POLICE CONTINUE TO INVESTIGATE POSSIBLE TERRORISTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L CHENNAI 000055

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/13/2023
TAGS: PTER PREL PGOV KTFN PK BG NP SA IN PINR
SUBJECT: POLICE CONTINUE TO INVESTIGATE POSSIBLE TERRORISTS
ARRESTED IN KARNATAKA

REF: A. KOLKATA 52

B. KOLKATA 54

Classified By: Classified by Consul General David T. Hopper for reasons
1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) Summary: Police officials in the South India state
of Karnataka arrested two individuals on January 9 who have
since made statements suggesting that they are involved in
plotting terror attacks in India. At least one of the
suspects claimed to have received training at a
Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LET) mujahideen training camp in Pakistan
and to have lived with suspected terrorist Shahid Bilal in
Karachi for a year. Press coverage of these claims has been
extensive. The police are still investigating the case and
have corroborated some parts of the suspects' statements.
One of the suspects comes from a family known for its
propagation of extremism. As of February 8, however, the
police had not corroborated claims that either of the
suspects has links to a wider terrorist infrastructure.
Links to the full text of the police reports related to this
case are available on Intellipedia, keyword Laskar-e-Tayyiba
(www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Lashkar-e-Tayyiba %28LT/LeT%29).
A more complete investigative report may be available by the
end of February. End summary.

Initial reports in, investigation ongoing
--------------


2. (C) Shankar Bidari, Karnataka's Additional Director
General of Police for Law and Order, gave us on February 8
two reports on this case. The first is the arrest report,
the second covers the interrogation of both suspects.


3. (C) Based on these reports, the bio-data for the suspects
is as follows:
A) Raziuddin Naser (alternate spellings: Riyazuddin,
Rasuddein, Rasuddin) aka Mohammed Ghouse
DPOB: 05 JUNE 1987, Hyderabad
Father: Mohammed Nasiruddin, aka Moulana Nasiruddin
Address: No. 16-2-867/A/11, Jeevan Yarjung Colony, Hyderabad
Phone: 040-24551261, 65306613
Family Members: Mother: Tasleem Fatima; Brothers: Mohammed
Imadduddin Amer (28 yrs),Mohammed Muqeemuddin Yasir (26
yrs),Mohammed Baleege Huddin Jabbar (22 yrs); Sisters:
Aanesa Sumayya (27 yrs, married to Abdul Asim Khalid and
living in Saudi Arabia),Saffiyya Batool (24 yrs, married to
Shykhsaifulla Khalid)

B) Asadulla Abu Baker Hinagi
DOB: 25 NOV 1985 (no POB listed)
Father: Abu Baker Hinagi
Address: 1415/A, Behind Madina Mosque, Chapparadahalli,
Hospet, Bellary district
Family: Brother: Syedulla Abu Baker Hinagi (23 yrs,
studying in Bangalore, phone: 98861 92674); Sister: Syeda
Yasmin (11 yrs)

Circumstances of arrest and detention
--------------


4. (C) Bidari told us that the two attracted police attention
by acting suspiciously near the town of Honnali
(approximately 250 kilometers northwest of Bangalore). The
police searched and questioned the pair, who were unable to
give satisfactory answers as to why they had certain items in
their possession, including three U.S. dollars, fake identity
cards, and a dagger. The police then detained the pair, who
then admitted stealing four motorcycles, which the police
have since recovered. Bidari said that the local police were
prepared to treat the case as mere petty theft, but became
suspicious as to why Raziuddin and Asadulla had not sold the
stolen motorcycles. As police questioned them about their
retention of the stolen motorcycles, the pair then began
admitting their involvement in possible terrorist activities.

Background of one suspect a cause for concern
--------------


5. (C) Bidari told us that Raziuddin comes from a family
known to harbor extremist views. Known as a fiery orator,
Raziuddin's father is believed to have been involved in the

planning of the 2003 murder in Gujarat of Hiren Pandya, a
former state Home Secretary. The father, Mohammed (aka
Moulana) Nasiruddin, was arrested by the Gujarat police in
Hyderabad in November 2004, but has not yet been tried in
connection with this case. He is being held under terrorism
prevention laws, which allow the government to hold him
indefinitely. (Pandya, a hardline BJP official in Gujarat,
was reportedly targeted because of his suspected involvement
in the 2002 anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat. Nine people have
been arrested and convicted for Pandya's murder.) The police
investigation report also claims that Raziuddin's father has
possible links to the Pakistani intelligence service (ISI)
and is a suspect in at least one other murder case. One of
Raziuddin's brothers (Yasir),a member of the banned
extremist group "Students Islamic Movement of India" (SIMI),
is also in jail for distributing illegal posters related to
the 1992 demolition of the Babri Mosque in Ayodhya.


6. (C) The police investigation report describes Asadulla as
hailing from a middle-class family. It also says that he was
a mediocre student with money problems who fell under the
influence of "suspected Jihadi" Mohammed Asif, a medical
student at KMC Medical College in Hubli, Karnataka. (Press
reports indicate that police have also arrested Asif.)

