Babri Masjid ghosts emerge from tale of Bolton terror suspect to be extradited to India

May 5, 2012

New Delhi, May 5: Early in 2010, detectives walked into a grocer's store in Bolton, 16 km from Manchester, looking for a man his closest friends called “Tiger.” For 17 years, police in Gujarat had been hunting for Muhammad Hanif Patel, wanted for his alleged role in a 1993 grenade attack on a train which left an eight-year-old girl dead and 12 people injured.

This week, the greying 54-year-old businessman lost a desperate legal battle to avoid extradition to India. His trial, when it begins later this summer, will exhume some of India's most painful post-independence history.

In December 1992 when Hindutva groups demolished the Babri Masjid sparking off murderous communal violence nationwide, Mr. Patel was a successful construction magnate. His United Kingdom-based father, Umarji Patel, belonged to an influential Muslim family, part of Surat's well-heeled business élite. Mr. Patel busied himself organising relief camps for the thousands of Muslims displaced in the violence, often carried out by police-backed mobs.

He also, police claim, participated in a plan to kill.

Babri Masjid to Black Friday

From evidence produced during the trials of several men already convicted for the bombing, at least some of Surat's besieged Muslims felt the need for more muscular kinds of assistance. The former State Minister and Fisheries Board Chairman Mohammad Surti — who received a 20-year sentence for his role in the bombing last year — called top ganglord Abdul Latif for help. In April 1993, Mr. Latif is alleged to have met with Mr. Surti, his son Farooq Surti, local Congress politician Iqbal Wadiwala, Husain Ghadiyali, Salim Chawal and Mr. Patel himself.

Later that month, Mr. Ghadiyali drove a Maruti van, with a dozen hand-grenades, two Kalashnikov rifles, and a hundred rounds of ammunition to Surat. The grenade thrown at the Gujarat Express on April 22, 1993 was intended to have demonstrated that killing Muslims would not be cost-free.

Nothing in the Gujarat Police's files, or the trial records, suggests Mr. Patel had a direct role in the bombing. Mr. Ghadiyali, whose wife tied a rakhi on the ganglord's wrist each year in a ritual gesture of brotherhood, was the central actor.

Mr. Latif — later to die in a controversial encounter — was no jihadist. Long, a key figure in Gujarat's lucrative bootleg racket, he had clawed his way into the State's élite by ruthlessly eliminating his rivals. He won support by acting as a source of patronage and protection — and bought impunity by building a close relationship with the local Congress. In 1987, then in jail facing trial on murder charges, he fought and won elections from five Ahmedabad municipal wards.

In the wake of the 1992-1993 carnage, ganglords like Mr. Latif came under pressure from communities torn apart by communal violence — and turned to Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate for help. In February 1993, Karachi-based ganglord Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar ordered networks to stage reprisal attacks. From a confessional statement made by Dawood Ibrahim's lieutenant Usman Gani Merchant, we have some idea of what was discussed at the meeting, where the decision for ‘revenge' was taken.

Mr. Kaskar's operatives set off 13 improvised explosive devices in Mumbai on March 12, 1993, killing more than 250 people — the largest terrorist attack in India's history, known popularly as the Black Friday bombings. The explosives, grenades and assault rifles used in the course of the revenge operation were provided by the ISI, which hoped to set off a communal war in India.

The weapons used in Surat, investigators later discovered, were part of a larger consignment of 57 Kalashnikov assault rifles, several dozen grenades given to Mr. Latif by Mr. Kaskar, with instructions to carry out similar operations in Gujarat.

Led by a Latif gang member called Rasool Khan ‘Party,' his nickname derived from slang for businessman, the crime syndicate carried out strikes in a Surat marketplace, and at eight locations in Ahmedabad — killing 10.

Mr. Latif fled India for a time, dumping his remaining cache of 30 assault rifles and grenades in Jharnea, in Madhya Pradesh. Police allege the weapons were transported there by Sohrabuddin Sheikh, who was killed in a 2005 shootout with the Gujarat Police, now known to have been staged to settle a business-related feud. In 1995, Mr. Latif returned to India after a falling-out with Dawood Ibrahim, and was killed in a controversial encounter.

Following the murderous 2002 communal riots in Gujarat, elements of the group built alliances with jihadist groups, laying the foundations for a new phase of retaliatory violence. Rasool Khan ‘Party' hid out in Hyderabad, where he made contact with controversial Islamist cleric Maulana Mohammad Naseeruddin. Following the murderous 2002 communal riots in Gujarat, Rasool Khan is alleged to have funded the travel of jihad recruits to training camps in Pakistan. Mr. Khan, like other key figures in these networks, is thought to be in Pakistan.

Mr. Patel, though, appeared to want no part in the war he had been dragged into in the summer of 1993. He jumped bail, fled to the U.K., where his father has construction interests. Mr. Surti's son Farooq Surti, Salim Lala and Farooq Gajnabi, are also believed to be overseas.

Tiger_Hanif_copy

Tiger Hanif


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News Network
November 21,2024

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After the US prosecutors charged Gautam Adani with bribery and fraud, Congress reiterated its call for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the transactions of the Adani group, and hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alleging an "internal nexus" between him and "his favourite businessman."

Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said the indictment of Gautam Adani and others by the US Securities and Exchange Commission validates his party’s call for a Joint Parliamentary Committee investigation.

The Congress has been pushing for the probe since January 2023, raising concerns over alleged irregularities involving Adani and his business dealings, said Ramesh.

