2006 Malegaon blasts
Encyclopedia
The 2006 Malegaon bombings were a series of bomb blasts that took place on 8 September 2006 in Malegaon
, a town in the Nashik district of the India
n state of Maharashtra
, located at some 290 km to the northeast of state capital Mumbai
.
The explosions, which caused the deaths of at least 37 people and injured over 125 more, took place in a Muslim
cemetery, adjacent to a mosque
, at around 13:15 local time after Friday prayers
on the Shab e Bara'at
holy day. Most of the blast victims were Muslim pilgrims. Security forces spoke of "two bombs attached to bicycles", but other reports indicated that three devices had exploded. A stampede ensued after the devices exploded. A curfew was imposed in the town and state paramilitaries were deployed in sensitive areas to prevent unrest.
http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/ATS-files-chargesheet-in-Malegaon-blast-case/413034/
reported it had learnt that investigators had identified the owner of one of the bicycles on which a bomb was planted.On the same day, police released sketches of two suspects wanted in connection with the bomb attacks.On 11 September, Maharashtra Director General of Police P. S. Pasricha
said that the officers investigating the Malegaon blasts probe had gained vital leads and expressed confidence that a breakthrough will be achieved soon.
On 30 October, Times of India reported that first arrest is made in Malegaon blast case. This is the arrest
of Noor-Ul-Hooda, an activist of the Students Islamic Movement of India
. . The DGP of Mumbai, Mr. Pasricha said the they are very close to crack the case and the two other suspects are Shabeer Batterywala and Raees Ahmad.On 30 October, many other news media reported from Mr. Pasricha saying that this is the first arrest. An earlier news in Indian express that twenty arrests have been made has not been confirmed by any media including Indian Express. Yahoo news publishes the story with headline first arrest..On 6 November the times of India reported from Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) that the prime conspirator Shabbir Batterywala is an operative of Lashkar-e-Toiba
[LeT] and the co-conspirator is Raees Ahmad is from SIMI
.
, the Lashkar-e-Toiba
or the Jaish-e-Mohammed
of involvement in the attacks. No evidence was released against any of these groups, though the police claimed on 13 October to have identified the perpetrators. Lashkar-e-Toiba has had contacts with the controversial Students Islamic Movement of India
in the region before. Police are also suspecting Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami
in the attacks. On September 10, police sources said that the methods used are similar to attacks on mosques earlier in 2006 for which 16 Bajrang Dal
activists, allegedly part of a "fringe group" of the organization, were arrested but not charged.
Malegaon has been the focus of communal tension for some time, which spilled out into the open in 1984, 1992, and 2001, when there were large scale protest over the US invasion of Afghanistan. Police had killed 12 Muslim protesters after a brief altercation with them. The erstwhile Taliban regime in Afghanistan
had enjoyed immense support from Muslims in Malegaon.
On May 2006, police recovered a cache of RDX
explosives and automatic rifles from the region based on information they said was provided by arrested extremist Islamists. The arrested were former members of the Students Islamic Movement of India
.
In the September 2006 incident,police investigations have determined that the explosives contained in these bombings were "a cocktail of RDX, ammonium nitrate and fuel oil — the same mixture used in 7/11", referring to the 11 July 2006 Mumbai train bombings
, a terrorist incident for which several Islamist groups are suspects. Since the investigation was still under way, Nasik Superintendent of Police Rajvardhan declined to give details, saying: "We can't say anything till we get reports from all the agencies".
However, the Anti-Terrorist Squad has prima facie ruled out the involvement of Hindu Nationalist groups like the Bajrang Dal
in the Malegaon blasts citing two reasons:
Ajai Sahni, an intelligence analyst who tracks terrorist groups in South Asia, also said it was unlikely to be a Hindu group because they "lacked the organisation for such an attack".
On September 12, 2006, Indian Prime Minister referred as inappropriate to "rule out or rule in" the involvement of Hindu groups saying that "It will be inappropriate for us to rule out anything or rule in anything. I think there should be a fair investigation which inspires confidence and brings out the truth and nothing but the truth without any pre-conceived notion. That has to be the objective".
