Firing at Mecca Masjid and the aftermath

Photo courtesy: Outlook

The Mecca Masjid bombing at Hyderabad was a turning point in the social dynamics in Hyderabad many would claim. The case took many twists with the Harkat-ul-Jihadi being blamed at first before the CBI was brought in who finally concluded that it was an act committed by some extremist Hindus.

The blame that was laid on the Muslim community at first was not too well received with a large section of them asking one question, “why would our own people bomb a Mosque?” However that sentiment has now calmed down among the Muslim community in Hyderabad and they appear to be happy that the truth in so far as this case has finally come out.

However the burning issue today is the police firing subsequent to the bomb blasts of May 18 2007. Immediately after the blasts, there was chaos around the Mosque. The police claims that there was stone pelting protesting the blasts and hence they had to fire at them. Nine people lost their lives in this firing.

A commission of inquiry was set up and was headed by Justice Bhaskar Rao. The Civil Liberties Monitoring Committee which has been spearheading this cause to bring out the real picture says that the commission report which is of extreme importance appears to have gone into the cold storage.

The convenor of this committee, Lateef Mohammad Khan says that it is clear that the police had acted out of spite and had fired indiscrinately at the mob which was just trying to help out those who were injured in the bomb blast. The government fears that if the report by the Commission which was handed over when K Rosaiah was the Chief Minister will bring about the down fall of many in case it is made public. The commission worked for nearly 3 years trying to find out tthe reason for the firing and in the bargain the government has spent crores of rupees.

Although it is not clear what exactly the commission has said at the end of it, here are some records to show what the submissions before it were. The special branch of the Hyderabad city police and also the state intelligence bureau in their preliminary reports stated that the police firing on the protestors was ‘indiscriminate and unwarranted’. The preliminary reports admitted that the police had shot both at the protestors as well as the panic stricken people who were present around the Mosque at the time of the incident.

Further the commission also relied upon the post mortem reports which indicated that the police firing was indiscriminate in nature. The report also went on to state that the bullets were fired from self loading rifles which are normally used in battle against extremists such as terrorists and naxalites.

Further before the commission was also the report of the City Security Wing which stated that 90 rounds were fired by the police force at that time. 6 constables of the Quick Response Team of the City Police had fired 72 rounds, 3 constables of the City Armed Reserve had fired 11 rounds, and 3 constables of the West and North Zone Task Force had fired 7 rounds at Punch Mohalla and Charminar bus stop near Mecca Masjid.

Khan goes on to state that the police men were chosen specifically for the job by the then additional commissioner of police (crime branch). Civil Liberties in its fact finding report had also indicated that there was a connection between the blasts and the police firing. When the commission submitted its report to the government, the Congress government as usual dumped it in cold storage, Khan further adds. The government fears to place the facts before the people.

We expected that report would be presented during the budget session, but that was not done. Worse even the Muslim representatives in the assembly did not make any noise about it. Khan says that many families who lost their loved ones in the firing are badly affected by the incident

The mystery T comity 8th chapter

Photo courtesy: IBN Live

The mysterious 8th chapter in the Shri Krishna Committee report which was never made public has become a talking point in the whole of Andhra Pradesh. Manage the media to curb the movement and if Telangana is given it could turn into a land for Hindutva forces, Jihadi elements and Maoists is something that this 8th chapter has to say.

The 8th chapter has become a fighting point between the people of Telangana and the residents of the Seema-Andhra region today. The people of Telangana are obviously up in arms against this portion of the report and say that they will not settle for anything less than the arrest of Justice Shri Krishna.

The 8th chapter has some very controversial recommendations and suggestions which have not gone down well at all with the public. Firstly it says that Telangana will become a hub for militant Hindutva forces and Jihadi elements. Further it says that if the state is divided then Telangana region will become a den for the naxal movement. Further it also speaks about the MIM gaining in strength if Telangana movement is allowed to succeed. The report also speaks of increase in communal clashes if Telangana is handed over.

