TERRORISM - 2008 - Indian Social Institute

capital was plunged into chaos for hours after the terror attacks. As the number of the dead and
injured kept rising, police could not confirm the final tally till late in the evening. Chief Minister
Narendra Modi, after an emergency Cabinet meeting, said 29 people died and over 100 were
injured. Both he and Urban Development Minister Nitin Patel, who visited some of the affected
areas, did not rule out the possibility of the casualties going up. For, the condition of many of the
injured was critical. Unconfirmed reports said the worst attack occurred near the trauma centre of
the government civil hospital, where at least 25 people, including two doctors, were killed. Some
eyewitness accounts claimed that it was a “human bomb” attack. The body was said to have
been shattered but the incident was not confirmed by the police, who put the casualties in the
hospital attack at not fewer than six. The reports pieced together by the police indicated 17 blasts
in 10 different areas and all, except the minority-dominated Sarkhej and Juhapura, were in the
labour-dominated eastern parts of the old city. Most of the blasts occurred in crowded and
congested areas during peak evening hour traffic. About 40 minutes after the first round of blasts,
bombs went off near the trauma centre of the civil hospital and the main portico of the L.G.
General Hospital in Maninagar, even as the injured were being rushed to the hospitals. (The
Hindu 27/7/08)
‘Indian Mujahideen’ claims responsibility (12)
NEW DELHI: In a 14-page manifesto e-mailed to the media minutes before Saturday’s serial
bombings, an organisation calling itself the “Indian Mujahideen” has claimed responsibility for the
Ahmedabad attacks. Titled “The Rise of Jihad”, the manifesto says the bombings were carried out
to avenge the 2002 anti-Muslim violence in Gujarat. “In the light of the injustice and wrongs on the
Muslims of Gujarat,” it says, “we advance our jihad and call all our brethren under it to unite and
answer these irresolute kafireen [infidels] of India.” It warns of future attacks, complaining that the
police “disturbed us by arresting, imprisoning, and torturing our brothers in the name of SIMI
[Students Islamic Movement of India].” In a similar document sent minutes before May’s serial
bomb strikes in Jaipur, the IM had said such bombings were intended “to clearly give our
message to Kuffar-e-Hind [the infidels of India] that if Islam and Muslims in this country are not
safe then the light of your safety will also go off very soon.” Near-identical language had been
earlier used by the IM in a document e-mailed to television stations minutes before the bombing
of three trial-court buildings in Uttar Pradesh last year. In its e-mail, the IM said it was retaliating
against “wounds given by the idol worshipers of India.” Investigators belive the IM is a loose
coalition of elements from the Students Islamic Movement of India, the Lashkar-e-Taiba and the
Harkat ul-Jihad-e-Islami. Police were able to determine that the explosive used in the Uttar
Pradesh bombings was supplied by a Jammu and Kashmir-based Harkat-ul-Jihad-e-Islami unit.
Jaunpur-based SIMI activist Mohammad Khalid Mujahid and Azamgarh Unani doctor Mohammad
Tariq were held for their alleged role in planning two of the three court bombings, However, the
members of the third cell, who are also thought to have sent out the e-mail, remain untraced.
While military-grade plastic explosive was used in Jaipur and Uttar Pradesh, the bombs used in
Ahmedabad appear to have been constructed with ammonium nitrate, a widely-available
chemical with a range of industrial applications. Police sources said the bombs resembled the
devices used in Bangalore on Friday. (The Hindu 27/7/08)
Toll in Ahmedabad serial blasts rises to 46 (12)
AHMEDABAD: The Army staged flag marches in sensitive areas here on Sunday to restore a
sense of security and confidence among the people, as the death toll in Saturday’s terror attack
went up to 46. In Gandhinagar, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi convened an emergency
meeting of the Cabinet, the second in 12 hours, and decided to form a four-member special
coordination committee. Headed by the Principal Secretary, Home, the committee will coordinate
inputs with other States which had faced similar terror attacks. The committee would also study
the materials available with the Centre and its intelligence agencies about terrorist activities in
different parts of the country to assist the CID (Crime) investigating Saturday’s serial blasts in
Ahmedabad. The police believe that the diamond and art silk city of Surat, the second major
commercial centre in the State after Ahmedabad, may have escaped the jaws of death and
destruction as two abandoned cars — one with live explosives and another with ammunition —
were seized in different parts of the city on Sunday. Closure of cinemas and shopping malls in the