Reporter B. Raman, in an op-ed published on September 11, noted that "while it is too early to rule out the possibility of either Islamic or Hindu extremists as the perpetrators, there have been "attempts by some leaders of the Muslim community to create a divide between the community and the police by questioning the impartiality of the police and levelling other allegations against the investigating officers".
As of October 30, 2006, the most recent arrests involved members of the Students Islamic Movement of India
and suspicions are presently directed at them as, after the arrests, the police have claimed to be closer to solving the case.
On 28 November 2006, Mumbai police stated that two Pakistani nationals were involved in the explosions. "We have successfully detected the Malegaon blasts case. We are, however, on the lookout for eight more suspects in the case," said DGP PS Pasricha. The Anti-Terrorism Squad probing into the case has already arrested eight suspects, including two booked in the July 11 Mumbai serial blasts, in connection with four explosions that rocked the town killing 31 people and injuring more than 200.
Three accused gave a confession before a competent authority about their involvement in the conspiracy but soon thereafter two of them retracted before a magistrate, saying they had not made a voluntary disclosure.
This was revealed to a special court by the accused themselves when they were produced before it for remand.
The development assumes significance as under MCOCA, a confession does not have evidential value if it is not a voluntary and true disclosure.
Seeking their remand, public prosecutor Raja Thakre said the accused had played a vital role in the conspiracy and investigations conducted by Anti-Terrorist Squad so far had revealed involvement of more persons who are yet to be arrested. On 16 Novermeber 2011 Seven accused in the Malegaon blasts were released on bail.
Malegaon
Malegaon is a city and a Municipal Corporation in the Nashik district in the Indian state of Maharashtra.Malegaon is one of the largest cities in northwest Maharashtra with an estimated population of 12 lakh to 14 lakh...
, a town in the Nashik district of the India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n state of Maharashtra
Maharashtra
Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...
, located at some 290 km to the northeast of state capital Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
.
The explosions, which caused the deaths of at least 37 people and injured over 125 more, took place in a Muslim
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
cemetery, adjacent to a mosque
Mosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
, at around 13:15 local time after Friday prayers
Salat
Salah is the practice of formal prayer in Islam. Its importance for Muslims is indicated by its status as one of the Five Pillars of Sunni Islam, of the Ten Practices of the Religion of Twelver Islam and of the 7 pillars of Musta'lī Ismailis...
on the Shab e Bara'at
Mid-Sha'ban
Mid-Sha'ban is thereceding night is known as Laylatul Bara’ah or Laylatun Nisfe min Sha’ban in the Arab world, and as Shab-e-barat in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Iran and Afghanistan...
holy day. Most of the blast victims were Muslim pilgrims. Security forces spoke of "two bombs attached to bicycles", but other reports indicated that three devices had exploded. A stampede ensued after the devices exploded. A curfew was imposed in the town and state paramilitaries were deployed in sensitive areas to prevent unrest.
Reactions
- Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao DeshmukhVilasrao DeshmukhVilasrao Dagadojirao Deshmukh , popularly known as Vilasrao is the current Minister of Science and Technology and Minister of Earth Sciences....
promised compensation payments of RsIndian rupeeThe Indian rupee is the official currency of the Republic of India. The issuance of the currency is controlled by the Reserve Bank of India....
1,00,000 (approx. €EuroThe euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
1700 or US$United States dollarThe United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
2150) to the next-of-kin of the deceased. - Relatives of victims cancelled the compensation payments of RsIndian rupeeThe Indian rupee is the official currency of the Republic of India. The issuance of the currency is controlled by the Reserve Bank of India....
1,00,000 (approx. €EuroThe euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
1700 or US$2150) immediately. - Prime MinisterPrime Minister of IndiaThe Prime Minister of India , as addressed to in the Constitution of India — Prime Minister for the Union, is the chief of government, head of the Council of Ministers and the leader of the majority party in parliament...