However the portion which has been taken very badly is the point where there are suggestions given to the government to manage the print and electronic media in order to curb the movement. Giving these organizations more government advertisements will keep them in good books and they should be told to curb the movement, the committee also suggests.Further the committee has also gone to say that additional forces should be used to curb the movement.

The big question that is being asked is why did the Government not make this chapter in the report public while it was released more than a month back. The matter was taken to the court where petitioners had alleged that the report was biased in nature. The court during its last hearing ordered the government to make this report public. While passing the order, the court had observed that this chapter makes it clear that there has been some amount of bias in the report.
The government is however mum on this chapter in the report. The government does not speak about the contents in the report and neither does it say anything as to why it had not been made public. They however say that they would go in appeal against the order of the High Court which had ordered making of the report public.

There has been a lot of debate in Hyderabad regarding this chapter. Lateef Mohammad Khan who heads the Muslim Forum for Telangana says that there is clear pressure from the government not to make that chapter of the report public. In fact we wanted to address the media about this issue and we received a call from the police asking us not to do it. We were told there is no need to discuss this issue in public.
Dr Prithviraj who heads the students movement for Telangana says that he had been maintaining since day one that this is a biased report given out by the Congress. This chapter 8 has only vindicated my stand. If the Congress had nothing to hide then why did he intentionally prevent this portion of the report from coming out.

The report says that Telangana would become a Maoist den if a separate state is created. I want to ask them one question. Chandrababu Naidu was attacked in the Andhra region by naxalites. M Subbirami Reddy was shot in the Andhra region by naxalites. What do they have to say about this? All this is just nonsense talk to curb the movement at the behest of the Seema-Andhra people. They want to brand all the people of Telangana as naxalites and underworld elements.
They should make this a public document if they have the guts. Frankly speaking we were against the committee since day one since we were expecting a report to this effect. Today we want Justice Krishna to be put behind bars.

Khan goes on to add that the situation will become dirtier in the days to come. Recently Samba Shivudu, a TRS leader was murdered. He was a strong leader who had command over the movement and today we suspect that the government could have got him killed. What has been suggested in the report to curb the movement has already started taking effect, Khan also adds.

