Internal Security Watch

[SSridhar]

IM = Indian LeT

[sum]

X-post:

This report confirms what BRF had said all along about the INC just taking off from where the British left and using all resources only for their survival instead of for the nation. It says ( quoting greats like Ajit Doval etc) that >2/3rds of IB is pruely used for political intelligence and few numbers are for actual national security duty:

New intelligence technology feeding surge in political espionage

Large part of Intelligence Bureau remains deployed on political tasks, not national security duties

Early this summer, India's intelligence services were facing the most serious internal security threats since 26/11: new urban terror cells, on which there was little information, were known to be planning strikes; Maoist insurgents had expanded their reach and lethality to unprecedented levels; Pakistan's descent into chaos had threatened renewed violence in Jammu and Kashmir.

Few people at the North Block headquarters of India's domestic intelligence service, the Intelligence Bureau, cared: dealing with these national problems, strange as it might sound, isn't their job.

Instead, highly placed intelligence sources have told The Hindu, a large part of the IB's resources were committed, and remain committed, to providing the government raw information and assessments on its increasingly bleak political prospects. In the summer, the IB carefully monitored Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's public meetings in Uttar Pradesh after the events at Bhatta Parsaul; later it sought to penetrate Anna Hazare's anti-corruption mobilisation in New Delhi.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union Home Minister P.Chidambaram, the sources alleged, both received briefings on these events, in part based on passive communications intelligence monitoring — technology capable of intercepting staggering amounts of voice, text and e-mail data, without legal authorisation. Earlier this month, The Hindu, in partnership with a media consortium brought together by WikiLeaks, revealed India's intelligence services and police forces had made large-scale acquisitions of such equipment since 26/11.

It is improbable that either the Prime Minister or the Union Home Minister knew what the basis of the information provided to them was — and neither, the sources insisted, had authorised its use. The equipment had in fact been deployed with a legitimate objective — ensuring that at large rallies political leaders were not targeted by terrorists. There are, however, no firewalls in the IB to ensure that data obtained for counter-terrorism aren't available to political analysts; nor is there a system to ensure that the interception of information is first logged, and then destroyed.

Less than a third of the IB's estimated 25,000-strong manpower, two former high-ranking officers told The Hindu, is dedicated to what might be described as national security tasks — like monitoring terrorist groups or extremist organisations. Even that ratio, one serving officer said, was “a charitable assessment.”

There are at least two joint directors — officers of a rank equivalent to inspectors-general of police and joint secretaries to the Government of India, who sit at the apex of the permanent bureaucracy's operational systems — devoted to analysis of the activities of Congress dissidents and non-Congress parties. Five other joint directors have the job of making assessments of the political landscape across India, with the help of the stations the IB has in State capitals, which in turn help the Director brief the Prime Minister and the Union Home Minister on potential political challenges emerging across the nation. There are only one or two joint directors for the operations division that deals with counter-terrorism.

Even though it is improbable that the Home Secretary would issue warrants to tap the conversations of opposition leaders, the IB was able to use technology to build a picture of who had been talking to whom and when — and, in some cases, what their conversation had been.

For politicians in power, this kind of information is invaluable; for everyone else, it ought to be a nightmare.

The East India Company's political officers, the seeds which gave birth to the modern IB, saw mass movements as the main threat: for them, state and government were one and the same thing. Little changed in the years after Independence: except in the North-East and Jammu and Kashmir, the IB invested the bulk of its energies on monitoring revolutionary communists. The IB's anti-communist unit, the “B-Wing,” was its most prestigious division; the former National Security Adviser and now-West Bengal Governor, M.K. Narayanan, spent much of his career in the unit.

In 1969, though, after Prime Minister Indira Gandhi broke with the right wing of her party, the B-Wing diminished in size. Mrs Gandhi believed that the Hindu nationalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, not the Left, was the principal threat to India — and also, weakened by the rifts in her party, began to use the IB as an independent channel of information-gathering on adversaries and the bureaucracy. “There were plenty of people in the intelligence services who built careers out of feeding her paranoia,” one contemporary recalls.

Following the end of the Emergency, her abuse of the IB led some officers to be hounded out — but there was no effort at structural reform.

In 1987, on the eve of the outbreak of the long jihad in Jammu and Kashmir, the IB station in Srinagar had fewer than 100 personnel — most of them focussed on the Congress' troublesome ally, the National Conference, not the Islamist networks that would soon send thousands of people across the Line of Control for training at Inter-Services Intelligence-run training camps.

Punjab had a far larger IB station — but much of it was, again, committed to watching the many factions of the Shiromani Akali Dal through the 1970s. India, as a result, had next to no information on the training of Khalistan terrorists and their links with the ISI until the early 1980s.

Ever since then, the numbers of IB personnel committed to national security tasks has slowly grown — a process that has been further nudged along by the organisation's current chief, Nehchal Sandhu, himself a career-long counter-terrorism operative.

