Not just Patna,Gujarat riots a refrain in many other blast probes

Officials have mentioned Gujarat riots-and the subsequent sense of grievance and injustice- as a motive.

Written by Muzamil Jaleel

New Delhi | November 7, 2013 05:04 AM IST

5 min read

The recovery of a CD of the Gujarat riots from the Patna blast suspects hideout matches what security agencies have called a pattern: the 2002 violence recurring as a refrain in interrogation reports related to almost every terror attack since then.

A scrutiny of the reports,accessed by The Indian Express,reveals that investigators and police officials in several states,including Gujarat,have mentioned the riots and the subsequent sense of grievance and injustice as a motive. Consider the following key cases:

*The chargesheet filed by National Investigation Agency (NIA) on July 17,2013,against 12 alleged Indian Mujahideen (IM) accused linked the alleged IMs genesis to Babri Masjid demolition (1992) and the riots in Gujarat after the Godhra incident (2002).

*In his affidavit in the September 13,2008 Delhi serial blasts,then Assistant Commissioner of Police,Mehrauli Sub Division,Sanjeev Kumar Yadav quoted 26-year-old accused Kayamudin Kapadias disclosure statement that he had joined the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) in 2002-03 to take revenge for atrocities on Muslims in Gujarat riots 2002. Yadav also referred to a statement by another accused about a presentation Inhuman Gujarat and how atrocities on Muslims in Gujarat…provoked me to work for jehad.

*In a 2006 case related to alleged recovery of arms at Verul-Aurangabad road (Maharashtra),Investigating Officer Assistant Police Commissioner,ATS Vinod Damodar Satav filed five chargesheets against 21 accused and reco-rded statements of 10 under MCOCA Act. Every alleged confession report mentioned the Gujarat riots. A statement by 33-year-old accused Mohd. Sharif Shabir Ahmad was illustrative: We used to discuss the communal riots in Gujarat…it was felt that we have to be prepared to save ourselves.

*In her affidavit in the Ishrat Jahan fake encounter case,ACP Parikshita Gurjar explained why Gujarat is prime target for terrorist action. She claimed the killing of Muslims in these (2002) riots have been exploited by Pak ISI,Pak-based Islamic terrorist groups in order to motivate Muslims to take revenge against the alleged kill-ing of innocent Muslims and launch a jehad against alleged fundamentalist Hindu forces.

*A POTA chargesheet of 2004 against seven Muslim men from Juhapura,Ahmedabad,mentioned the riots as the trigger for the alleged conspiracy in which the men allegedly tea-med up with Pak-based Jaish-e-Mohammed. Their alleged objective: to disturb the unity and integrity of the nation in the pretext of taking revenge of the loss caused to Muslim community after the post Godhra communal riots.

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*In the Surat bomb plantation cases of 2008,the police echoed this line. In at least a dozen cases registered at police stations,the Gujarat Police identified 54 Muslim youths as accused from across the country and explained their alleged motivation: …revenge for the destruction of Babri Masjid,Gujarat riots in 2002 and to take the revenge for the atrocities committed on Muslims. One chargesheet claimed the accused obtained the commitment on oath from other sister terrorist organisations that they would take revenge aga-inst non-Muslim communities for the misdeeds done in various cities of Gujarat.

*The chargesheet related to the July 25,2008 blasts in Bangalore provides details of what it calls conspiracy secretive meetings in the run-up to the attacks. In the meeting A1 (accused No. 1 T Naseer) and A18 (accused No. 18 Ayub @ K P Shabir) motivated the other accused to involve in jihadi activities…to take revenge (for) the Gujarat riots,the demolition of Babri Masjid and to ensure justice to Muslims.

*In the same case,one of the suspects,Shakeel,who was put through narco-analysis,was quoted as having mentioned a meeting that discussed the harassment and torture that happened to Muslims in Gujarat and (how) it was supported by the government which did not take any legal action against those organisations.

*On December 4,2008,the Bijapur Police,probing alleged SIMI links,arrested 27-year-old Shan-e-Kareem,who was studying to become a dentist along with 10 local Muslim youngsters. The police identified four of Kareems Hindu friends from Belgaum as accused in the case. Police clai-med to have recovered CDs fr-om Kareem with provocative material like some pictures of Gujarat incident,Malegaon incident,picture of demolition of Babri masjid,Godhra massacre,Sabarmati tragedy.

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*The FIR filed by police in the Ahmedabad serial bomb blasts case said: In whole state of Gujarat,communal riots eru-pted pursuant to setting ablaze of a coach of Sabarmati Express by Muslims at Godhra. To avenge loss,all accused,including absconding,conspired together to establish Islamic rule in Gujarat state as also in India by creating terror.