No drugs from your country please

The talking point between the two Home secretaries of India and Pakistan has so far been terrorism. During the talks both the countries are expected to reach an agreement to fight the menace of fake currency and also a bigger problem- narcotic smuggling.
Statistics would go on to show that the drug trade in India has its roots from both Pakistan and Afghanistan. Statistics go on to show that the drug trafficking from across the border has been increasing steadily and the talks would speak about cooperation between the two countries in stemming this rot.
India and Pakistan have always acted as transit points for the drug trade which emerges out of Afghanistan. However what India would look to push through to Pakistan is that their establishment is providing an easy route to the peddlers in order to push their drugs into India. Indian authorities say that on an average at least 2000 kilograms of opium alone is seized. This would show that the quantity is much higher since a large chunk goes through the radar of the security agencies.
India would expect more cooperation from its counterparts in Pakistan in stemming the rot, but Indian Intelligence agencies point out that there is no point in being too hopeful. The ISI is the one which facilitates drug trade to a large extent since it acts as a major source of funding of terrorism activities. In Afghanistan where the drug is produced, the ISI has helped create safe routes to smuggle drugs out. They have either been through Nepal or into Pakistan and then India.
In addition to this the ISI has specifically instructed its rangers parked along the borders to permit peddlers from smuggling drugs out. India would expect Pakistan to act tough in Afghanistan in order to curb drug smuggling since 70 per cent of the drugs that are smuggled into India are from that country, sources also point out.
Indian intelligence agencies say that only Pakistan can take stock of this problem since all these peddlers are answerable to the ISI which facilitates this trade. In the year, the Narcotics bureau had arrested two peddlers who made it clear that they were pushed into this trade by the ISI. Probing them further revealed that the ISI had created a safe passage for them so that they could carry the drugs into India without any problem.
India will need Pakistan to be more serious about this problem since it finds itself battling the menace in almost every part of the country. Chennai had become a hot spot for this trade and this cartel was controlled by the one operating out of Goa. Now it is also found that the menace is spreading deep into Kochi. Earlier the trade was restricted mainly to Tirupur, Tuticorin and Varanasi. However these operatives have now managed to go down south as well, sources point out.
While drugs peddling does contribute to 40 per cent of funds for terrorism, another worry is that these routes are also being used to smuggle in arms. It is a known fact that the Dawood Ibrahim gang which controls 95 per cent of the drug trade had to agree to financing terrorism and also smuggle arms in order to keep his trade alive. He had dedicated routes between Afghanistan-Pakistan and India until one day the ISI decided to put its brakes on his operations. If Dawood wanted to continue functioning, then the ISI had made it clear that he will have to do his bit for terror operations, an option Dawood picked up.
Intelligence bureau officials say that the money that is generated through drug trade is huge. Drug lords earn anything between Rs 10000 to Rs 20000 crore every year through drug trade and a large chunk of this is to be handed over to terror operatives. The Lashkar-e-Tayiba and the Taliban earn anything between 1500 to Rs 2000 crore through drug trade, sources also point out and it is common knowledge what these funds are used for. It is compulsory for these drug lords to hand over a large chunk of their income to these terror groups and this is an instruction given to them by the ISI which has total control over this trade.
In addition to this India too will have to do much more on controlling the menace. It is evident that the borders are weak which eventually allows these peddlers to get into the country easily. These groups from across the border will ensure that drugs are pumped in at any cost. They have also started using the Gulf route to enter down South in order to keep their trade alive and Indian agencies will have to step up the vigil. However if Pakistan does act on the problem, then the problem could be sorted out at the source itself.

Jama Masjid attack and the re-birth of the IM

The Jama Masjid case which took place a couple of days before the Common Wealth Games was a wake up call for security agencies who had by then thought that the Indian Mujahideen was dead and gone. Since day one the Delhi police probing the case had maintained that it was an IM hand in the blast.
Today it has been decided that the probe into this case would be handed over to the National Investigative Agency. At the outset it appears that the case has not made much headway under the Delhi police. However sources say that the fact is that there is a major jurisdictional issue that the Delhi police faces and hence the NIA has been roped in.
Although when compared to the rest of the attacks carried out by the IM, the Jama Masjid was on a smaller scale, it is still a very important case. Following a series of attacks by the IM, there was a major crack down and the operations of this group had come down considerably. The Jama Masjid case was more of a trial run for the IM and through this attack they were only testing the waters. This attack was followed by the Varanasi blasts which was on a bigger scale.
Today security agencies believe that the two attacks are inter connected and hence it is important that it is investigated together. The Delhi police were scratching in the dark since it is not easy for them to step out of their jurisdiction and probe in other states. However the NIA does not face this problem since the NIA act permits them to operate inter-state.
Indian Intelligence agencies say that the Jama Masjid attack was carried out by a splinter group of the Indian Mujahideen operating between the old city of Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. Some of the members such as Asadullah Akthar who control the operations of the IM in India have now moved out of the country and his last known location was in Sharjah. These are the basic problems which the Delhi police would not have been able to handle and hence it was necessary for a national agency to handle this case.
The IB says the Jama Masjid case cannot be taken lightly. There were sophisticated ammunition used in the attack and it is crucial to understand where they have procured it from. An officer in the NIA when asked about this development refused to comment stating that the official communication is yet to reach them.
The case as of now has reached a dead end under the Delhi police who have questioned nearly a 100 people in connection with this case. However there has been no break through which itself is an indication that the attackers were not from within the city where the attack took place.
In addition to this the police also found clues that the id from which a mail claiming responsibility for the attack was created in California and then the mails bounced off from India. All this would require a large amount of coordination and only the NIA can handle this. Moreover the NIA would also be looking into the re-grouping of the IM which is said to be happening down South particularly in areas in Kerala.
The Jama Masjid case is just a pre-cursor to the re-grouping of the IM and hence this matter cannot be taken lightly or treated as an one off attack, sources also pointed out.

