allowed police to go ahead and question him.[31] On October 31 more revelations were made as ATS sources said the interrogation of Kulkarni - one of the five arrested - revealed a Bangladeshi link to the terror strike. Kulkarni was believed to have said at least 15 to 20 Bangladeshi nationals were part of Abhinav Bharat. He has also revealed that the Bangladeshi members were also present in a number of meetings held to hatch the plot, which was planned as retaliation for the Ahmedabad blasts in July 2008. Kulkarni was believed to have started a new social organisation called Abhinav Bharat Sansthan. Police said Kulkarni had previously worked at a printing press at MP Nagar in Bhopal, while Hindu activists said Kulkarni was a smart, sharp, young speaker who had addressed Abhinav Bharat gatherings.[32]

On October 28, the Shiv Sena, in Saamna, came out in support of the accused saying the arrests were merely political in nature. Lending credence to this party chief, Uddhav Thackeray, pointed out to the political rivarly as the NCP controlled the relevant ministry. His editorial also condemned an attack by NCP party workers on a VHP office in Nashik following the arrest of the sadhvi. "Just because NCP controls the home ministry (in Maharashtra), we hope they have not got a license to do what they want. Why did they ever not attack SIMI offices? NCP member advocate Majid Memon defended the 1993 blasts' accused. Has anybody ever touched him? Those who put Sadhvi Pragya Singh behind bars and those who attacked the VHP office in Nashik belong to the same club." He added that the accused were victims in a "race to claim credit (for cracking the case) among the police force. Police never get their hands on the real masterminds of blasts....They just pick up people at random and parade them before the media and congratulate themselves. This leads to a race to grab credit (for cracking cases). If a Hindu organisation is taking on useless secularism, the Anti-Terrorist Squad must not brand it as a terrorist outfit."[33] Allegations arose that the sadhvi was framed for the blast.[34] Even the firebrand leader of the Bhartiya Janshakti Party, Uma Bharti had expressed shock that the BJP and the broader sangh parivar grouping were "disowning" the sadhvi, who is alleged to be linked with the Hindu Jagaran Manch. She said: "I am shocked and it is shameful that the BJP is disowning her and all their organisations are disowning her. When they wanted, they used her."[35] As the polticized wrangling developed, the Hindu Mahasabha decided to provide legal aid to the suspects from Pune — Upadhyay and Kulkarni — while the umbrella organization, Abhinav Bharat, of which the two are members. The national president of the Mahasabha, Himani Savarkar, also based in Pune, confirmed this. This comes following a refusal but the two to hire lawyers when produced before the Nashik court.[36] The broader organization of Hindutva groups were seen to come together when the BJP supported the Shiv Sena's move of extending legal aid to the suspects. The BJP said there was nothing wrong in using "private funds" for "helping" someone. Party spokesperson, Prakash Javadekar, said: "We have no objection to Shiv Sena's announcement of extending legal aid to Malegaon blast suspects. For that matter even RSS has promised help. It is not wrong for private funds to be utilised for helping someone. It is everyone's right." He added that the party's stand is the same from day one, no one should be discriminated on the basis of religion, caste or sex.[37]

The Maharashtra ATS also visited Vadodara, Gujarat as part of their investigations into the attack. Officials of the Special Operation Group (SOG) of the Vadodara police, also a part of the investigation, said the visiting team had specific information about possible links between the Malegaon blast and city. An affiliated official said, "We were just asked to furnish details about some locations in the city which we did. We have not been given any information about who they were searching for and what information they had gathered about the Vadodara link with the blast."[38]

On November 4, the case hotted up with the arrest of serving Lieutenant Colonel Srikant Purohit, who was sent to police custody till November 15. A court also gave permission for a narco analysis test. In response, the Army's deputy chief, Lt. Gen SPS Dhillon, said that no one will be spared if found guilty, and that action will be taken according to the chargesheet given to them by the ATS. He added that "The arrest of Purohit has dented the image of Army." His family countered the allegation in saying he is innocent, a patriot and not involved in such activities, adding "We fully support him and are proud of his service to the nation. He had no access to the RDX in the Army depot;" and that he was being targetted as he had given lectures at the Bhonsala School. "He knew Ramesh Upadyay [but] That doesn't mean he is involved in the case." He is alleged to have come into contact with Abhinav Bharat or Major Upadhyaya, another armyman, during his postings with in Nashik and Pune sometime in 2004-2005. He was found in Panchmarhi, learning Arabic; while call records between him and Upadhyaya around the time of the Malegaon blasts and beyond were said to be incriminating.[39] Indian Defence Minister AK Antony, the most important Christian politician India next only to Sonia Gandhi, expressed serious concern over the alleged involvement of a serving Army officer in the attack saying all necessary action would be taken against him by the Defence Ministry on the basis of the investigative report. He said: "This incident is a matter of serious concern for all of us. We are very determined to go to the root of the whole thing. We are awaiting the (Maharashtra police) report (in the case)....We will take all necessary action on the basis of the report. On the part of the Army, without any hesitation, they are fully assisting and cooperating with the investigating agencies. We are waiting for a report from the Maharashtra police and I can tell you, we are taking it seriously."[40]

