Is Bangalore part of bin Laden's network?

By K.V. Subramanya

BANGALORE, OCT. 16. The September 11 terror attacks on the World Trade Centre (WTC) in New York and the Pentagon in Washington DC, have had a varied impact on Bangloreans.

With the television channels, newspapers, and magazines going to town on the terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden, Bangaloreans seems to have been getting more curious about the Saudi dissident.

The book, The Man Who Declared War Against America, a ``well- documented'' work on Laden by a British journalist, was sold like hot cakes in the City in the past few days.

``This book is sold out and right now we do not have any books on Laden. We are expecting a book on him by an Indian publisher,'' a sales manager at the Gangarams Book Bureau told The Hindu.

When asked for a copy of the book, a sales supervisor at Higginbothams said: ``The stocks are exhausted.''

According to an Intelligence Bureau (IB) official, the author reportedly makes a mention of two South Indian cities -- Bangalore and Hyderabad -- while discussing Laden's network.

On the other hand, following media reports that the French astrologer, Nostradamus, had predicted a terror attack on the World Trade Centre by a man of Saudi origin, the demand for the book, The Prophecies of Nostradamus, has gone up.

More than 500 copies of the book were sold at Pustak Mahal's Mission Road shop in the City after the September 11 attacks. ``We are expecting fresh stocks,'' a salesman said.

Similarly, the video CDs on the predictions of Nostradamus are also in great demand. A video cassette and CD centre owner in Basavanagudi said that he had bought more copies of the CD, The Man Who Saw Tomorrow, and rented them out during last one month.

Meanwhile, the internet users from the City have reacted to the terror attacks, in an interesting way by sending bulk e-mails and requested the recipients to forward them to as many people as possible.

The crux of one of the e-mails is that why is the U.S., which is urging the Taliban to hand over Laden to it, following the terror attacks, not pressuring Pakistan to extradite Dawood Ibrahim, who has been accused of masterminding the serial blasts in Mumbai, to India.

Further, the netizens have shown some creativity by creating and forwarding some photographs. One such photograph shows the Statue of Liberty covered with a bhurka with a caption: ``This will be the consequence if the Taliban wins the war against the U.S.''

In another incident, the mention of Osama Bin Laden caused some tension at Kolar Gold Fields (KGF), a few days ago. It is said that two friends were having tea at a hotel and during their conversation, one told the other that he resembled Laden.

This enraged the youth who picked a quarrel with his friend. The issue took a serious turn when they brought their supporters and started quarrelling, forcing the police to intervene and sort out the matter.

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