‘A product of history'

“I think the problem was the product of history,” says A.S. Dulat, a highly regarded career intelligence officer who retired as chief of the Research and Analysis Wing after serving in the IB for over two decades, “the product of time when we could not take our survival as a nation for granted. It is unforgivable that it still goes on today — and it needs to stop, now. It is in the interests of neither our intelligence services nor our polity, just a handful of self-serving individuals.”

Not a few serving intelligence officers agree with that — but national security still hasn't become the IB's principal task: it only began monitoring the Maoist movement late in the day, and police officers in West Bengal, Orissa, and Chhattisgarh told The Hindu that the organisation has only just begun to put together a serious body of intelligence.

Expending staff resources on political intelligence gathering is all the more reprehensible because the IB is desperately understaffed. In 2008, the Union government announced it had sanctioned 6,000 additional staff — expanding the organisation by almost a quarter. In practice, though, the strength of the 25,000-member organisation has stayed static, in part because it hasn't found the kinds of staff it needs, but also because it can train only some 1,200 personnel a year, barely covering for retirement.

Does this mean the IB's political intelligence work should end?

Complex questions

Back in March 1658, Henry Cromwell, Lord Deputy of Ireland and Oliver Cromwell's son, offered an evocative description of what intelligence services are called on to do, in a letter to England's spymaster, John Thurloe: “picking the locks leading into the hearts of wicked men.”

In a thoughtful 2009 volume on domestic intelligence-gathering in the United States, the scholar Brian Johnson pointed out that the reason to have intelligence agencies in the first place was to gather information “not related to the investigation of a known past criminal act or specific planned criminal activity.” That is the job of police services; intelligence organisations must search for crimes no one has — as yet — committed.

The core of the problem is this: we do not all agree on who Henry Cromwell's “wicked men” might be. From 1975, following allegations that the United States' intelligence services were spying on its own citizens, an official committee led by Senator Frank Church issued 14 reports revealing that peaceful dissidents had been targeted for surveillance. Even in countries like the U.S. and the United Kingdom, where oversight mechanisms exist, credible fears of abuse still exist.

“I think we should not have a simplistic view of this issue,” argues Ajit Doval, who served as IB Director in 2004-2005 and was the first civilian to be awarded a Kirti Chakra, for a daring undercover operation that led to the successful conclusion of the second siege of the Golden Temple. “The fact is that in India, there are many political movements which may not be terrorist in character, but are none the less real threats to the nation. The Khalistan movement was not, after all, initially violent — but better intelligence on its intentions would have saved lives.”

“The distinction I would draw,” Mr. Doval says, “is this: political intelligence should be focussed on gathering information on actual and potential national security threats, and the despicable behaviour of some individual intelligence officers, who seek to curry political favour.”

There is no simple answer — but in India, where political parties have shown little interest in understanding and debating even a private member's bill seeking oversight of our intelligence services, the first steps towards one are yet to be taken.

[sum]

Sum, Can you start a thread in GDF to collect all info on Ind Muj please?

I think the IM need a thread for themselves as they are not the run of the mill terrorists. By putting all the minority originated terror news in one thread we are confusing the issue.

Sum please do the needful.

Sorry, didnt see your earlier post.

Will do the needful. Please give me some time for that, Ramana-garu

[Upendra]

NIA charges against Headley soon

NEW DELHI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA), India's premier anti-terror probe body, is all set to file charges in court against Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist David Headley and his Pakistan handlers for their alleged role in the 2008 Mumbai terror attack. According to highly placed sources, the charges are likely to be filed "this month end or early next month".

Headley's accomplice and Pakistani-Canadian Tahawwur Hussain Rana is also expected to be named in the NIA chargesheet for allegedly plotting the terror attack that left 166 people dead over the three day siege of India's financial hub.

The probe agency is also likely to name some Pakistanis in its charges, including LeT commander Sajid Mir and Major Iqbal, said to be in the Pakistan Army, the sources told IANS.

Also to be included in the chargesheet are LeT founder Hafiz Saeed and top commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi. Lakhvi is already in a Pakistani jail undergoing a trial for the terror attack. They are are alleged to have conspired with another Lashkar terrorist Mohammed Amjad Khan in a terror plot named Karachi project to strike at selected Indian targets.

Indian security agencies allege that the Karachi project was sponsored by Pakistan's spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Others likely to figure in the chargesheet are Lashkar terrorists - Muzammil Bhat, Abu Hamza, Abu Qahafa and Mohammed Usman - according to the sources.

They are alleged to have trained and instructed the 10 Pakistani terrorists who sailed into Mumbai to launch the strikes at multiple points on Nov 26, 2008. The NIA has been probing the Mumbai case since it was formed soon after the terror attack.

"Drafting of the chargesheet against Headley is in an advanced stage and we are hopeful of filing it within a month or early next month," a source privy to the latest development told IANS. The NIA has based its charges on inputs from the US' Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the CIA and the interrogation of Headley by NIA sleuths in the US earlier.

