Gujarat (Islamist/Other Conflicts): Timeline (Terrorist Activities) -2015

In the data on terror financing tabulated from 2006 till date, terror finances to the tune of INR 148.5 million have been recovered by National Investigation Agency (NIA) and Police of 15 states, reports The Times of India on April 10. The NIA has surpassed the states in recovery of terror finances despite starting operations as late as 2009. According to the report, the agency seized INR 36.6 million in terror funds in 11 cases investigated by it since its inception. As many as 101 persons are accused in these cases. Jammu and Kashmir ranks second only to NIA in seizures. The state seized INR 29.3 million in 80 terror financing cases since 2006, in which 190 persons are accused. Manipur, despite its small size, reported terror fund seizures worth INR 21.1 million in 26 cases, followed by Delhi which seized INR 19.2 million in 21 cases. Madhya Pradesh accounted for seizure of terror finances worth INR 16.4 million, while Odisha Police seized around INR 11.2 million. Though Karnataka, Gujarat and Kerala registered 14, three and one terror financing case respectively under Unlawful Activities [Prevention] Act (UAPA), they did not report any seizure since 2006. As many as 213 terror financing cases were registered by NIA and various state Police, in which 873 persons are accused. J&K reported the highest number of cases (80), followed by Manipur (26) and Delhi (21). In terms of number of those accused of terror financing, J&K ranked first (190) followed by NIA (101) and Maharashtra (98). Read less...

Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has found signs of banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) regrouping in Ahmedabad, ahmedabad.com reports on April 11. Alerted by some suspicious movements, its sleuths raided a house in Juhapura in Ahmedabad District in search of Yasin Patel alias Falahi, a key SIMI operative. Falahi could not be arrested, but Police have confirmed information that he was present in the city on March 28, 2015 and met former SIMI cadre. Delhi High Court had banned his entry in the state in 2004 while granting him conditional bail. He was arrested under POTA in 2002 in Delhi and charged with sedition. Alarmed at Falahi's movement, ATS sleuths got into action and raided the Juhapura house last week. However, Police did not find him there. Highly placed sources said that Falahi flew into Gujarat on March 28 in a private airline flight. They have not found traces of his leaving the city yet. ATS sleuths had collected the CCTV footage from the city airport's domestic terminal. Falahi is clearly seen in the recordings. The cops have, however, traced his movement in the city. A source said that Falahi met a few former members of SIMI. These meetings put the cops on their toes. The source said that these meetings were not normal. They suspect SIMI of having already regrouped in the city or being in the last phase of regrouping. These meetings could energise the sleeper cells to get into motion in the city. However, the cops fear that the next terror attack in Ahmedabad could be a lone wolf attack and would take minimal or no help from the sleeper cells. The meetings of ex-SIMI cadre could also be part of initiating such an attack. Read less...

Intelligence agencies on April 15 issued a terror alert for temples in Gujarat, reports Zee News. According to intelligence inputs, Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists might target Akshardham temple, Somnath temple, and other famous places in Gujarat. Following the alert, Gujarat Police also increased security at all major establishments and also along the coastline. Minister of State for Home Rajnikant Patel said all the necessary steps were being taken to thwart terror attacks."After the alert, we have beefed up the security at all the important places and asked the respective heads of police to increase vigilance in their areas. I also appeal to the people that they should remain alert and inform police if they learn about any suspicious activity or a person," said Patel. Read less...

Gujarat Police and central defence and intelligence agencies started their two-day joint drill Sagar Kavach 2015 to check their level coordination and preparedness for protecting the long coastline of the state, on April 16, reports Indian Express. The exercise started two days after Intelligence Bureau (IB) issued an alert warning anti-national elements can come through sea route and stage attack like 26/11 (November 26, 2008).Inspector General of Gujarat Police for coastal security, BS Jebalia said the exercise involves around 25 agencies including Gujarat Police, Indian Coast Guard, Indian Navy, Indian Air Force, Indian Army, Intelligence Bureau, Customs Department, state fisheries department etc. The drill, which is like a mock-drill is carried out in around 17 Districts of Gujarat which have coastline, police officers said. “This is an integrated exercise carried out simultaneously in all the districts with a sea coast in the state. Superintendent of police (SP) of respective districts are supervising the drill in their jurisdiction. The objective is to check coordination among agencies which have stake in coast security and level of preparedness,” Jebalia stated. Read less...

A joint operation of Indian Coast Guard (ICG) and Indian Navy busted a Pakistan smuggling racket in the Arabian Sea on April 20, reports The Indian Express. Report said that the ICG and Navy on April 21 brought in a suspicious boat that was seized off the coast of Porbandar (Gujarat) a day before and the eight smugglers from Pakistan are being interrogated. The three-day operation ended when the boat was intercepted by ICGS Sangram around 150 nautical miles off Porbandar coast, Navy officers said. The two boats, ‘Fiza’ and ‘Fatima’, were found sailing close to each other. Coast Guard officials found the contraband consignment from ‘Fiza’ whereas nothing was found from ‘Fatima’. ICG Commander Coast Guard (North West) Kuldip Singh Sheoran said inspection showed that the contraband was pure heroine. “A total of 232 packets were seized from boxes stored in the boat. The international market price of the contraband is estimated to be Rs. 600 crore,” he added. However, the officials refused to comment whether the alleged smugglers have terror links. They were using Satellite phones and GPS (global positioning system) devices. Indian Navy officers said that “The men belong to a large network of drug peddlers who often use Indian waters for smuggling and were carriers.” Senior officers from Navy, Coast Guard and Narcotics Control Bureau are in Porbandar for the interrogation of the arrested smugglers. Read less...

The Bharuch Police in Gujarat arrested five persons, identified as Shivkumar Mishra (45), Natwar Ravat (36), Hajratali Saiyad (42), Nazir Chauhan (51) and Jyoti Goms (31) along with Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) with face value of INR 6.661 million, reports Press Trust of India. Based on a tip-off, local Crime Branch officials arrested five persons from Rundh village of Jhagadia tehsil (local administrative division) in of Bharuch District on April 26 evening and seized FICN worth INR 6.572 million. Later on April 27 Police recovered another FICN worth INR 89,000 from the house of the main accused. Police said that Mishra, an electrician with a private firm, had started printing currency notes at his Bharuch house, "Mishra and two of his accomplices printed these notes and contacted Saiyad, who agreed to buy them. Jyoti is an accomplice of Saiyad. When all of them were busy making the transaction in an open field in Rundh village yesterday (April 26), we nabbed them," said inspector V R Malhotra. The currency notes were mainly of the Rs 1,000 denomination. "We also seized printer, scanner, dye plates, paper cutter and injection syringes," Malhotra added. Read less...