Delhi always on jehadis' hit list

NEW DELHI: Although the serial blasts in Delhi come nearly three years after the Diwali-eve explosions that left 60 people dead, the Capital city has always been a prime terror target of the jehadi outfits, be it LeT, Jaish, Huji or the local Simi. In fact, Jaipur blasts main accused Shahbaz Hussain, who is now in the custody of Rajasthan police, had told his interrogators that he had been tasked by SIMI chief Safdar Nagori, also under arrest, to carry out blasts here around Diwali.

According to Shahbaz, he was to execute blasts in Delhi, where he had been working on establishing a local terror network, as well as Ujjain���s Mahakaleshwar temple. Shahbaz was arrested last month in a joint operation by the UP police���s Anti-Terror Squad and the Rajasthan police from the posh Aminabad locality in Lucknow.

The Simi is an obvious suspect in the 5 blasts that shook the national Capital on Saturday. Not only does Simi have a good presence in the city ��� the Jamia Millia Islamia university was the hub of SIMI activity when it was still a lawful outfit ��� but SIMI cross-border allies like LeT, JeM and Huji have been shuttling in and out of the Capital with explosives and terror funds. This is borne by the past few interception of such terrorists by the Delhi Police.

The latest incident related to the arrest of suspected Pakistan-trained Huji terrorist, Mohd Iqbal alias Abdul Rahman, in May 2008 in Paharganj locality near the New Delhi railway station. He was apprehended after he reached the New Delhi station by train from West Bengal. Rahman was tasked with his Bangladeshi bosses to carry out bomb blasts in the national Capital.

Instructed by HuJi leader Babu Bhai, who was later arrested by UP police, to carry out the terror attack in the Capital, he had been handed over a consignment of explosives for the purpose. He hid the explosives at an address in Janakpuri after his prospective accomplices in the proposed Delhi blasts were arrested in UP. Following his arrest, the Delhi Police recovered 3.1 kg of RDX, 5 detonators and a timer device.

In February 2008, four suspected Jaish-e-Mohammad militants, one Pakistani and 3 from J&K, were arrested following a heavy exchange of gunfire with the Delhi Police. Initial investigations suggested that three Kashmiri militants ��� Bashir Ahmed, Fayyaz Lone, and Abdul Majeed Baba ��� had arrived in Delhi from Jammu by the Malwa Express earlier that day. Police recovered three kg of RDX, four detonators, a timer, six hand grenades, 30 bore firearm, $10,000 and Rs 50,000 from them.

In July 2007, a suspected LeT militant Shabbir Ahmad was arrested at Chandni Chowk with a 9mm Chinese pistol. During the raid at the guesthouse where he had been residing before his arrest, the police recovered an AK-56 rifle, two magazines, four hand grenades and Indian currency notes.