The Pakistani-American is alleged to have filmed terror targets in India and passed on the graphics and other details to the LeT.
Headley, who is undergoing a trial in the US for plotting international terror plots, has entered into a plea bargain with the American authorities, according to which he won't be extradited to any country for the charges. Rana has been convicted by a US court - not for for his involvement in the Mumbai attack but for planning a terror strike in Denmark.

Six IM operatives sent to 10-day police custody

NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Monday remanded six suspected Indian Mujahideen operatives allegedly involved in various blasts across India in police custody for 10 days. Officials of the special cell of the Delhi Police on November 30 arrested the six alleged terrorists from Delhi, Bihar and Chennai and recovered two AK-47 rifles, a 9 mm pistol, 5 kgs of explosives and 64 cartridges from the accused. Going by the recoveries made, it is believed that the group was planning to target other places in the country.
Officials of the special cell of the Delhi Police on November 30 arrested the six alleged terrorists.

Sources said that the Indian Mujahideen module believed to be behind the three biggest terror attacks in the last two years - the German Bakery blast, Chinnaswamy Stadium blast and the Jama Masjid firing took place in Delhi.

The module hardly relied on technology and maintained a high degree of secrecy with each member being informed only about his specific task. Group members were well trained in the handling of sophisticated weapons and making explosives.

All the arrested operatives hail from north Bihar. Police sources say this area could well be the new recruiting centre for the Indian Mujahideen. But for the police the top priority for now is the arrest of Ahmad Siddi Bappa or Yashin Ahmad, the man believed to be the leader of this group and the mastermind of Indian Mujahideen's operations in the country.

These arrests assume significance simply because the police believe this is the only active module of the Indian Mujahideen functioning since 2009. The interrogation of these men will give security agencies a chance to build more intelligence about the working of the group and the pattern of funding and training of terrorist operatives.

[ramana]

I think the link between DCH and IM is thru the Paki handlers. Its interesting that DCH surveys the German bakery in Pune and IM attack it later.

Can we get a timeline of when he surveyed it and the Pune attack by IM?

[abhishek_sharma]

4 Indian Mujahideen modules out there: Delhi Police

[abhishek_sharma]

Named Malegaon accused under ATS torture: witness

After German Bakery blast, IM planned attack on Pune temple

From Karachi to Chennai: How a module was busted

The Madhubani connection

Arrests fit in with initial Bangalore blast findings

[sum]

Bihar, Indian Mujahideen's new playground

The recent arrest of Indian Mujahideen operatives in Bihar has confirmed the suspicions of the Indian intelligence agencies that the dreaded terror outfit was trying to set up a base in the state.

Bihar has all that is required to turn it into one of the biggest hubs for all sorts of notorious activities. Although there have been reports in the past regarding a build-up of the Indian Mujahideen in the state, it is only now that the police are taking this threat seriously.

Bihar, according to intelligence reports, acted more as a transit point all these years, but today it has become a recruitment hub.

There are at least 11 active modules of the outfit operating in Bihar. Areas like Araria, Madhubani and Sitamarhi are considered to be the top hubs for terror recruits. Although it is hard to put a figure on the number of recruitments that have taken place in these areas, sources in police say that the number is quite substantial.

Earlier, there was a lot of emphasis on areas such as Old Delhi and Azamgarh. But today it appears that terror operations in those areas have come down a great deal. It was obvious that they would shift their area of operation.

A state like Bihar has always been a happy hunting ground for almost all kinds of illegal activity. Take the Kishanganj district for instance. It has been notorious for illegal immigration and there is very little that the government has been able to do to stall this problem.

There is a constant influx of people into these areas, which make it easier for terrorists in particular to get in and out after every operation. This is probably one of the reasons why there is such a mystery surrounding the Varanasi blasts, as it is believed that the foot soldiers could have slipped out thanks to the uncontrollable illegal immigration.

Another interesting aspect, which would need to be looked into here, is that all recruitments that have been made for the recent blasts have been from Bihar.

With nearly 20 million illegal immigrants in India -- most of whom are in Bihar and West Bengal -- the task ahead appears to be extremely tough. There are only a handful of ideological terrorists in these modules while the rest of them have been recruited for money. This would mean that they carry out the operation and then slip out, thus leaving no trail.

Riyazul Sarkar, who was picked up on for his alleged role in the July 13 blasts in Mumbai, told interrogators that he belonged to Kishanganj, which is a hub for illegal immigration. Investigations have found that the main transit point has been a place called Purnea, which shares a border with West Bengal (another state notorious for illegal immigration).

ot only does it bring in the illegal immigrants, but has also become a major transit point to smuggle arms and drugs. The fact that Nepal too is around the corner has made matters only worse.

The Bihar operation has been two fold for the Indian Mujahideen. Not only have they tapped persons who are in want of money, but they also targeted the educated youth.



