A year after the embassy attack in New Delhi, Indian agencies are determined not to let Iran and Israel use the Indian soil as their battlefield, Vicky Nanjappa reports
Indian investigators have found answers to many of the questions in the 26/11 attacks case based on the recent briefing with US investigation teams and the new charges filed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation against suspected Lashkar terrorist David Headley.
The induction of Verma, who has never served in the RAW before, reflects the government's anxiety to set right the relapse in the organisation. It will be Verma's job to ensure that the staff works hand in hand in removing deficiencies in the organisation.
The attack on an Israeli diplomat's vehicle in New Delhi in February was indicative that India will not be spared by international terrorists seeking to attack foreigners in the country, Intelligence Bureau Chief Nehchal Sandhu said on Thursday.
The arrest of David Coleman Headley, an American national held on terror charges by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Chicago earlier this month, is an indicator of the extent which the Lashkar-e-Tayiba could go up to carry an attack on Indian soil. The Lashkar is adopting new strategies to carry out terror strikes; and the latest one, according to the sources in the Intelligence Bureau, is the appointment of doctors.
Branded as the face of modern day terrorism, Zarar Ahmed Siddibaba alias Yasin Bhatkal of the banned Indian Mujahideen arrested on Wednesday night gained cult status in the homegrown terror network after the 2008 Delhi serial blasts.
Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde recently claimed that 26/11 terror strike mastermind and Lashkar-e-Tayiba founder Hafiz Saeed had visited border areas in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir a few days before the killing of two Indian soldiers by Pakistani troops.
'The Americans want to have a good relationship with India. They see it as a counterweight to China. And also American businesses are all trying to get out of China and go to India and Vietnam as well, but India largely.'
To reduce their reliance of foreign transactions, terror outfits are now using charity organisations and NGOs. The money is collected legitimately but distributed illicitly, reports Vicky Nanjappa
Danish Riyaz has told interrogators that the arrests have severely dented IM's operations and badly affected its recruitment and fund-raising drives. That in turn has reduced the Indian Mujahideen's capabilities to execute serial bombings. Toral Varia reports
Intelligence Bureau sources say Bilal was gunned down in Karachi on August 30, 2007, along with his brother Samad. The IB sources were unable to identify the individuals or agencies responsible for the killings.
We need not spend much time going over what this government has done and is doing to the Opposition, by misusing the Enforcement Directorate and the CBI. There is a daily update on that, notes Aakar Patel.
The Bangalore police have obtained the custody of Buela Sam, the lady from Gujarat who tried to enter the Indian Space Research Organisation on a fake identification card.
The Indian government has never bothered to formulate a coherent national policy on cyber war, reports Vicky Nanjappa
Ravi, shifted from Nagaland, said he saw his new role more as an opportunity than a challenge.
125 Indians on watch-list, Intelligence Bureau agents tell Vicky Nanjappa/Rediff.com
The preliminary investigation into Wednesday night's serial blasts in Pune has shown that a lot of planning went into them, and were carried out by experts. Although the Intelligence Bureau has not pinpointed any organisation to be behind the attack, the biggest suspect continues to be the Indian Mujahideen, since the blast has been carried out in their stronghold of Pune. Vicky Nanjappa reports.
In a statement issued on Thursday night, Canada has said the language used while denying the visa "doesn't reflect the policy of the Canada government."
Former Intelligence Bureau chief Rajiv Mathur on Thursday took over as the new chief information commissioner in the Central Information Commission.
The famous Meenakshi temple in Madurai in Tamil Nadu is on the Lashkar-e-Tayiba's hit-list, fears the Intelligence Bureau.
The claim by Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik -- that terror operative Abu Jundal is an agent of the Intelligence Bureau -- has come in for ridicule by the agency. An officer of the IB told rediff.com that the claim by the Pakistan minister was "utter rubbish".
'China has forcibly occupied territory it had never occupied before, blocked Indian patrols' access to areas they had patrolled for decades and, most provocatively, killed 20 Indian soldiers.' 'Most countries would regard these as acts of war.' 'New Delhi has apparently taken off the table the option of evicting the PLA with force,' observes Ajai Shukla.
Senior Indian Police Service officer Alok Joshi will be the new chief of the Research and Analysis Wing and Syed Asif Ibrahim will be the next Director of Intelligence Bureau, the first Muslim to head it with four officers senior to him having been shifted out.
The questioning of suspected Indian Mujahideen operative Fasih Mahmood is currently going on at Bengaluru and it has revealed details of the logistical support he provided in carrying out the blasts at the Chinnaswamy Stadium at Bangalore. Fasih, who was extradited from Saudi Arabia, was first questioned by a team of the Delhi police and the Intelligence Bureau. Fasih has been named as the eighth accused in the blasts case.
The Union Home Ministry has decided to conduct a fresh census on the Rohingya Muslims following reports that terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Tayiba has taken up the cause of the community, which is fleeing the current wave of ethnic cleansing by the ruling Buddhist majority in Myanmar especially in the Arakan region.
Terming the recent leak of Army Chief General VK Singh's March 12 letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as "anti-national," Defence Minister A K Antony on Thursday said he and the defence ministry would take the strongest possible action against those responsible for the leak under Indian law.
'They are both very individualistic and have similar personalities.'
Indian investigators probing Monday's Israel embassy car blast, which left a diplomat and three others injured, claimed to have identified the youth who planted the explosive. Sources say that the motorcyclist who was following the SUV was an Iranian youth.
The officials said the focus of the talks was on 'full and enduring restoration of peace and tranquillity' along the border and also better coordination to ensure avoidance of such incidents in future.
IB sources told rediff.com that the crackdown on the IM had largely disrupted their plans to spread terror in India, but now they are trying to regroup and carry out a fresh set of terror strikes, led by the elusive Riyaz Bhatkal and his brother Iqbal Bhatkal.
With the government confirming that the majority of messages which led to the huge exodus of North Easterners from south Indian states being generated out of Pakistan, it seems to be the perfect ploy that worked very well.
The centre has convened a two-day conference of the Directors General of Police on August 24-25 to discuss internal security with the backdrop of Hindu terrorism.
The magistrate court has remanded the accused Pakistani national Subair, who was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau to 14 days of judicial custody.
The Lashkar-e-Tayiba and the Jaish-e-Mohammed are planning to assassinate Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, reports Vicky Nanjappa
'As Rana is not an Indian citizen, our leverage on the US system -- whether it's their judiciary or the executive -- is very limited in that sense.'
The Delhi Police has arrested Abu Hamza alias Saeed Zabi alias Zabi Ansari, an Indian Mujahideen operative who is suspected to have been one of the handlers who was giving instructions to the 26/11 terrorists in Mumbai.
Yasin Bhatkal is a prized catch, no doubt. What he tells is going to shape the understanding of how the Indian Mujahideen operated, and how far and well its network was spread. But, perhaps the cat was let out of the bag too soon, says Mahesh Vijapurkar.
Former Intelligence Bureau joint director M K Dhar on the worst act of aerial terrorsim before 9/11.
Security agencies told rediff.com that this year Al Qaeda will team up with the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen and the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi to set up India operations. Intelligence Bureau officials point out that this would be the end of the SIMI and the Indian Mujahideen and all their cadre would be accommodated into there three outfits for their Indian operations.
Tapan Kumar Deka, the "crisis man" who was put in charge of the counter-assaults during the 26/11 Mumbai attack, was on Friday appointed director of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) while the tenure of Samant Goel, who has been heading the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), has been extended by one more year.
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