The Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad has undertaken massive combing operations across several districts of Maharshtra, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka.
'They don't communicate on the telephone. They meet. The conspiracy is discussed, the crime is planned out and then the crime happens.' Rakesh Maria, the supercop who heads Maharashtra's Anti Terrorism Squad, explains the mindset of the modern terrorist at the Times Literary Festival. A correspondent listens in.
Three suspected members of terror group Hizbul Mujahideen, who are believed to have come from Pakistan via Nepal, were on Tuesday detained by an anti-terrorism squad of Jammu and Kashmir police at the railway station in Jammu, police sources said.
As the Uttar Pradesh police continue to quiz four persons in connection with the Agra hospital blast case there are very few indications for now to suggest that it was an act of terror. Sources informed that Saturday's blast could also be the fallout of a rivalry between local nursing homes and the privately-owned Jai Hospital.
The Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad has seized over 7 kg of natural uranium worth about Rs 21.30 crore and arrested two persons in this connection, an official said on Thursday.
Maharashtra government on Thursday appointed senior Indian Police Service officer K P Raghuvanshi as the chief of Anti-Terrorism Squad hours after the Bombay High Court pulled up the authorities over the crucial body remaining headless since the killing of Hemant Karkare in terror attacks in Mumbai last November.
The Maharashtra Director General of Police D Sivanandan has admitted that the investigations by the state Anti-Terrorism Squad into the February 13 German Bakery terror attack have gone wrong.
The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), which arrested Pune blast prime suspect Abdul Samad Bhatkal, is probing the possible nexus between underworld and terror outfit Indian Mujahideen (IM) in the case.
Authorities of the Mumbai police had to protect Ajmal Kasab, the sole Pakistani terrorist arrested during the November 26 attack on the city, not only from the angry public, but even "from within the (police) department," Anti-Terrorism Squad chief Rakesh Maria said on Monday. "There was a lot of public anger. The dept had lost some of the best officers (during the attack), so we had to protect Kasab from within dept because there was anger in the department," said Maria.
The home ministry has postponed a meeting of top police and civil officials of all states scheduled for March 9 to end the logjam on the National Counter Terrorism Centre and it will now be held on March 12.
Yaseen Bhatkal, a distant relative of Indian Mujhahideen founder Riyaz Bhatkal, has been named the mastermind of the Pune blast by Maharashtra's Anti-Terrorism Squad. A blast in German bakery, one of the city's most popular eateries, had left 17 people dead and many more injured on February 13. Yaseen hails from the coastal town of Bhatkal in Karnataka and has been involved in terror activities since 1998, say sources in the Intelligence Bureau.
Hindu right-wing activist Swami Aseemanand, an accused in several terror cases, has moved a court seeking to withdraw his application to turn a witness in the Ajmer Dargah blast case even as the Rajasthan Anti-Terrorism Squad on Friday said it is planning to file a chargesheet against him on April 8.
The revelations came during scientific tests carried out on them.
The National Investigation Agency, which was formed to investigate cases relating to terrorism, was not roped in for the investigation into the Pune blast.
The Popular Front of India (PFI) has been extensively using social media for recruiting youths for anti-national activities and one of the modules of the now-banned outfit even had prepared to attack foreigners, especially Jews visiting Vattakkanal, a hill station in Tamil Nadu, officials said.
The National Investigation Agency has contradicted findings of the Anti Terrorism Squad and the Central Bureau of Investigation in its chargesheet filed Wednesday in the Malegoan blast case of 2006.
The bulletproof jacket worn by slain Anti-Terrorism Squad chief Hemant Karkare during 26/11 terror attacks has gone missing, wife of the slain officer has alleged, raising serious questions on the manner in which evidentially materials were preserved.
Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad would seek the custody of 26/11 Mumbai attacks handler Abu Jundal after Delhi police finish their probe, State Home Minister R R Patil said on Thursday.
Investigators are on the verge of cracking the July 13 Mumbai blasts case, Maharashtra Director General of Police Ajit Parasnis on Sunday said and hoped "very soon things will come out". His remark came a day after he stated the terror group responsible for the blasts had been identified.
The claim by Maharashtra's Anti-Terrorism Squad about presence of RDX in the 2007 Samjhauta train blast has flummoxed investigators, who probed the attack, as forensic analysis had shown no signs of the deadly explosive being used in the terror strike that left 68 people dead.
The special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act Court in Mumbai allowed the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad to interrogate two accused in connection with the last week's Hyderabad blasts on Monday.
