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

Coast Guard patrol vessels intercepted a suspicious Pakistani fishing boat in the Arabian Sea in the early hours of January 1,reports The Times of India. Ministry of Defence (MoD) officials said the four people on the fishing trawler set it ablaze after an "hour-long hot pursuit", which ended with "warning shots" being fired to stop the vessel around 365 km from Porbandar in Gujarat. The ship, with those on board, finally sank to the seabed amid loud explosions around 6.30am on January 1.MoD was quite emphatic that the fishing boat which was being quietly tracked after it began its journey from Keti Bandar near Karachi (Sindh, Pakistan) based on specific intelligence inputs and wireless intercepts was carrying explosives. "The nature of the fire clearly indicated it had explosives on board. The boat was repeatedly challenged but it increased speed and tried to escape from the Indian side of maritime boundary (India's exclusive economic zone stretches to 200 nautical miles from coast)," said an official.The location of the ship off Gujarat coast is considered significant because of the high-profile events Prabasi Bharatiya Divas and Vibrant Gujarat which will be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and others. Two Coast Guard vessels are still searching the area for any "tell-tale signs" of the conspiracy that was afoot.Almost a year before 26/11, as reported on April 12, 2007) eight Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) terrorists had come from Karachi through the sea route and were intercepted by the Coast Guard off Mumbai coast but were let off for a "consideration". Two of the eight terrorists were held in Rajouri (Jammu and Kashmir) following an Intelligence Bureau operation in March, 2014. The duo had travelled from Diu to Mumbai-Delhi-Chandigarh-Rajouri and was helped by a dozen other local operatives who functioned as their guides. The six others remained untraceable.The two terrorists Abdul Majid Rain from Sindh and Jameel Ahmed Awan from Abbotabad later told their interrogators that they were motivated by speeches of LeT founder Hafiz Saeed and 'commander' Azam Cheema. The two leaders had told them to fight "excesses" against Muslims in J&K and elsewhere in India. Both were enrolled in LeT in 2003, four years before they were launched into India and were given arms training in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) and shown CDs of "atrocities of security forces" on Muslims. Read less...

Security across the coastal regions of Gujarat has been increased, Zee News reports on January 5. According to reports, at least 173 Marine Commandos have been deployed at 20 Police Stations along the coastal areas to foil any attempt by the Pakistan-operated terrorist outfits to create unrest in India. Confirming the development, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP) BJ Ninama of the Marine Police said, “After the incident of Pakistani boats being chased by Coast Guard in Indian waters, we have ordered 173 of our trained Marine Commandos to take positions at 20 marine police stations situated on state coastline." These Commandos have been ordered to heighten vigil across the coastline and monitor each and every boat going into the sea and returning ashore. Apart from vehicles, these Commandos have been provided boats to patrol the sea near the shore. Read less...

The intelligence agencies have indicated role of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) behind the Gujarat off coast incident near Porbandar, New Indian Express reports on January 7.Sources indicated that the LeT operative module had possible plans to target Navy installations at Porbandar port.The Navy had recently upgraded its base off the Gujarat coast and even took control over Porbandar airport for strategic reasons. The incident also holds significance as it comes close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Porbandar on January 12, 2015. Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar also made it clear that four men on the boat were in touch with Pakistan Maritime Ggency and even the Pakistan Army as well. Read less...

Gujarat Technological University (GTU) in Ahmedabad launched e-Raksha Research Centre that will encourage research and enhance capability to provide solution for issues related to cyber security, Business Standard reports on January 28. "GTU has launched e-Raksha Research Centre where various activities from research on latest techniques of cybercrime to capacity building of the faculties, students and government officers will be undertaken," a statement from GTU said. GTU is collaborating with Cyber Peace Foundation (CPF) with the goal of establishing a peaceful and harmonious cyber space through research in this area, it said. The research centre will train students in areas of cyber security and enhance their capability to provide solution for issues related with cyber security, the statement added. Read less...

The Gujarat Forensic Science University (GFSU) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a Finnish company, Codenomicon Software to be able to train and raise a “cyber army” to combat “cyber terrorism”, The Times of India reports on January 31. The technology will eventually also be used to secure critical infrastructure, industrial control systems and other smart-city initiatives in the country. The GFSU developed a cyber intelligence lab in August, 2014 that has the software called “defensics” provided by Codenomicon. The software is the only one available in the country, which makes this lab the biggest cyber monitoring cell among the other labs in the country. The cyber army would be then raised to combat cyber terrorism. The intelligence lab is not just a learners’ ground for the students of the GFSU, it will also host training sessions for the officers from central agencies like Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), National Investigation Agency (NIA), armed units and Police officers from various states regularly. The intelligence lab will also aid cyber crime detections and help Police in cyber-monitoring. The GFSU and Codenomicon will then develop SCADA in the lab for analysis. The intelligence lab, working on the Defensics software, works for two phenomenon of cyber security – checking unknown vulnerabilities and cyber monitoring. The forensic officials said Defensics works on fuzzing technology, a technique that exposes defects and vulnerabilities in the software by sending inputs in the system. Read less...