Riyaz Bhatkal, who also goes by the name Shahrukh, has tapped this state extensively. All recent recruitments have been attributed to him and the manner in which he has gone about picking up youth with such ease has attracted the attention of other terror groups as well. Today, the police say that apart from the IM, one could find cadres of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba, Hizbul Mujahideen and also the Harkat-ul-Jihadi in the state.

The IB says that Bihar will continue to be a landing point for these terror groups. Not only are they getting their recruitments done with ease, but have also been able to transport and also stock up arms and ammunition.

[Sachin]

A report from The Hindu
New intelligence technology feeding surge in political espionage
Large part of Intelligence Bureau remains deployed on political tasks, not national security duties
---
Sad that all this enthusiasm to support the ruling gang is not shown when it comes to protecting the nation as a whole.

[ramana]

Sachin, IB is direct successor of Walsingham's ideas. The king is the state. So until there is reform of Indian Constitution which ensure full term for the elected Cabinet the PM is eternally has to watch his back. Under INC, IB has become the KGB in scope. Its secondary roles are counter intelligence or counter terrorism. I bet even RAW is in that same business abroad as it was under Mrs. G.

[svinayak]

Sachin, IB is direct successor of Walsingham's ideas. The king is the state. So until there is reform of Indian Constitution which ensure full term for the elected Cabinet the PM is eternally has to watch his back. Under INC, IB has become the KGB in scope. Its secondary roles are counter intelligence or counter terrorism. I bet even RAW is in that same business abroad as it was under Mrs. G.

Competitive politics have to be removed and also opposition should share the cabinet for governance and policy making.

[ramana]

The leader of the Opposition is given Cabinet rank but treated as a door mat. None of the Opposition are takeninto confidence on governance.

In the 70s the BJS and INC leaders in Delhi used to have sharab and kabab together. The Emergency destroyed the collegiality/camaradierie and led to current state. After VP singh took over the INC shows no quarters in going after the Opposition. The BJP is sitll in the old mold and puts token vote of no confidence efforts.

[abhishek_sharma]

Another IM man arrested in Bihar

[Aditya_V]

Murderers save jail officer from rowdies

Interesting quote from the article regarding the Gang leader who wanted to kill the Jail Superintend

Who is Korangu?

He's a hardcore rowdy from the city. Krishna alias Korangu Krishna hails from Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh. He started his criminal career as a kidnapper and extortionist at 17. He was wanted in a series of murders and attempt to murder cases. Abducting builders, realtors and businessmen for ransom was his trademark crime. He lost his left hand in a gang war. He's the younger brother of Kannada film producer and corporator Muniratna Naidu.

There is Huge Nexus in this country between Movie Producers, Politicians, Criminals- i.e Dons who are in turn related to ISI in an indirect way in this country.

"Krishna Kumar received a message saying Korangu and his associates were not only using mobile phones, but consuming liquor and smoking ganja in their cells. Krishna Kumar and a few jail officials went to the barrack," jail sources said.

If tough action is taken to stop these activities just see the Number of SO called Human Rights Activists who come and support these criminals and ensure they continue their activities.

[Sachin]

If tough action is taken to stop these activities just see the Number of SO called Human Rights Activists who come and support these criminals and ensure they continue their activities.

Does any one know if there is a provision to send hardended criminals to jails in other parts of India. Like for example this "Korangu" fellow can be sent to say Central Prison Hoshangabad, where he would be a loner and would not have company to create ruckus? Same goes for say hardened criminals from North to be sent to say Tamil Nadu prisons.

Was reading about some of the measures which the British took to curb the Moplah rebellion. People were given a choice between huge fines, gallows or a one way trip to Andamans. Many opted the last option .

[Aditya_V]

Sachin thats exactly what they were trying do with Korangu which started the violence.

[ManjaM]

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/209 ... llary.html

Another version of the incident.

Tension prevailed on the jail premises since Monday night, when Jail Superintendent Krishna Kumar went to the Korangu’s cell in a ‘drunken’ state. A verbal duel ensued between the officer and the gang, leading to exchange of blows. A few prison inmates intervened and took Korangu away.

On Tuesday, there were incidents of stone pelting in the jail. An officer in charge was also beaten up. Platoons of the Karnataka State Reserve Police brought the situation under control. Korangu told Deccan Herald: “Krishna Kumar demanded a hafta of Rs 50,000 from me.”
He quoted Kumar as saying: “I paid lakhs to get transferred from Gulbarga to Bangalore Central Jail. Pay up or face the consequences.”

The rowdy said: “We know how things are smuggled into the jail premises. He started blackmailing us and we decided to teach him a lesson.”

During the rounds on Monday night, Krishna Kumar ordered his subordinates to search Korangu’s cell. The rowdy and his aides prevented them. When the incident was brought to the notice of Chief Superintendent Laxmi Narayan, he rushed to the spot.

He ordered Krishna Kumar to come out of the cell. Korangu and his men cornered Krishna Kumar, as the jail inmates watched.