Fake currency will dominate Indo-Pak talks

The Indian dossier to be handed over to Pakistan has the names of nearly 400 terrorists that India would want in their custody. The war against terror being fought by India largely revolves around financial terrorism sponsored by Pakistan which according to Indian security agencies will be crucial to break.
Financial terrorism is the backbone of every terrorist group and it is common knowledge that the Fake Currency racket is the main aspect of financial terrorism. While Dawood Ibrahim the fugitive don hiding in Pakistan is the key player in this racket, it would be interesting to note that his two honchos, Aftab Bakti and Babu Gaithan are his two eyes in this menace. While these two men are in the UAE, the issue of fake currency would still be raked up during the talks with Pakistan since that country would be able to stem the menace as the currency is being printed out of there.
Bakti is the key player in this racket and continues to be, Indian agencies say. Hailing from Maharashtra and having a strong network in Hyderabad, Bakti still holds the key to the fake currency market in India. Bakti who initially operated out of India shifted base to Pakistan and then to the United Arab Emirates from where he continues to operate. During the Indo-Pak talks, the latter is bound to deny the presence of this man in their country, but security agencies point out that they would be in the best position to curtail his movements and provide all vital information regarding this man.
The intelligence says that the nabbing of Bakti may not bring to an end the fake currency menace, but it would hamper the operation a great deal. What Bakti has managed to do is create a dedicated route for the circulation of these notes. There have been several papers put out by the Hyderabad police speaking of the manner in which he operates the market through Hyderabad. A major haul before the twin blasts in Hyderabad was also the doing of Bakti. Along with Gaithan who now operates out of Dubai, they had managed to take into their fold several construction labour who shuttled between India and the UAE and these persons acted as carriers of the notes. Apart from this they have also set up modules in various states which carry out this business unabated.
What Pakistan will need to monitor is the flow of the notes from their country into the UAE from where it is transported into India. The notes are all printed in Pakistan with high quality machinery and only Pakistan can take control of this problem.
Bakti has been in the eye of the Indian agencies since quite some time now. A couple of years back, the CBI had moved a court in the UAE seeking the extradition of Bhakti. However not much success had been attained by the Indian agencies to secure him. There has been a look out notice against Bhakti since the year 2002. Born in the year 1958, speaks, Hindi, Urdu and English, Bhakti is 162 cms tall, has brown eyes and red haid. He wears dentures who three gold teeth and his primary job is to circulate fake currency, the look out notice against him reads.
Indian agencies say that Pakistan cannot shift the blame on the UAE regarding this man since it is very clear that Bhakti’s networks are in Pakistan and Dubai through which he pumps in fake currency into India.
Indian agencies say that despite safeguards being adopted, the menace of fake currency continues in India and the entire onus is upon Pakistan to stop this menace. With the help of the ISI, the D gang continues to procure high quality paper from London and prints high quality notes and it makes it very difficult to tell the difference. Moreover the menace appears to be taking stronger roots and the last reported cases have been from Tamil Nadu and Kerala where this network is becoming stronger. Indian agencies say that these persons are constantly innovating and appear to be countering every strategy. Hence it becomes pertinent that this issue is debated during the Home Secretary level talks so that Pakistan could act upon this problem with more seriousness so that menace of financial terrorism comes to a halt in India.