Modesa blasts

In regards to the Modesa blast investigations, meanwhile, Union Textiles Minister, Shankersinh Vaghela, came out with an allgedly scathing attack on the Gujarat government by saying it was not willing to nab the "real" culprits behind the blast even though the Congress MP from Sabarkantha, Madhusudan Mistry, had pointed a finger at probable suspects. He made the claim that the Gujarat Police had proved itself "useless" while it was heavily politicised in acting only on the orders issued by the Chief Minister’s Office. He based this on the lack of arrests in Modesa, Gujarat, while Maharashtra police had already made arrests in the Malegaon case. With the connection to Hindu suspects in Malegaon, he said he too suspected a similar hand in these blasts. He further alleged, "This proves that terror knows no religion and that it was a matter of concern that so far it was only one sided trend of targeting one community for suspicion and questioning."[41]

In Gujarat, the Deputy Superintendent of Police, K K Mysorewala, who is heading the probe into the attack, said: "We have summoned some active ABVP members to record their statements to take our probe forward." He, however, refused to name those who have been summoned and the reason behind doing so. The Sabarkantha police have recorded statements from about 500-odd people uptil October 28, 2008.[14] Mysorewala, pointed out that off the 500 people summoned for their statements 200 were associated with Hindutva organizations like the RSS, ABVP, VHP and Bajrang Dal in Modasa. However, there has still been no lead.[42] On October 31, he exonerated the Malegoan accused from involvement in the Gujarat blasts. He said, "We have interrogated all the five who are currently in the custody of Mumbai police in connection with the Malegaon blast. None of them, however, are involved in the Modasa blast."[43]

On November 7, it was reported that clues may be emerging. The origin of a readymade Printed Circuit Board (PCB) used in the timer circuit of the bomb may yield greater clues and lead to arrests. Unlike assembled PCBs, the manufacture of a readymade PCB can be tracked with the help of its specific manufacturing design and serial number. Experts in the Physics Department of the Directorate of Forensic Sciences (DFS) in the Gujarat capital of Gandhinagar say the readymade PCB consists of two Philips Integrated Circuits (ICs), and some capacitors and resistors mounted on a circuit board in a particular order. An expert involved with the case said that as a result of such moves "We have short-listed the names of some companies that manufacture PCBs of these types. The list had also been handed over to the Sabarkantha police and they are trying to track the final recipient of the PCB under examination. Though this can be a difficult task, it is not impossible."[44]

See also

References

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  2. ^ "Blasts in Maharashtra, Gujarat; 8 killed". The Times of India. 2008-09-30. Retrieved 2008-10-03.
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  5. ^ "Nine blasts rock Bangalore | Chaos and curiousity". IBN Live. July 25, 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-03.
  6. ^ "Gujarat police release three sketches". The Hindu. Kasturi & Sons Ltd. 2008-08-06. Retrieved 2008-08-06. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
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  11. ^ a b "Malegaon blast: Situation remains tense; curfew relaxed". Hindustan Times. 2008-09-30. Retrieved 2008-10-03.
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  14. ^ a b "Modasa blast: ABVP members to be quizzed". Indian Express. 2008-10-28. Retrieved 2008-10-28.
  15. ^ "Mob violence post-blast, Patil appeals for peace". ibnlive.com. 2008-09-30. Retrieved 2008-10-03.
  16. ^ "Security concerns wheel in drive-in Garba in Gujarat". ibnlive.com. 2008-09-30. Retrieved 2008-10-03.
  17. ^ "ATS team to investigate blast at Malegaon". Hindustan Times. 2008-09-0. Retrieved 2008-10-03. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  18. ^ "Hoax terror calls, SMSes give cops sleepless nights". ibnlive.com. 2008-09-30. Retrieved 2008-10-03.
  19. ^ "Man arrested over India blast". Radioaustralia.net.au. 2008-10-05. Retrieved 2008-10-06.
  20. ^ "Arrests of 'Hindu terrorists' embarasses BJP". Hindustan Times. 2008-10-28. Retrieved 2008-10-28.
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  24. ^ "Link to Malegaon blast conspiracy to defame us: ABVP". The Times of India. 2008-10-23. Retrieved 2008-10-25.
  25. ^ "Malegaon blast accused offered legal aid". The Hindi. 2008-10-25. Retrieved 2008-10-27.
  26. ^ "Malegaon blast: Uma Bharati defends Sadhvi Pragya Thakur". Zee News. 2008-10-25. Retrieved 2008-10-27.
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  36. ^ http://www.indianexpress.com/news/hindu-mahasabha-comes-to-blast-suspects-resc.../380044/
  37. ^ http://www.ptinews.com/pti%5Cptisite.nsf/0/3B81A0F597B83018652574F4004474D9?OpenDocument
  38. ^ http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Malegaon-blast--Mumbai-ATS-team-looks-for-Vadodara-link/380032
  39. ^ http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20080071564&ch=11/6/2008%203:00:00%20PM
  40. ^ http://www.ptinews.com/pti%5Cptisite.nsf/0/11851689E09303B3652574FA002D4134?OpenDocument
  41. ^ "Modasa blast: Vaghela accuses Modi govt of lacking will, calls police useless". Express India. 2008-10-27. Retrieved 2008-10-27.
  42. ^ "Gujarat police going slow on Modasa blast probe". Indian Muslims. 2008-10-30. Retrieved 2008-10-31.
  43. ^ http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Modasa-blast--Police-give-clean-chit-to-Sadhvi--others/380031
  44. ^ http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/readymade-printed-circuit-board-may-provide-clue-in-modasa-blast/382458/
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