Slain militants had links in Mumbai

Authorities in Mumbai are investigating whether the two men killed in an encounter in Delhi's shopping mall on Sunday evening had any connections with the city.

According to D. Shivanandan, Joint Director, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), "One of the diaries of the terrorists had a mention of Mumbra, a place near Thane," and that is perhaps the only evidence of any link.

In a place like Mumbra where the numbers of minorities are high, "the terrorists could have hidden there in anonymity."

"It is easy to hire a house and stay there," he added. The former joint commissioner of police of Mumbai has unravelled several terror plots of the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba in the past and told Gulf News that "Mumbai is not at all unsafe today".

On Sunday evening, Delhi Police shot down the two militants belonging to the Lashkar in an encounter at the Ansal Plaza shopping mall.

The Delhi Police said that diaries recovered from the slain men revealed addresses in Mumbra or Bhayander where one of the militants, Dawood Ali Ahmed alias Abu Anas stayed. The two have been traced to Pakistan with one of them Izaz Ahmed from Gujranwala and the other from Punjab.

Meanwhile, Chhagan Bhujbal, Deputy Chief Minister in charge of Home, also told Gulf News that "we did get information from central government agencies that there were such people coming from Mumbai and Delhi and therefore, we have been very cautious especially during Diwali which went off well."

He thinks there is a continuous flow of militants into the country and "of course, there is always a possibility of Mumbai being a target and therefore we constantly conduct combing operations since we cannot take chances."

Kripashankar Singh, Minister of State for Home, says, "It is only suspected that the two terrorists may have had links with Mumbai and nothing is confirmed so far.

"Mumbai Police is investigating the possible links and it is possible that the Laskhar and Hizbul Mujahideen could be operating as the Thane Police had unravelled the plots of these groups to create violence and communal tension in the past."

He said the police were taking "normal security precautions" and with Ramadan starting tomorrow, "I don't think anything will happen though there are people who want to create trouble."

On October 23, 2001, four militants of the banned Hizbul Mujahideen, who were planning to indulge in indiscriminate firing in crowded places and cause bomb blasts in the city to create panic were arrested in Mumbra, near Thane, the neighbouring city of Mumbai, in an early morning raid.

The police had then retrieved two imported and one Indian-made pistol, 26 rounds of live ammunition, a map of Mumbai and some papers with telephone numbers in Pakistan.

The four Kashmiris had stated that they were residents of Baramulla district in Jammu and Kashmir and were living in Mumbra for a year where they had rented a flat whilst visiting Mumbai city regularly, S.M. Shangari, Commissioner of Police, Thane, had stated.

"The Thane Police had confirmed information that these terrorists were planning to have a shooting spree in crowded places in Mumbai to start a law and order problem in the city, apart from planting bombs and targeting political leaders," Shangari had told the press after the arrest last year.

Earlier last year, the Thane police had also arrested four members of the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba of whom one of them escaped to Uttar Pradesh where he was shot by the police there after a tip off from Thane police.