TERRORISM - 2008 - Indian Social Institute

staffers. The injured have been admitted to hospital. According to eyewitnesses, a loud sound
was heard and soon smoke enveloped the entire area. Incidentally, the bus stand is located in
front of the DSP's residence as also the local police station. (Times of India 28/7/08)
Bomb defused in Surat (12)
Ahmedabad: July 28: An uneasy calm prevailed in Gujarat on Monday as half a dozen hoax
bomb calls and tiffin alerts were made and a live bomb defused by the bomb disposal squad in
Varaccha area of Surat. A sketch of a suspected terrorist who allegedly planted two explosivesladen
cars in and around the outskirts of Surat has also been released by the police. The live
bomb was found in a residential society and would have caused several deaths. The police said
the contents of the bomb have been sent to the forensic laboratory. A packet of ammonium
nitrate (700-800 gms), a packet of shrapnel, two detonators, one battery and a circuit were found
wrapped in a newspaper along with the bomb, the police said. A cleric, Abdul Kadri, has been
detained by the police in Mangrol, Saurashtra. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA
chairperson Sonia Gandhi and senior Central leaders, meanwhile, visited injured patients in
Gujarat. A Simi activist, Abdul Halim, was on Monday interrogated in connection with the serial
blasts by the Ahmedabad police, which conducted raids overnight and detained two others for
questioning. He has been remanded to judicial custody. Halim is allegedly involved in recruiting
people for terrorism, the police said. The police was also talking to a person who claimed he was
an eyewitness to suspected bombers parking cycles in Raipur area here. Abdul Halim, arrested
on Sunday, has been remanded to 14 days in police custody by an Ahmedabad court. The crime
branch, to obtain remand, also showed Halim as being wanted in a 2002 case. In Mumbai, the
Anti-Terrorism Squad probing a threatening email allegedly sent from an American national’s
computer in Navi Mumbai is investigating if his computer was hacked as he used a wi-fi network.
The police said it did not find anything in the American’s laptop that could establish that he had
sent the message. "We have sent the laptop for forensic tests to Kalina and are awaiting its
report," said Mumbai police commissioner Hasan Gafoor. "In a wi-fi network a user often gets to
know the usernames of others. We are now trying to find out whether his IP was hacked by
someone to send the email," Mr Gafoor said. (Asian Age 29/7/08)
Baroda may be epicenter (12)
Ahmedabad: July 28: Is Baroda the epicentre of the recent serial blasts and terror threat in
Ahmedabad and Surat Preliminary information available with the police suggests that Baroda
could have been the vital place for logistics for the terrorists or the terrorists have deliberately
planted evidence suggesting Baroda as a focal point of their operations to perhaps off track the
police from investigations. According to the Ahmedabad police investigating the serial blasts, the
number plates found on both the cars seized in Surat with explosives and live bombs are from
Baroda. These number plates are of a stolen scooty. The cars were stolen in Mumbai and the
scooty number plates, registered in Baroda, were affixed. The two Wagon R cars were seized by
the Surat police on Sunday. While one of the car had ammunition and bomb equipment, live
bombs were found in the second Wagon R. Also, the police confirmed with this newspaper that in
Ahmedabad when they defused the live bombs, they found the bombs wrapped up in a
vernacular newspapers. The police said these newspapers are of Baroda edition. Thirdly, the
police said the Indian Mujahideen and Simi are most active in Baroda and the operational
activities of Simi have been recorded in the past by the police. (Asian Age 29/7/08)
18 bombs defused in Surat (12)
AHMEDABAD: In a day of “battle with bombs,” the Surat police on Tuesday unearthed 18 live
bombs and its bomb squad succeeded in defusing all of them, averting a major tragedy in the
second largest commercial centre of Gujarat. It was the third consecutive day live bombs and
explosives were found in Surat. As panic spread in the diamond and art silk city, all schools and
colleges were closed and children sent back home. Shutters of cinema halls and shopping malls
were also downed. These places will remain closed on Wednesday too. Whether the terrorists
were playing a hide-and-seek game with the police or all the bombs were planted simultaneously
was not clear. But the bombs were found almost one after another from day-break till evening. Of
the18 bombs, as many as 10 were found in the labour-dominated Varacha Road and Katargam