Maharashtra (Islamist/Other Conflicts): Timeline (Terrorist Activities) -2003

According to media reports, police have arrested Abdul Matin, the main accused in the December 2, 2002 blasts in a bus at Ghatkopar, in Mumbai. Matin, a medical student, is allegedly an active member of the Student Islamic Movement of India (SIMI). Matin was arrested in Aurangabad, Maharashtra. Besides, police also arrested three more SIMI activists for their role in the blasts and all three are engineering graduates. Three persons were killed and 32 more injured in the blasts on December 2. Read less...

According to media reports, Mumbai Police on January 3, invoked the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) against four Student Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) activists, alleged to have planned and executed bomb blast in a Bombay Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) bus at Ghatkopar on December 2, 2002. A local Court has further remanded their police custody till January 17. They were arrested on December 26-night and remanded to police custody till January 3, by the additional chief metropolitan magistrate on December 27. The accused have initially been charged under the India Penal Code (IPC) sections 302 (Murder), 120-B (Conspiracy), 307 (Attempt to Murder), 427 (Mischief Causing Damage to Property) and 34 (Common Intention). The accused are also booked under section 5 and 9 (b) of Indian Explosives Act, section 3 of Explosive Substances Act and section 3 of Public Property Destruction Prevention Act, report said. Three persons were killed and 32 more injured in the blast. Read less...

According to media reports, Mumbai Police is still to trace Syed Khwaja Yunus Khwaja Ayub, an accused in the December 2-blast in a Bombay Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) bus in Ghatkopar, who has escaped from the police custody on January 7. He fled while he was being taken to Aurangabad for inquiry. A police officer said that they were confident of arresting him soon. Read less...

According to media reports, Syed Khwaja Yunus Khwaja Ayub, an accused in the December 2-Ghatkopar bomb blast in a Bombay Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) bus, escaped from police custody on January 7-morning, while he was being taken to Aurangabad for inquiry. Ayub, a resident of Parbhani in Marathwada region, was arrested on December 26 in Washim under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA). Two persons were killed and 34 more injured in the blast. Read less...

According to media reports, on January 17, the police remand of four suspected terrorists, arrested under Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) in the case relating to a blast inside a bus in Ghatkopar, Mumbai, on December 2, 2002, has been extended. The remand of prime accused Imran Rehman Khan has been extended till January 31. Co-accused-Mohammed Abdul Mattin Abdul Basit, Shaikh Mohammed Muzamil Jamil Ahmed and Zaheer Ahmed Bashir Ahmed Shaikh, were remanded to police custody till January 22. The prosecution requested the Court for the extension of their custody on the grounds that their links with other accused abroad had to be investigated. Another accused, Sayyed Khawaja Yunus Khwaja Ayub, had escaped from the police on January 7, and is yet to be traced. Read less...

According to media reports, on January 20 a Special Court in Mumbai exempted film actor Sanjay Dutt and 88 other accused in the 1993-Mumbai serial bomb blast case from appearance till February 10. The special Court also allowed Dutt to visit Hyderabad till February 1 for professional reasons. Following a directive, all the accused––except Issaq Hajwani, who is unwell––appeared before the Court on January 20. Read less...

According to media reports, Dubai authorities, on January 26, deported Mohammed Altaf, the main accused in the December 2- bomb blast in Mumbai inside a bus in Ghatkopar. He is also an alleged activist of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI). Altaf had allegedly supplied explosives and funds to the perpetrators of the blast. On January 9, another accused, Irfan Rehman Khan, was deported from Dubai in the same case and is now in police custody. Earlier, four more were held under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) in connection with the incident. Of them, three are in judicial custody, while a fourth has escaped on January 7, and is yet to be traced. Read less...

Quoting police sources, media reports said, a woman was killed and 25 more injured, eight of them seriously, in a powerful bomb explosion in suburban Vile Parle, Mumbai, on January 27-evening. City Police Commissioner R S Sharma ruled out the hand of the banned Student Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) in the blast, but investigations are being made. Read less...

Media reports, on January 29, said Mumbai Police suspect the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) for the twin blasts near Vile Parle railway station, in Mumabi, on January 27 and January 28. In a massive combing operation in Mumbai and Thane, police picked up some 250 persons for questioning in connection wit the blasts. Reportedly, United Arab Emirates (UAE) based LeT terrorist Abu Hamza is suspected to be the masterminded behind the first explosion, in which a women was killed and 25 more injured. It is also suspected that the blasts could be in retaliation to the Gujarat riots—since Ghatkopar and Vile Parle are predominantly Gujarati localities. Read less...

According to a media report of January 30, Mumbai police investigating the January 27&28-Vile Parle blasts believe the two suspects arrested on January 28 could be members of the Muslim Defence Force (MDF). The report said police are also working on the theory that the Vile Parle blasts are connected to the blasts engineered by left-wing extremists—Naxalites—in Andhra Pradesh and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Sri Lanka. They have reached this conclusion on the basis of the explosive-laden bicycles used in the Vile Parle blasts. The modus operandi is similar to that of the LTTE and Naxals in Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. Read less...

Meanwhile State forensic laboratory director Rukmini Krishnamurthy said ammonium nitrate, a chemical used in fertiliser, was used in all the blasts. Read less...

Media reports, on January 29, said Mumbai Police is pursuing the deportation of United Arab Emirates (UAE) based Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) terrorist Abu Hamza, who is suspected to be the brain behind the December 2, 2002-bomb blasts in Ghatkopar and the January 27&28-blasts in Vile Parle, Mumbai. According to police sources, Abu Hamza alias Abdul Bari, of Hyderabad, Andhra Pradresh, migrated to Dubai along with his family about eight years ago. He is believed to have come into contact with the LeT in Dubai. Till date, no arrests have been made in connection with the Vile Parle blasts. But, over 275 persons, many of them suspected Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) cadres, have been picked up for questioning in Mumbai and Thane, sources added. Read less...