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| 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" | 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 writes 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". . | |||
| ==External links== | ==External links== | ||
Revision as of 09:44, 15 September 2006
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| 2006 blasts at Malegaon | |
|---|---|
| Location | Malegaon, Maharashtra, India |
| Date | 8 September 2006 (UTC+5.5) |
| Target | Vicinity of Mosque |
| Attack type | Bombings |
| Deaths | 37 |
| Injured | >125 |
| Perpetrators | (Suspected outfits)—Lashkar-e-Toiba,Bajrang Dal, Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami |
The 2006 Malegaon bombings were a series of bomb blasts that took place on 8 September in Malegaon, a town in the Nashik district of the Indian 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 in sensitive areas to prevent unrest.
Reactions
- Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh has promised compensation payments of Rs 1,00,000 (approx. €1700 or US$2150) to the next-of-kin of the deceased.
- Prime Minister Manmohan Singh condemned the blasts and has appealed for calm.
- Home Minister Shivraj Patil said the incident seemed designed to "divide the various sections of the public."
- Congress party president Sonia 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 Force, were being 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 have demonstrated against Pakistan for it's alleged involvement in the blasts .
- US ambassador David Mulford said he was "shocked and saddened by the brutal terrorist bombings" and that the US stood "with India in its fight against terrorism".
Investigations
On September 10, an Indian news channel, NDTV, has learnt that investigators have identified the owner of one of the bicycles on which a bomb was planted .
On teh same day, police released sketches of two suspects wanted in connection with the bomb attacks.
On September 11, 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 September 13, the police arrested twenty inhabitants of the town who were suspected of complicity in the attacks. The sole details released were that those arrested were from a 'predominantly Hindu area' of the town .
The Maharashtra police initially suspected Bajrang Dal, the Lashkar-e-Toiba or the Jaish-e-Mohammed of involvement in the attacks. So far no evidence has been released to the public pointing to any of these groups. 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. Police sources say 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.
In 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 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 fundamentalist groups like the Bajrang Dal in the Malegaon blasts citing two reasons:
- RDX is only available to Islamic terrorist 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" .
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 writes 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". .
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"