The jail staff were upset with the top official’s stand and boycotted work on Tuesday. It is learnt that Korangu and his 90 men were housed in a single barrack.

The staff reported for duty only after DIG (Prisons) Raja promised action. He ordered shifting of Korangu and his men - Gunda, George, Girish, Ashok, Santosh, Pavan, Manja, Charan and Alexander - to Bellary jail. The escort vehicle which arrived to take them was attacked by the inmates. They smashed the windshield and damaged the vehicle.

The jail authorities had not filed any complaint till late on Tuesday.

[abhishek_sharma]

Delhi hub of Lashkar, Hizbul hawala operations: NIA

Kerala picks Lajja for madrasa libraries, faces protests

A hafiz, ‘IM man’ was rarely seen in his village

[Prem]

Is it true that there is no provision in UID for verifying the Indian nationality of the applicant ?
Beedees are been given free hand to get Indian ID so they can vote for Congress.

[Sachin]

Sachin thats exactly what they were trying do with Korangu which started the violence.

Bellary is still in Karnataka. I was thinking of a provision where "Korangu" is sent to a prison, where he does not have the advantage of language and a gang of his henchmen. Basically a loner in the prison with limited chances of goonda-giri. I remember about North Indian political prisoners sent to Bangalore prison during the Indira Gandhi declared Emergency. So such a provision may exist.

[Vipul]

Is it true that there is no provision in UID for verifying the Indian nationality of the applicant ?
Beedees are been given free hand to get Indian ID so they can vote for Congress.

Con goons in Delhi have made Residency as a critiera to be enrolled for UID not Citizenship.

[ramana]

Anybody tracking the response teams and time in the Kolkata hospital fire?

When did the fire start?

When was the Fire Dept informed?

When did they arrive/

Any haz mat reponse in the fire?

All these will be multiplied thousand fold in case of an enemy attack.

[krisna]

Fire safety codes
Weekend Pop Quiz on Fire Safety

Here is a pop quiz on a fire safety code – guess the year, country and name of the author of this Fire Safety Code:

- Kindling of fire shall be prohibited during the hottest hours of the day during the summer. A fine shall be imposed for kindling fire at such a time.

- Cooking operations involving fire shall be performed in the outdoors

- The Owner of a building/home shall provide for 5 storage units of water, multiple discharge containers, a ladder, an axe and other tools for extinguishing, rescue and recovery. Failure to provision these will incur a fine.

- All industrial works involving fire shall be zoned together in a separate part of the Town or City away from the rest of the dwellings. Inflammable materials shall not be used in the construction of such units.

- Owners of buildings/homes shall be responsible for maintaining minimal physical security of their Units during the nights

- Water Storage in the 1000s of Units shall be maintained along milestones of Major Roads, at Cross-Roads of Major Roads with other streets and near all major government/public buildings.

- Failure to provide aid to a neighbor during a Fire Emergency will incur a fine. Even Tenants can be held liable for a Fire emergency. Individual Responsibility shall be fixed for both Accidents and intentional acts of Arson with varying amounts of monetary fines imposed for the same.

Clue: It is ok to guess the century if not the year of authorship

Answer: No that Fire Safety code is not from the USA or the 21st century, it is from this country and at least 2500 years old. If only we paid more attention to the essence of Kautilya’s Arthashastra, perhaps we would govern ourselves better …..

[abhishek_sharma]

Jaipur fast-track court acquits 11 of 14 accused in 2008 serial blasts

[chetak]

Sanjiv Bhatt likely to be charged with murder

[Upendra]

2003 bomb blasts: Bombay HC ruling on death sentence tomorrow

Mumbai: HC is likely to give its ruling tomorrow on confirmation of death sentence of 3 convicts in 2003 bomb blasts case.

The Bombay High Court is likely to give its ruling tomorrow on confirmation of death sentence, awarded to three convicts including a woman, in the 2003 Mumbai twin bomb blasts case.

Ashrat Ansari (32), his aide Hanif Sayed Anees (46) and wife Fehmida Sayed (43) were held guilty on charges of planting powerful bombs in two taxis which exploded at the Gateway of India and Zaveri Bazaar on August 25, 2003, killing 52 persons.

[Ramin]

Army jawan jailed for leaking info to Pakistan

Press Trust Of India
New Delhi, December 11, 2011

A Delhi court has sentenced an army jawan to seven years in jail for doubling as a Pakistan intelligence agent and supplying sensitive defence-related information to the neighbouring country.



District and Additional Sessions judge O P Gupta jailed Anil Kumar Dubey, 39,
convicting him under Section 3 of the Official Secrets Act for passing on secret information to Pakistan about the movement and deployment of army troops in India.

According to the prosecution, the Special Cell of Delhi Police had arrested Dubey from his home at Mahipalpur on October 20, 2006 on a tip-off that an alleged Pakistan High Commission employee would be visiting him to procure some sensitive information.