The Maharashtra police has identified the culprits of the February 13 terror attack on the German Bakery in Pune, said Maharashtra Home Minister R R Patil on Tuesday.
The Bombay high court said on Tuesday it was satisfied with the measures adopted by anti-terrorism squad police in connection with the alleged conspiracy to murder Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat.
Maharashtra's Anti-Terrorism Squad chief Rakesh Maria and six senior Indian Police Service officers will face a Central Bureau of Investigation probe for allegedly shielding a fellow police official, who was accused of clearing his law exam, without appearing for practical exam, the Bombay high court ordered on Monday.
Four alleged Indian Mujahideen operatives, already in Delhi police custody, were on Thursday arrested in connection with Pune serial blasts and remanded in police custody until January 1, the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad said.
The Mangalore police has picked up a key suspect in the 26 11 terror attacks at the Bajpe airport in Mangalore airport on Monday.
'How can we know why so many officers went there unprepared and got killed? Why was there was an absence of coordination and cooperation from the Mumbai police control room?' asks Kavita Karkare, slain Anti-Terror Squad chief Hemant Karkare's widow.
Fighters from the Israel Defece Forces' (IDF's) Nahal infantry brigade 'identified a terrorist squad hiding in a mosque' in Gaza and, with the help of air support, eliminated the squad as they 'left the mosque and tried to escape through a tunnel'.
In an affidavit before the Bombay high court, the Maharashtra government has stated that it has sought a ban on right-wing outfit Sanathan Sanstha under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. The state government is yet to take a decision on Abhinav Bharat, another right-wing organisation.
The low-intensity blast in Pune on Friday that left five people injured was "prima facie" a terror attack, Maharashtra ATS said today and registered a case against unknown persons in connection with the incident.
The Maharashtra government, reeling under criticism over handling of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, has received another jolt with the widow of former Anti-Terrorism Squad chief Hemant Karkare saying the state police force is ill-equipped to fight terrorists.
Various ministries, including home and defence, have been asked to take necessary steps to prevent leakage of classified information to the media and fix responsibility in case the leakage takes place.
Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on Tuesday told the Bombay high court that the original Call Detail Records (CDRs) pertaining to the 13 alleged SIMI activists facing trial in 2006 suburban train blasts case are still available with the mobile service providers.
The Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad was on Saturday granted the custody of 26/11 key handler Abu Jundal by a Delhi court in connection with the 2006 train blast at Ahmedabad station in which he is alleged to be one of the main conspirators.
The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad team, which is probing the Mumbai terror attacks, on Tuesday took transit remand of an accused arrested in connection with the attack on the Central Reserve Police Force camp in Rampur."An ATS team, which arrived in the state capital on Monday, took Imran Shahzad alias Abu Samad, currently lodged in Lucknow jail, on transit remand to Mumbai," said Additional Director General (Law and Order) Brijlal.
Working in perfect coordination, the Delhi police, the National Investigation Agency and the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad have managed to crack the Pune blasts case. They have also busted a major module of the Indian Mujahideen and arrested three suspects -- Asad from Aurangabad, Imran Khan from Nanded and Sayeed from Pune. Four kg of explosives, eight detonators and nine volt batteries were found to be in possession of the arrested accused.
Claiming to have some 'vital' clues in the Pune blast case, the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad has sought the help of auto rickshaw drivers, asking them to share information about suspicious passengers who might be linked to the terror attack."I have appealed through radio to auto rickshaw drivers, who might have ferried passengers with suspicious behaviour to the eatery or anywhere else on the day of the blast, to share the information with me," said ATS chief.
Maharashtra Forensic Laboratory will soon complete the testing of blood samples of slain Anti-Terrorism Squad chief Hemant Karkare and two other police officers, who were killed in the terror attack in Mumbai last month, for alcohol content, laboratory sources said.State FSL at Kailna said that it has received the blood samples of the officers, who were killed by the terrorists on November 26, and the results will be handed over to the investigating authorities.
A Delhi court on Friday issued fresh production warrant for key 26/11 attacks handler Abu Jundal after Mumbai Anti-Terrorism squad once again failed to hand him over to the Delhi police saying he is required for interrogation in other cases.
The Maharashtra police's Anti-Terrorism Squad on Tuesday obtained transit remand of a Lashkar-e-Tayiba militant, who had been arrested in connection with the attack on a Central Reserve Police Force camp in Rampur in Uttar Pradesh, to investigate his links with the terror attack on Mumbai last week.Special Judge (Gangster Act) Mohammad Hussain granted the transit remand of Sabahuddin on an application moved by a Maharashtra ATS team.
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