Jaipur blasts: SIMI-HuJI at work again

Investigators are working on busting a sleeper module of the Students’ Islamic Movement of India that its suspects provided logistical support to the Harkat-ul-Jehad-al-Islami unit seen as the actual executors of Tuesday’s terror attack.

The blasts are suspected to have been executed by a two-tiered terror combination. "While the SIMI module might have comprised locals, HuJI could have sent some of its men from outside the state, even from Bangladesh," said Additional Director General of Police (crime) AK Jain, who is supervising the probe.

On why Rajasthan was targetted, an investigator said it had of late become a favoured destination for outfits like the HuJI and SIMI where they could "hide their men and stash explosives/arms". "But intercepts of communication made by us and the Intelligence Bureau always suggested they considered Rajasthan a safe haven and, therefore, the blasts have surprised us in a way", he added.

The police had been monitoring arrivals and departures to and from the city from roughly two weeks before the blasts as well as suspicious telephonic/cyber communication. Teams are now verifying the particulars of buyers of new SIM cards as they believe the bombers might have used cellphones to coordinate their attacks.

Central intelligence agencies, for their part, are interpreting the e-mail sent by the bombers to the electronic media a day after the blasts. While being suitably sprinkled with Indian contexts, intelligence officers said it betrays the influence of the Al Qaeda-led pan-global jehad coalition on the author. Its justification of the killing of innocents and civilian Hindus is akin to the Qaeda’s rationalisation of attacks on civilians.

According to the e-mail, all Indians are valid targets because "they have on their own elected their leaders and representatives in Parliament, who draw up policies that murder our children, dishonour our women, occupy our houses and plunder our wealth". It adds that these Hindus also fund "terror organisations" like the RSS, VHP and Shiv Sena.