More Huji men are likely to be holed up in city
Anupam Dasgupta, DNA (Daily News & Analysis)
March 13, 2008
http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1155819

At least six Bangladeshi operatives of the Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI) are believed to be hiding in Mumbai, according to specific inputs available with Indian intelligence agencies.

“Information available with us and related agencies points to a group of Bangladeshis who have scattered after sneaking into Mumbai some time back. We are ascertaining if the duo killed on Tuesday (at Kashimira) could be linked to other undercover members of a particular group fostering terrorist aims,” said state anti-terrorism squad chief Hemant Karkare.

Top police and intelligence officials say “dormant terror cells” of jehadi groups like HuJI have been steadily growing in strength in the country over the last few years.

The city police are particularly worried because HuJI — blacklisted as a global terror outfit by the US — has ‘established’ a pan-Indian presence and has successfully targeted several major Indian cities over the last couple of years.

Senior ATS officers said the two suspected Bangladeshi terrorists — Mohammad Ali and Baboo — gunned down at Kashimira may have been part of a ‘loosely organised collection’ of HuJI operatives working to give final shape to a terror plot. “But it is too early for us to figure out the precise nature of their plot and the chosen list of targets,” Karkare said.

Karkare said the recovery of fake currency worth over Rs10 lakh (mostly of Rs1,000 denomination) proved that they were backed by a hard-core terror group.

The 2 kg RDX, weapons and Ali’s Bangladeshi passport have been sent for forensic examination.

The ATS and the Intelligence Bureau (IB) are also trying find if the duo and other members of the group were also known to Faheem Ahmad - the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist arrested by the UP police recently.

“We are leaving nothing to chance and would probe every possible aspect of the encounter,” said senior ATS officer Parambir Singh.

Addressing the media, senior ATS officers said Ali had come to Kashimira to hand over a consignment of explosives and weapons to Baboo. “There is a possibility that some other people were also with them,” said another senior ATS officer.

The police are also probing whether Baboo had succeeded in arranging logistics at Kashimira or Thane. ATS officials had said on Tuesday that they had trapped the duo while exchanging RDX and counterfeit currency.