Yeddi trouble again

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It is Yeddi trouble again in Karnataka and 50 rebels led by the Chief Minister’s closest friend, K S Eshwarappa are in New Delhi seeking a change in the leadership. This appears to be a serious problem for B S Yeddyurappa as he faces his biggest dissent from within his party ever since he came to power. BJP sources in Karnataka say, “it has gone from bad to worse for the Chief Minister.

K S Eshwarappa, the state BJP president, the Reddy brothers of Bellary, senior leader Jagadish Shettar are all in New Delhi seeking a change in the leadership. Round one of the meeting was with Nithin Gadkari who according to the rebels gave them a patient hearing. Gadkari had however said later that there shall be no change in guard. The next round of meetings will be held with L K Advani, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley.

The rebels are really pushing their case hard and think this is their best chance to get Yeddyurappa out of the hot seat. Yeddyurappa has had a host of allegations of corruption against him and this is the major point that the rebels are pushing. Apart from this they also say that he has become too arrogant and does not give his own party leaders a hearing. In addition to this they feel that Yeddyurappa is giving away too much to those leaders who have joined the BJP from other parties while their own party men are waiting for important posts.

However the biggest set back for the Chief Minister of Karnataka is the court order of Thursday. The special court which was hearing corruption cases against Yeddyurappa has ordered the Lokayukta police to probe the case. The rebels feel that this is would be their trump card since a court will refer a matter for probe only if it feels that there is a prima facie case on hand.

However Yeddyurappa who is in Bangalore appears to be unfazed by all these developments. He refuses to accept that there is a crisis on hand and says that the party leaders are in Delhi to seek more funds for the state. When asked about the leaders camping in Delhi, he had this to say, “ they are in the national capital to speak with senior leaders. There is no rebellion and they have gone there with my permission.”

Puducherry has the laziest MLAs

Puducherry appears to have the laziest MLAs. A report shows that in comparison to the other states that go to polls, the MLAs from Puducherry had the lowest number of sittings in the past 5 years.
A report by the Association for Democratic Reforms and National Election Watch states that the Kerala Legislative Assembly sat for the largest number of days. The Puducherry legislative assembly sat for 123 days while Kerala was the highest at 240 days in the past five years. In these five years, the largest number of bills were passed by the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly (225) while Puducherry remained the lowest again at 42 bills.
The report further goes on to state that the best performance in terms of number of sittings is that of Kerala which has met for 240 days in the last five years. This amounts to an average of only 48 days per year. Kerala is followed by West Bengal which sat for 219 days in five years (average of 44 days a year) and Tamil Nadu (214 days in five years with an average of 43 days a year).
This compares very poorly with Lok Sabha which in itself sits for small number of days. The current Lok Sabha in last 1.5 years has sat for 135 days which averages to about 90 days in a year. All states have sat way below the number of days Lok Sabha has sat(most has set for less than 50% of the days)
The longest session held was of 42 days of the West Bengal Assembly in 2010. It also sat for 39 days in 2008 and 38 days in 2007. Right behind is Tamil Nadu which sat for 35 days for its 5th session. The shortest sessions were the Budget sessions of Puducherry which on 3 occasions lasted for only a day.
Puducherry has held a total of 11 assembly sessions of which there have been 123 sittings. The bills passed in these sessions is 42 and the sittings average at 25 per year. In the case of Kerala, there have been 17 sessions held of which there have been 240 sittings averaging at 48 per year. The number of bills passed is 135. The Tamil Nadu statistics show that there have been 14 assembly sessions of which there have been 214 sittings. The number of bills passed is 225 and the average number of sittings per year is 43. In the case of Assam, there have been 125 bills passed two of which have been withdrawn. The number of sittings were 131 and 17 sessions have been held. The average number of sittings per year is 26. In the case of West Bengal, there have been 8 sessions and 219 sittings at an average of 44 per year. The bills passed are 149.
The Lok Sabha in the past 1.5 years have had 6 sessions of which there have been 125 sittings averaging at 90 per year. The Lok Sabha has passed 74 bills in the past 1.5 years.