Police had caught Dubey while he was handing over a bag, containing some CDs and other documents, including some notifications pertaining to army's anti-insurgency operations, to the alleged Pakistan High Commission employee, Mohd Farooq.

Raids at Dubey's house led to recovery of three cheque books, two of which belonged to Farooq and one to Shamshad Hussain, another alleged Pakistan Embassy official.

Police in its search of Dubey's desk at Army Group Insurance Bhawan also recovered documents pertaining to new dialling system and AGI journal of the year 2005, the prosecution said.

As Farooq enjoyed diplomatic immunity, he was handed over to Pakistan High Commission through ministry of external affairs, while Dubey was arrested, it said.
Dubey, in his defence, contended he was falsely implicated to "settle scores with Pakistan and that he had been made a scapegoat".

The court, however, said he failed to disclose any motive as to why police would implicate him and that "simply suggesting that he was made scapegoat is not enough."

It also rejected his contention that the prosecution had failed to show any heavy bank transaction for the secret information that he had been passing.

"It is a matter of common knowledge that most of the offences are committed in the darkness of night and under the table. A culprit would not deposit the amount received by him as illegal gratification in his bank account," the court said.

"Recovery of cheque book of Mohd Farooq from house of accused shows that accused had some links with him. The same strengthens the case of prosecution that the two indulged in passing of some secret information," the judge said.

On Dubey's submission that the papers alleged to be passed on to Farooq in 2006 were of 2003 and were outdated from the angle of espionage, the court said, "The documents may be old for one and new for other. It depends upon the degree of progress with which two countries are proceeding.

"The dialling system adopted in 2003 in India may be unknown to Pakistan till 2006. Question is as to what justification the accused had to supply the said information?" the judge pointed.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-new ... 80798.aspx

[abhishek_sharma]

Mercy plea with Prez, but Afzal’s fate sealed

3 families, one demand: Please hang Afzal Guru

Two Pak nationals 'sent by ISI' arrested in city

[abhishek_sharma]

Jaish-e-Mohammed is back, India on its radar again: Intel report

[shravan]

Arrested terrorists reveal plan to kill Narendra Modi
http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/s ... 111214.htm

...
A series of arrests over the past couple of weeks have reinforced the terrorists' plans. While six operatives of the Indian Mujahideen who were picked up recently in a multi-state swoop spoke of the IM's plans to rebuild in Gujarat, the two Pakistani spies who were arrested this week, Karachi-based Soofia and Imran, have led to a stockpile of information.

During interrogation, the duo revealed that they were in India at the behest of the Inter Services Intelligence and their specific brief was to get as much information on Modi as possible to be used in the assassination plan.

During interrogation, Soofia and Imran pointed out that apart from the plan to murder Modi they were also asked to select and survey other targets in Gujarat as the ISI has been planning a major operation in Gujarat. However, they did not provide more information and the police feel that the extent of their brief was only limited to this.

Another factor that came to light was that the ISI was using Nepal as a launch pad for operations in Gujarat. The ISI, despite so much pressure on it, still finds the Nepal base and route the easiest to operate from.

Both Soofia and Imran were sent to Nepal from Karachi a couple of months back and then to Gujarat. They managed to get away for some time as they had no past criminal record.

The police state that the duo, however, were not sent in to assassinate the Gujarat chief minister and their job was limited to organising the logistics.

[Upendra]

Chidambaram case: Delhi LG revokes Home Ministry's decision
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/chidambaram- ... 37-64.html

[abhishek_sharma]

Indian Mujahideen men used Nepal school as safe haven: Police

[ramana]

I guess Mumbai wasnt too keen on getting its hub!

Regional NSG hubs will facilitate quick response

Chennai: Stressing the importance of regional National Security Guard hubs, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram today said such NSG units will help in bringing down the time to launch counter measures in the event of a terror strike.

“It took 12 hours for NSG to reach Mumbai from Manesar near Delhi during the 2008 terror attacks,” he said after inaugurating the NSG regional hub, housing over 200 members of the elite commando force, at suburban Kolapakkam.

“241 commandos will be on standby for 24 hours and 365 days. The hub is spread over 69 acres and developed at a cost of Rs 54 crore,” Chidambaram said.


Stressing the importance of regional National Security Guard hubs, P Chidambaram said such NSG units will help in bringing down the time to launch counter measures in the event of a terror strike. Vijay Verma/PTI

“With the first hour being very important in a terror strike, not a minute can be wasted. Therefore there is the need for such regional hubs.”

In the event of a terror attack or plane hijack in any of the southern states, NSG commandos can reach the airport (located at Meenambakkam) in 40 mins or the nearest IAF base in Tambaram in 30 mins (to go airborne), Chidambaram said.

Underlining the Centre’s commitment for safety and security of citizens, he said the present initiative was one such effort in this regard.

Necessary arms and other equipment including guns, rocket-launchers, normal and night-vision camera among others were available for NSG personnel here.