Manmohan SinghManmohan SinghManmohan Singh is the 13th and current Prime Minister of India. He is the only Prime Minister since Jawaharlal Nehru to return to power after completing a full five-year term. A Sikh, he is the first non-Hindu to occupy the office. Singh is also the 7th Prime Minister belonging to the Indian...
condemned the blasts and appealed for calm. - Home Minister Shivraj PatilShivraj PatilShivraj Vishwanath Patil is an Indian politician and current state Punjab governor and the Administrator of Union Territory of Chandigarh. Previously he had been the Speaker of the 11th Lok Sabha and served the Manmohan Singh cabinet as the Union Minister of Home Affairs...
said the incident seemed designed to "divide the various sections of the public." - Congress partyIndian National CongressThe Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...
president Sonia GandhiSonia GandhiSonia Gandhi is an Italian-born Indian politician and the President of the Indian National Congress, one of the major political parties of India. She is the widow of former Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi...
has called on Indians to maintain calm. - A home ministry official in Delhi said central security forces, including personnel from the anti-riot Rapid Action ForceRapid Action ForceThe Rapid Action Force is a specialised wing of the Indian CRPF . It was established on 11 December 1991 and became fully operational in October 1992, to deal with riots & related unrest...
, were sent to Malegaon. - There were episodes of violence when Muslims in Malegaon attacked police and their vehicles following the blasts.
- Various Muslim leaders have denounced the bombings and prayed for peace. In particular, Muslims in the state of Gujarat demonstrated against PakistanPakistanPakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
for its alleged involvement in the blasts. - US ambassador David MulfordDavid MulfordDavid Campbell Mulford is a former United States Ambassador to India. He took office on January 23, 2004, and left office in February 2009.He is currently Vice-Chairman International of Credit Suisse.Mulford was born in Rockford, Illinois...
said he was "shocked and saddened by the brutal terrorist bombings" and that the US stood "with India in its fight against terrorism".
http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/ATS-files-chargesheet-in-Malegaon-blast-case/413034/
Arrests
On 10 September, news channel NDTVNDTV
NDTV is an Indian commercial broadcasting television network founded in 1988. It was founded by Prannoy Roy, an eminent journalist and current chairman and director of NDTV Group. NDTV currently has more than 1,000 employees producing news from over twenty locations in India...
reported it had learnt that investigators had identified the owner of one of the bicycles on which a bomb was planted.On the same day, police released sketches of two suspects wanted in connection with the bomb attacks.On 11 September, Maharashtra Director General of Police P. S. Pasricha
P. S. Pasricha
Parvinder Singh Pasricha is an Indian police officer, who served as the 30th police commissioner of the Mumbai Police, and as the Director General of Police of Maharashtra state.-Career:...
said that the officers investigating the Malegaon blasts probe had gained vital leads and expressed confidence that a breakthrough will be achieved soon.
On 30 October, Times of India reported that first arrest is made in Malegaon blast case. This is the arrest
of Noor-Ul-Hooda, an activist of the Students Islamic Movement of India
Students Islamic Movement of India
The Students Islamic Movement of India is an Islamic student organization that was formed in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, in April 1977. The stated mission of SIMI is the ‘liberation of India’ from Western materialistic cultural influence and to convert its Muslim society to live according to Muslim...
. . The DGP of Mumbai, Mr. Pasricha said the they are very close to crack the case and the two other suspects are Shabeer Batterywala and Raees Ahmad.On 30 October, many other news media reported from Mr. Pasricha saying that this is the first arrest. An earlier news in Indian express that twenty arrests have been made has not been confirmed by any media including Indian Express. Yahoo news publishes the story with headline first arrest..On 6 November the times of India reported from Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) that the prime conspirator Shabbir Batterywala is an operative of Lashkar-e-Toiba
Lashkar-e-Toiba
Lashkar-e-Taiba – also transliterated as Lashkar-i-Tayyaba, Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, Lashkar-i-Taiba, Lashkar Taiba or LeT – is one of the largest and most active militant Islamist terrorist organizations in South Asia, operating mainly from Pakistan.It was founded by Hafiz Muhammad...