Ansari the man behind the CWC threat

Even as the nation gears up for the finals of the cricket world cup, intercepts continue to trickle in regarding the terror threat to the event. Home Minister of India, P Chidambaram has just issued a statement speaking of a possible threat to the finals to be played on April 2.
Earlier it had been reported that the threat to the world cup is a serious one and the Intelligence Bureau had stated that there had been a series of intercepts suggesting a potential threat. The Indian IB says that there is no reason to take this threat lightly since the intelligence agencies from across the border too have warned about the same threat.
The police had been claiming that 17 people from across the border had already slipped into the country and had even purchased tickets for the finals. As of today the fresh warnings indicate that some men from the Punjab region in Pakistan could enter into India through the waters and then stage an attack on the venue where the finals will be played.
The IB says that their intercepts make it clear that the threat perception is highest in Gujarat and Maharashtra. The attackers could come in buddy pairs and can number up to 15 members when they stage an attack, the IB has also warned. However as per the information which is with India, the attack could be two fold. A fidayeen styled attack has been planned and also there is information that the chance of using chemicals during the attacks is also not ruled out.
The warnings make it clear that the attacks do not necessarily have to be around the stadium but soft targets and other important installations in the above mentioned states could also be targeted in order to create panic. The idea is to vitiate the atmosphere, the IB points out.

The man to look out for in this entire operation is Zabiuddin Ansari, the same man who had played a major role in the German Bakery blasts case. Hailing from Maharashtra, it was obvious that the Lashkar would have given him the charge for this operation. The IB dossier on him suggests that he particularly specializes in Maharashtra and Gujarat and going by the latest threat on hand, it was pretty obvious that the job to stage an attack at this time would have been handed over to him.
The dossier further claims that Ansari, Rahil Sheikh and Abu Jundal, all Lashkar operatives had worked in tandem during the train blasts of 2006. Today each one is housed in Pakistan and were part of the ISI sponsored Karachi project which speaks of staging a series of attacks on Indian soil. Sources point out that for this world cup attack, Ansari has taken the lead role due to his familiarity with the areas. During his stint in India along with Sheikh and Jundal, he had set up modules in both the above mentioned states. All these sleeper cells are very much present and can be activated at any time the IB warns. However these cells have only provided the logistical support for this operation, but the men that have been sent in to stage this attack are all from the Punjab region in Pakistan, the intelligence warning also mentions.

Intercepts would also go on to suggest that the route which is preferred to gain access into India is through the waters. However the Fidayeen squad may use the sea route, but another team which specializes in chemicals had been housed in Nepal and they would use that border to gain access.

Security experts say that in such a scenario it is not sufficient for only the police department of the states in question to act on this threat. The cells of the Lashkar from various parts of the country could be involved in this operation and hence it is necessary that the police forces from across the nation should be on their toes to neutralize all the modules in order to maintain security.

Ansari has been playing the lead role in this operation for over a year now. The Lashkar usually plans well in advance and it also has on it a lot of information given by David Headley pertaining to both these states. Home Secretary, G K Pillai had said a couple of months back before the Obama visit that there is a danger that lurks since a lot of information handed out by Headley is still in the possession of the Lashkar and it could be used at any point of time against India.
The police have been on the look out for Ansari ever since the train bombings. The closest they came to him was in the year 2006 when an operation was launched to arrest Ansari who was along with Sheikh at that point of time. However both managed to give the police the slip when they jumped down from the building and escape. Ever since that attack Ansari has shuttled between Pakistan and Nepal and has also been recruiting youth to join the Lashkar. Today he holds the position of a commander in the Lashkar and is largely responsible for any operation in Maharashtra and Gujarat. Post 26/11, he was considered to be the Indian link to the attack, but till date it has not been established whether he had any role to play in the attack. Investigators say that going by the pattern followed by the Lashkar, they do not tend to use the same man for back to back in the same city. He would have been asked to lie low for at least four to five years before handing him his next assignment.