The Black Cats, put in through a rigorous training module, will go back to paramilitary forces from where they were picked, after 3-5 years of service, he said.

This is one of the four hubs operationalised by the Centre following the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.

Initially located at a facility in Chennai, the present NSG hub, developed by National Buildings Construction Company Ltd, was later shifted to the sprawling campus, which, Chidambaram said, would be used by the force for training purposes.

NSG Director-General, RK Medhekar said post 26/11 scenario, the aim is to reduce time taken to launch a counter attack during a terror strike.

The NSG hub boasts of all required facilities, including 100 percent power back-up from diesel generators, green building efforts like solar-powered lamps and the whole campus was ready for occupation, AK Mittal, Director NBCC, said.

PTI

So where are the NSG hubs located? And what it their status?

[sum]

^^So, these hubs have purely SRG folks since there is mention of these guys heading back to their parent para-military units after 3-5 years service?

[sum]

7 LeT men convicted of terror plans

Seven terrorists of the banned Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) were on Saturday convicted by the Fast Track Court-II in the City for waging war against the country.

Judge Revankar found the seven guilty of the offence and convicted them. The prono­uncement of the sentence and the quantum of punishment has been posted for Monday.
However, the accused were not involved in the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) blasts.
Special public prosecutor K K Seetharam clarified, “The conviction of the seven terrorists has nothing to do with the IISc shoot out case. However, the court was convinced that they were attempting to wage a war against the country,” he added.

Those convicted include Mohammad Razur, 45, of Nalgonda (Andhra Pradesh); Afsar Pasha, 33, of Bangalore and a native of Chintamani; Ibrahim Sab Chopdar, 38, of Guledgudda (Bagalkot); Noorualla Khan, 33, of Chintamani; Mohammad Irfan, 32, (UP); Munna, 28, of Chintamani and Chand Pasha, 55, of K G Halli.

They were convicted under IPC Sections 120 (conspiracy), 121 (waging, or attempting to wage war, or abetting waging of war, against the Government of India), 121A (conspiracy to commit offences), sections 3 and 4 of Explosives Substance Act (causing explosion likely to endanger life or property/ attempt to cause explosion, or for making or keeping explosive with intent to endanger life or property).

Then Commissioner of Police, Bangalore City, Dr Ajai Kumar Singh had constituted several teams to investigate the IISc terror attack case. The Central intelligence sources tipped the City police about some names including Mohammad Razur saying he might have been the mastermind behind the IISc attack. The police arrested him when he was coming out of a masjid on January 1, 2006.

The police arrested the remaining terrorists within a couple of weeks.

Conspiracy in Saudi

During interrogation of the suspects, it came to light that they played no role in the IISc case, but had stored arms and explosives to carry out attacks.

The police recovered explosives and arms from Kadu Malleshwara area, Laskhmipura in Chikkaballapur district and Hessaraghatta.

The police also recovered Jihadi literature and other material written by extremists such as Azar Masood. During the search, the police recovered a diary from Bangladesh published in 2003, in which the terrorists had recorded their doings. The diary played a vital role in ensuring the conviction, said Seetharam.

Mohammad Razur was in Saudi Arabia before 2000 where he met others who harboured a soft corner for LeT. Later, he met six others who were also in Saudi Arabia then.

They thought that Muslims were treated as second class citizens in the country and were being targeted after the demolition of Babri Masjid. They decided to wage a war against India, conduct activities leading to civil wars and others.

Thereafter, they returned to India. Mohammad Razur was a self-styled South Indian Commander of LeT. Soon, they st­arted a trust at Chintamani and attracted Muslims.

Prime concern

Their prime concern was to recruit youths for terrorist activities. They preached about Jihad, how to pray and how to behave as a good Muslim. They told the local Muslims not to visit Dargahs as these symbolised idol worship, which is banned in Islam.

They reportedly decided to demolish the Dargahs so that Muslims stopped visiting them and it would look as if Hindus were targeting Dargahs. They calculated that such an act would lead to civil war in the country.

[Pratyush]

What's with NSG onlee, why not create SWAT units in local police forces. They will be the frist to respond to any developing situation.

[sum]

X-post:

Honey traps on social networking sites

The government has directed senior officials from paramilitary and armed forces to refrain from flaunting their career details on social networking sites, or stay away from such sites altogether, after instances of cyber espionage came to light.

Sources said officials of paramilitary forces, posted at sensitive locations, were found chatting with foreign agents across the border posing as women.

Following a spate of similar incidents, meetings were held to prohibit the use of official computers for social networking on the internet and officials were sensitised on the latest modus operandi of the spies.

Sources in the Telecom Department said an effective mechanism was being put in place to keep a vigil on officials posted in sensitive areas.

In some instances, officials were found indulging in objectionable activities through video chat, recordings of which were later used by the spies to blackmail to extract strategic and commercial information. The errant officials have been removed from their current postings and departmental action has been initiated, sources said.

