National
Attack handiwork of Pak.-based outfit?
By Vinay Kumar
NEW DELHI, JAN. 22. Though two militant outfits _ A.R. Commando and Harkat-ul-Jehad-e-Islami _ have reportedly claimed responsibility for today's attack on the American Center in Kolkata, Intelligence sources here are certain that the Pakistan-based Harkat-ul-Jehad was behind the terrorist strike.
About four hours after the attack, the Superintendent of Police (CID), Kolkata, Rajiv Kumar, is said to have received a telephone call from Farhan Malik, alias Aftab, of the Harkat-ul-Jehad, from Dubai. Besides owning responsibility for the attack, Malik threatened to carry out similar strikes in Delhi and Gujarat.
The Harkat-ul-Jehad is a Pakistan-based terrorist outfit. The Kolkata police official, who had earlier interrogated Malik, was able to identify his voice with certainty, it was officially stated. India has also contacted the United Arab Emirates in connection with the incident.
Investigations are being carried out in the backdrop of the Partha Pritim Roy Burman abduction case here in July last year. The shoe magnate was kidnapped by the Malik gang and released after a ransom of Rs. 3.75 crores was paid through a hawala operator in Dubai. Sources indicated that a local angle relating to the Kolkata police could not be ruled out in today's incident.
An ISI protege
Malik, now believed to be living on a Pakistani passport, was cultivated in early 2000 by the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence. In August 2001, Malik was taken to Islamabad and placed in contact with Omar Sheikh, a Harkat-ul-Jehad leader who was swapped for the passengers of the Indian Airlines plane, hijacked to Kandahar in December 2000.
Sheikh directed Malik to build a network to undertake covert operations launched through Bangladesh, identify potential high-value targets for abduction in India, and secure the release of terrorists lodged in Jodhpur jail. He was asked to establish safe houses in Agra, Mumbai, Bhopal, Ahmedabad, Kolkata and Delhi. Malik got saboteurs from Bangladesh, set up mafia network in West Bengal, got funds via Dubai and cultivated hawala operators in Hyderabad.
Involvement denied
AFP reports from Muzaffarabad:
The Harkat-ul-Jehad has denied involvement in the attack on the American Center. The group's spokesman, Aminuallah, said the accusation was a ``fabrication.''
``Neither have we had any link with that incident nor with the so-called telephone call attributed to us. All this is a fabricated story... We believe either India staged the incident to defame the Kashmiri mujahideen or it might be the work of some of the separatist groups in India.''
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