FICN, 2G etc etc-D is everywhere

When the Indo-Pak talks recommence the man which India would be seeking the most is Dawood Ibrahim. He is India’s biggest menace and his network continues to be extremely strong in the country and the police force does not appear to be doing enough to stem this rot, the Intelligence Bureau says.

Be it a match fixing scandal, fake currency, drug racket and now the infamous 2G scam, they all have imprints of the notorious Dawood Ibrahim, security agencies point out. Sources say that the talks between the two countries will focus largely on the D factor and India will hand out proof of his existence at Karachi and how he is being sheltered by the ISI.

In the past two weeks, the D gang has figured in two very major incidents. The death of Sadiq Batcha and now the match fixing scandal. When Batcha committed suicide it was said by investigating agencies that there was a huge hawala racket attached to this scam which the police were all set to bust. Unfortunately the name of Dawood figured in this hawala transaction as such things involving such huge chunks of cash can be done only by someone like Dawood and his men. The CBI’s was planning on questioning Balwa whose company the intelligence suspect had links with the D gang.

Proof of the Dawood Ibrahim link to the 2G scam comes out in the open now, with membes of his gang handing out a threat to blow up the CBI office in New Delhi. The CBI is in possession of documents which pin point to the D connection and further probing would have gone on to reveal the exact link between this gang and a host of other Indians who were involved in this scam. The CBI has informed the Ministry of Home affairs regarding this threat and security has been beefed up around the CBI office which houses the documents pertaining to the multi crore 2G scam. In addition to this security has also been beefed up in the other centres of the CBI which is handling the 2G spectrum scam.

The other issue that connects the D gang is the latest revealation of the Australia-Zimbabwe game being fixed. The police have claimed that they picked up three men belonging to the D gang who had fixed the game. The anti corruption wing of the ICC has been informed about the same. It is said that the men indulged in spot fixing as a result of which the Aussies had scored slowly in the first ten overs of the game.

The Aussies have however rubbished this and say that the ICC is not looking into any such charge. Sources however point out that the matter is still in a very preliminary stage and the interrogation of the three men will throw more light on the case. It is hard to come to any conclusion whether the match was fixed or not. The three men who were picked up were in the same hotel to do the same thing that is being alleged. Whether they managed to get access to the players and whether they did finally manage to convince them is something which will trickle in soon.

While there is confusion over the fixing of this game, the security agencies say that the D gang is very much into this business. It is rated at number 3 in their list of notorious activities after fake currency and hawala. They have their men all over the world who manage this business and despite tracking down almost every move, they still do manage to get in touch with the players through international calls which suggests that a large part of the fixing is also done from outside the country.

While these are issues that will come up for discussion during the talks between the two nations, it looks like India is finally accepting that the D gang did have a role to play in the 26/11 attack. Despite the media reporting it over and over again, the investigators had refused to accept that the D gang was even remotely involved in this incident. Today India finds the need to investigate deeper into the D connection to the 26/11 attack. The issue of local help has always been a question mark and despite David Headley singing in front of the NIA, they have never been establish the local link properly. During the talks the D issue will be debated with Pakistan and India will go that extra mile to point out the importance of Dawood.

The IB says that getting Dawood is like almost putting an end to most of India’s troubles. He is a key player in the terrorist rung in India since he continues to be their primary funder. Be it through money earned by drug smuggling or fake currency racket or even a hawala transaction, nearly 40 per cent of this money lands up with the ISI which uses it for terror operations.

India will hand out a dossier which would include the name of Dawood and 400 other terrorists who are believed to be sheltered in Pakistan. Security agencies however say that it appears highly unlikely that Pakistan will hand over custody of Dawood since they would not want the ISI to lose their trump card. His custody would spell doom not only for operations in Pakistan but will also reveal the big names in India who have been associated with him in the past many years.

You are never going to keep me down