Some officials were seen posing in their uniforms, armed with AK-47 rifles and service revolvers, which they admittedly did for impressing women, sources said.

While the number of such incidents were more in paramilitary forces, few instances were also reported in the armed forces.

[SSridhar]

Surveillance gadgets to be installed at lighthouses

In a step that could go a long way in addressing coastal security issues, particularly the fishermen problem in Tamil Nadu, the Bharat Electronics Limited is installing sophisticated surveillance gadgets atop lighthouses along the south-eastern coastline. In Chennai, BEL engineers visited the lighthouse and commenced the work of installing radars and electro-optical cameras that would provide day/night visuals of activities in the coast and the sea, police sources said on Monday.

Inspector-General and Commander (Coast Guard Region East) S.P. Sharma said the surveillance equipment was expected to be installed in the Chennai lighthouse in about a week's time. The gadgets would be installed in all lighthouses in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

“Once they become operational, connectivity will be given to the Coast Guard and Navy operation rooms. The radar and electro-optical cameras will provide clear images up to a range of 12 miles in the sea during the day. The electronic surveillance is mainly for coastal security,” Mr. Sharma said.

[sum]

"Repentant" LeT scum showing their sorrow by smiling at the cameras:


LeT activists sentenced to life

The Second Fast Track Court on Monday sentenced six activists of the banned terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), who were arrested in connection with the attack on IISc, Bangalore, to life imprisonment for ‘waging war against the State’.

Fast Track Judge C V Revankar pronounced the sentence after having convicted them under section 235 (2) of the CrPC, sections 120 (B), 121 and 121 (A) of the IPC, sections 3 and 4 of the Explosive Substances Act and sections 25 and 26 of the Arms Act.

The convicted are Mohammad Razur, 45, of Nalgonda (Andhra Pradesh); Afsar Pasha, 33, of Bangalore and a native of Chintamani; Ibrahim Sab Chopdar, 38, of Guledgudda (Bagalkot); Noorulla Khan, 33, of Chintamani; Mohammad Irfan, 32, Uttar Pradesh and Munna, 28, of Chintamani.

The court had acquitted accused number seven, Chand Pasha, 53, of Kadugondanahalli on Saturday.

Speaking to Deccan Herald, his lawyer Praveen C said: “My client was acquitted as the allegations made by the prosecution could not be proved.”

The prosecution had alleged that Chand Pasha funded the aforementioned activists in the procurement of literature that propagated violence against India.

“The (honourable) court, based on the statements of the official translator, found that the literature submitted by the prosecution did not have any anti-India sentiments,” Praveen said.

The seven were arrested when different teams investigating the 2005 shootout at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), killing M C Puri, a retired professor of IIT, Delhi, found evidence about their activities.

“They have nothing to do with the IISc case,” Special Public Prosecutor K K Seetharam had said.

The accused were being tried after V S D’Souza, the then Frazer Town ACP and special investigating officer, had filed a suo motu complaint against the accused in the Sadashivanagar police station in 2006. D’Souza is now DCP (Intelligence).

The complainant had alleged that the accused had waged war against the country and also were recruiting youngsters to LeT. The prosecution had submitted several firearms and other materials as evidence gathered after the places of the accused were raided in 2006. Later, the police filed a 1,200-page charge sheet against the accused.

Arms recovered

The explosives and arms were recovered from Kadu Malleshwara area, Lakshmipura in Chikkaballapur district and Hesaraghatta among other areas. Also, the prosecution maintains that the case was able to hold water in the court because of the diary found at the house of accused number two, Afsar Pasha. The other evidences supplemented the diary findings. The diary apparently had the minutes of a meeting held in 2003 in Bangladesh, along with names of persons who attended it, describing the intent to create unrest in India through violence.

The police also claim that they recovered jihadi literature and other material authored by extremists such as Azhar Masood.

Further, a senior officer said Mohammed Razur was in Saudi Arabia before 2000. It is there that he met accused number two and three –– Afsar Pasha and Ibrahim Sab Chopdar –– who met the others in Chintamani and Kolar.

“Mohammed Razur, the self-styled South India Commander of LeT and others then started a trust in Chintamani to attract Muslims,” the official said.

The police said that the prime concern of this trust was to recruit the youth for ‘terrorist activities’ and that the group preached about jihad, how to pray and how to behave as a good Muslim.

The police allege that the group had reportedly decided to demolish the ‘dargahs,’ so that the Muslims thought the Hindus were targetting them.

DG&IGP Shankar Bidari has announced a Rs 1-lakh reward for the investigating team, comprising V S D’Souza, Prathap Singh, H Subbanna, H Siddappa, Abdul Khaiser, A N Swamy and Ramegowda.

Real waste of our tax money to keep such scum alive for so many years after which they will go back on the streets and restart their stuff..

[abhishek_sharma]

Hunt on for mystery ISI man in Delhi