[LeT] and the co-conspirator is Raees Ahmad is from SIMI
SIMI
Simi may refer to:*Symi, a Greek island*Simi Valley, California*Students Islamic Movement of India - a students' social Islamic terrorist organization - now banned - in India.*Society of the Irish Motor Industry...
.
Suspicions and press releases
The Maharashtra police initially suspected Bajrang DalBajrang Dal
The Bajrang Dal , a hardline and militant Hindu organization in India, is the youth wing of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and is based on the ideology of Hindutva. Founded on 1 October 1984 in Uttar Pradesh, India, it has since spread throughout India...
, the Lashkar-e-Toiba
Lashkar-e-Toiba
Lashkar-e-Taiba – also transliterated as Lashkar-i-Tayyaba, Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, Lashkar-i-Taiba, Lashkar Taiba or LeT – is one of the largest and most active militant Islamist terrorist organizations in South Asia, operating mainly from Pakistan.It was founded by Hafiz Muhammad...
or the Jaish-e-Mohammed
Jaish-e-Mohammed
Jaish-e-Mohammed is a Pakistani-based, militant Islamic group established by Maulana Masood Azhar in March 2000...
of involvement in the attacks. No evidence was released against any of these groups, though the police claimed on 13 October to have identified the perpetrators. Lashkar-e-Toiba has had contacts with the controversial Students Islamic Movement of India
Students Islamic Movement of India
The Students Islamic Movement of India is an Islamic student organization that was formed in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, in April 1977. The stated mission of SIMI is the ‘liberation of India’ from Western materialistic cultural influence and to convert its Muslim society to live according to Muslim...
in the region before. Police are also suspecting Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami
Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami
Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami is an Islamic fundamentalist organization most active in South Asian countries of Pakistan, Bangladesh and India since the early 1990s. It was banned in Bangladesh in 2005. The operational commander of HuJI, Ilyas Kashmiri, was reportedly killed in a U.S. Predator drone...
in the attacks. On September 10, police sources said that the methods used are similar to attacks on mosques earlier in 2006 for which 16 Bajrang Dal
Bajrang Dal
The Bajrang Dal , a hardline and militant Hindu organization in India, is the youth wing of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and is based on the ideology of Hindutva. Founded on 1 October 1984 in Uttar Pradesh, India, it has since spread throughout India...
activists, allegedly part of a "fringe group" of the organization, were arrested but not charged.
Malegaon has been the focus of communal tension for some time, which spilled out into the open in 1984, 1992, and 2001, when there were large scale protest over the US invasion of Afghanistan. Police had killed 12 Muslim protesters after a brief altercation with them. The erstwhile Taliban regime in Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
had enjoyed immense support from Muslims in Malegaon.
On May 2006, police recovered a cache of RDX
RDX
RDX, an initialism for Research Department Explosive, is an explosive nitroamine widely used in military and industrial applications. It was developed as an explosive which was more powerful than TNT, and it saw wide use in WWII. RDX is also known as cyclonite, hexogen , and T4...
explosives and automatic rifles from the region based on information they said was provided by arrested extremist Islamists. The arrested were former members of the Students Islamic Movement of India
Students Islamic Movement of India
The Students Islamic Movement of India is an Islamic student organization that was formed in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, in April 1977. The stated mission of SIMI is the ‘liberation of India’ from Western materialistic cultural influence and to convert its Muslim society to live according to Muslim...
.
In the September 2006 incident,police investigations have determined that the explosives contained in these bombings were "a cocktail of RDX, ammonium nitrate and fuel oil — the same mixture used in 7/11", referring to the 11 July 2006 Mumbai train bombings
11 July 2006 Mumbai train bombings
The 11 July 2006 Mumbai train bombings were a series of seven bomb blasts that took place over a period of 11 minutes on the Suburban Railway in Mumbai, the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the nation's financial capital. The bombs were set off in pressure cookers on trains...
, a terrorist incident for which several Islamist groups are suspects. Since the investigation was still under way, Nasik Superintendent of Police Rajvardhan declined to give details, saying: "We can't say anything till we get reports from all the agencies".