Raziuddin "confesses" much, but how much is real?
-------------- --------------


7. (C) Raziuddin told the police that he traveled to Saudi
Arabia (it is not clear from the report whether this was in
2005 or 2006) and met Abdul Samad, elder brother of Shahid
Bilal, who the Indian press has reported was involved in
terrorist activities in India, including the bombings in
Hyderabad in August, 2007. Raziuddin also said that he tried
to get Abdul Samad's assistance to participate in "Jihad
activity" in Iraq and Afghanistan, but eventually went to
Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, where he underwent training in
weapons and combat tactics at a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LET) camp.
After that, he claimed to have stayed with Shahid Bilal in
Karachi from June 2006 to June 2007, until Bilal instructed
him to return to India via Bangladesh and Nepal. He said
that he stayed in Hyderabad for much of the summer of 2007,
using the e-mail ID "mujahid@yahoo.co.in" (sic) with the
password: expert.


8. (C) Ravendra Prasad, the police superintendent for
Davangere, told us that Raziuddin also claimed that Bilal was
shot and killed in Pakistan, but emphasized that police in
Hyderabad do not believe this to be true. Similarly, the
superintendent said that the police do not believe
Raziuddin's claim that a Pakistani intelligence agent named
Abu Hamza committed the attack on Bangalore's Indian
Institute of Science in 2005 that killed a professor and
injured several others.


9. (C) According to the investigation report, Raziuddin also
claimed that he met with SIMI activists and other extremists
in India in September and November 2007, procuring a 9mm
pistol, ammunition, and a dozen detonators. He said that he
conspired with both Asadulla and Asif to hijack a truck
containing hydrogen Peroxide to manufacture bombs and that he
and Asadulla had stolen vehicles from various towns in
Karnataka that he planned to use as vehicular bombs.

Raziuddin's targets
--------------


10. (C) Raziuddin told the police that he, along with Asif,
Asadulla, and a SIMI activist named Adanan (aka Hafeez or
Afeez) planned serial bomb blasts in multiple locations. The
specific targets included:

-- police headquarters in Andhra Pradesh;
-- "important religious places," including targets belonging
to the Muslim community, in Mangalore, Hubli-Dharwad, and
Udupi (all in Karnataka);
-- Infosys (one of India's largest information technology
companies) campuses in Bangalore and Mangalore;
-- "vital installations" in Mangalore, Hubli-Dharwad, and
Bangalore;
-- beaches in Goa frequented by foreigners; and
-- prominent people opposed to Islam.

Police still investigating
--------------


11. (C) Bidari cautioned that the police and other Indian
government agencies were still in the process of
investigating most of Raziuddin's claims. In particular, he
said that the police had not yet been able to verify
Raziuddin's travels, except to Saudi Arabia and Kashmir. He
emphasized that the police did not yet know if Raziuddin
actually traveled to Pakistan, trained in an LET camp, or had
actual contact with known terrorist suspects like Shahid
Bilal. Bidari did say, however, that Raziuddin's family
includes known, hard-core extremists and that Raziuddin
harbors extremist views himself. Bidari also speculated that
if Raziuddin and Asadulla were well-connected terrorist
operatives, they would have been well-funded, and would not
have had to steal motorcycles, an activity that increased the
risk that police would detect them.


12. (C) Prasad told us that Raziuddin does seem to have
knowledge of explosives and that he suspects that Raziuddin
may have participated in the August 2007 bombings in
Hyderabad. He said, however, that Raziuddin has denied any
involvement in those attacks. (Local press reported on
February 13, however, that Raziuddin confessed while
undergoing "narcoanalysis" -- interrogation while under the
influence of police-administered drugs -- to placing one of
the Hyderabad bombs.)

Home Secretary notes concern
--------------


13. (C) Karnataka's Home Secretary, Vatsala Watsa, whose
portfolio includes both security and transportation issues,
told us that she is following the case closely. She
emphasized that the police are still only in the preliminary
phase of investigation, but admitted that the arrestees
appeared to have intentions of committing terrorist acts.
She was less sure, however, of their actual capabilities.
Watsa expressed particular concern about the targeting of
Infosys, and told us that her administration is currently in
negotiations with many of Bangalore's high-tech companies to
create a government force, modeled on India's Central
Industrial Security Force (CISF),that could provide armed
security to private companies. (CISF forces currently
provide security at government-owned facilities like ports
and airports.) She added that she is also concerned that an
extremist group may infiltrate one of these companies, either
to perpetrate a cyber attack or conduct other types of
terrorist activities.

Comment
--------------


14. (C) Karnataka police officials are taking this
investigation very seriously. While they advised us
repeatedly that they are still in the early stages of
investigation, it is clear that they believe that they have
uncovered a significant group of actual or potential
terrorists. They have also been very cooperative with us,
willing to share information openly about the case, and have
promised additional information sharing as the investigation
continues. We asked Bidari if the USG might be able to offer
any assistance, but he said that none was needed at this time.


15. (U) This message was coordinated with Embassy New Delhi.
We will submit a separate cable for the Visas Viper program.
HOPPER