However, the Anti-Terrorist Squad has prima facie ruled out the involvement of Hindu Nationalist groups like the Bajrang Dal
Bajrang Dal
The Bajrang Dal , a hardline and militant Hindu organization in India, is the youth wing of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and is based on the ideology of Hindutva. Founded on 1 October 1984 in Uttar Pradesh, India, it has since spread throughout India...
in the Malegaon blasts citing two reasons:
- RDX is only available to Islamist outfits.
- Bajrang Dal activists so far have only used crude bombs, nothing as sophisticated as the ones in Malegaon.
Ajai Sahni, an intelligence analyst who tracks terrorist groups in South Asia, also said it was unlikely to be a Hindu group because they "lacked the organisation for such an attack".
On September 12, 2006, Indian Prime Minister referred as inappropriate to "rule out or rule in" the involvement of Hindu groups saying that "It will be inappropriate for us to rule out anything or rule in anything. I think there should be a fair investigation which inspires confidence and brings out the truth and nothing but the truth without any pre-conceived notion. That has to be the objective".
Reporter B. Raman, in an op-ed published on September 11, noted that "while it is too early to rule out the possibility of either Islamic or Hindu extremists as the perpetrators, there have been "attempts by some leaders of the Muslim community to create a divide between the community and the police by questioning the impartiality of the police and levelling other allegations against the investigating officers".
As of October 30, 2006, the most recent arrests involved members of the Students Islamic Movement of India
Students Islamic Movement of India
The Students Islamic Movement of India is an Islamic student organization that was formed in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, in April 1977. The stated mission of SIMI is the ‘liberation of India’ from Western materialistic cultural influence and to convert its Muslim society to live according to Muslim...
and suspicions are presently directed at them as, after the arrests, the police have claimed to be closer to solving the case.
On 28 November 2006, Mumbai police stated that two Pakistani nationals were involved in the explosions. "We have successfully detected the Malegaon blasts case. We are, however, on the lookout for eight more suspects in the case," said DGP PS Pasricha. The Anti-Terrorism Squad probing into the case has already arrested eight suspects, including two booked in the July 11 Mumbai serial blasts, in connection with four explosions that rocked the town killing 31 people and injuring more than 200.
Three accused gave a confession before a competent authority about their involvement in the conspiracy but soon thereafter two of them retracted before a magistrate, saying they had not made a voluntary disclosure.
This was revealed to a special court by the accused themselves when they were produced before it for remand.
The development assumes significance as under MCOCA, a confession does not have evidential value if it is not a voluntary and true disclosure.
Seeking their remand, public prosecutor Raja Thakre said the accused had played a vital role in the conspiracy and investigations conducted by Anti-Terrorist Squad so far had revealed involvement of more persons who are yet to be arrested. On 16 Novermeber 2011 Seven accused in the Malegaon blasts were released on bail.
See also
- 2007 Samjhauta Express bombings2007 Samjhauta Express bombingsThe 2007 Samjhauta Express bombings were a terrorist attack that occurred around midnight on 18 February 2007 on the Samjhauta Express, a twice-weekly train service connecting Delhi, India, and Lahore, Pakistan. Bombs were set off in two carriages, both filled with passengers, just after the train...
- 2008 Malegoan & Modasa bombing29 September 2008 western India bombingsIn the 29 September 2008 Western India bombings, three bombs exploded in the States of Gujarat and Maharashtra of India killing 8 persons and injuring 80...
- List of terrorist incidents, 2006
External links
- Thirty-five people killed in India blasts
- Blasts kill 37 in India graveyard
- 38 killed in Malegaon blasts
- Pictures of the blast
- Voice of America news article
- BBC news article
- Aljazeera news article
- Google news link
- Allegations by Indian Muslim Newspaper of "Corpse with fake beard found"
- http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/ATS-files-chargesheet-in-Malegaon-blast-case/413034/
- http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/7-accused-in-Malegaon-case-freed/articleshow/10762443.cms