Ramesh referred to the party’s “Hum Adani ke Hain” series, where 100 questions were raised about the alleged scams and the links between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Gautam Adani.
He noted that the questions remain unanswered, reiterating the need for accountability in the matter.

The US prosecutors have charged Adani with deceiving investors by concealing information about his firm's solar energy project in India, which allegedly involved bribery.

Adani has been charged with securities fraud and conspiracy, according to an indictment unsealed on Wednesday. The case focusses on an agreement between Adani Green Energy Ltd. and another organisation to supply 12 gigawatts of solar power to the Indian government.

'BETRAYAL OF INDIAN INVESTORS'

Congress leader Pawan Khera described the allegations against Gautam Adani and his conglomerate as a “betrayal of Indian investors.”

Taking to X, Khera outlined the US charges, including claims that Adani’s group bribed Indian government officials between 2020 and 2024 to secure contracts. Citing media reports, he also pointed out that Gautam Adani personally met a government official to advance the scheme.

Khera referred to a March 2024 incident where the Adani Group allegedly misled the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange, calling it a “grave violation of investor trust.”

He further highlighted a March 2023 FBI raid on the premises of Sagar Adani, Gautam Adani’s nephew, where electronic devices were seized as part of the investigation.

'SEBI NOT ABLE TO PROVE ANY CHARGES AGAINST ADANI'

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Priyanka Chaturvedi criticised central probe agencies following US charges against Gautam Adani and others in an alleged bribery case linked to solar energy contracts.

Chaturvedi raised concerns about corporate governance and regulatory oversight in the country. “They talk about corporate governance, responsibility, and accountability. The industrialists should be asked to follow the rules and regulations, but even the agencies were defending him. The SEBI has not yet been able to prove charges against him,” she said, pointing to what she viewed as failures in ensuring accountability.

'BROUGHT DISREPUTE TO INDIA'

On US charges against Gautam Adani, AAP leader Sanjay Singh called for a probe against the industrialist. He said that the probe should be conducted by an investigation agency under the Supreme Court.

"Adani Group has brought disrepute to India. This is a very serious matter. The PM of India should come forward and answer this. All the pending matters against Adani should be probed by an investigation agency under Supreme Court monitoring, and all the corruption done by him, within and outside the country, should come out before the country and action should be taken against him," he said.

BJP DFENDS

BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya responded sharply to the Opposition’s criticism regarding allegations involving Adani Green Energy and US-based Azure Power. He pointed out that the charges in the indictment are only allegations and emphasised, “The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.”

Malviya argued that the crux of the case concerns agreements to supply 12 GW of power to the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), contingent on SECI securing power purchase agreements with state electricity distribution companies (SDCs).

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News Network
November 15,2024

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Union minister Amit Shah on Friday, November 15, said PM Narendra Modi will amend the Waqf Act despite opposition from leaders like Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar.

"Modi ji wants to change the Waqf Board law, but Uddhav ji, Sharad Pawar and Supriya Sule are opposing it," Shah said, addressing a rally at Umarkhed in Maharashtra's Yavatmal district.

"Uddhav ji, listen carefully, you all can protest as much as you want, but Modi ji will amend the Waqf Act," he said. Shah said there are two camps in the November 20 Maharashtra assembly polls, one of 'Pandavas' represented by the BJP-led Mahayuti and the other of 'Kauravas' represented by Maha Vikas Aghadi.

"Uddhav Thackeray claims that his Shiv Sena is the real one. Can the real Shiv Sena go against renaming Aurangabad to Sambhajinagar? Can the real Shiv Sena go against renaming Ahmednagar to Ahilyanagar? The real Shiv Sena stands with the BJP," Shah said.

"Rahul Baba used to say that his government would credit money in the accounts of the people instantly. You were unable to fulfil your promises in Himachal, Karnataka, and Telangana," he said.

Shah said the Mahayuti alliance has promised that women will get Rs 2,100 per month under the Ladki Bahin Yojana. "Kashmir is an integral part of India and no power in the world can snatch it away from us," Shah said.

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News Network
November 11,2024

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The Manipur Kuki MLAs have released a statement calling out Solicitor General Tushar Mehta's 'lies' in the Supreme Court. In a joint statement, the MLAs, including those from the Bharatiya Janata Party, said they had not had any meeting with the Chief Minister since May 3, 2023, nor did they intend to meet him in the future as “he was the mastermind behind the violence”.

As per the MLAs, the SG lied about state CM N Biren Singh speaking to Kuki MLAs to control the situation there, in order to halt a Supreme Court probe into the leaked tapes which allege that Singh has been complicit in the violence that broke out between Kukis and Meitis there.

"We...clarify that we have never had any meeting with Chief Minister, Shri N. Biren Singh since May 3, 2023, nor have any intention to meet him in future as he is the mastermind behind the violence and ethnic cleansing of our people from the Imphal valley, which is continuing till today, the latest being the brutal killing and burning of Mrs Zosangkim Hmar on November 7, 2024," the letter read, while condemning the recent 'barbaric' killing of the woman there, and noting the SG's assertion is 'tantamount' to misleading the top court.

“We, the undersigned ten MLAs, have come to know that during the Supreme Court hearing held on November 8, 2024, the Solicitor General of India submitted that ‘CM is meeting all Kuki MLAs and trying to bring the situation down to get peace’. In this connection, we hereby categorically state that this submission is a blatant lie and tantamount to misleading the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India,” the statement said.

The Supreme Court, while hearing a petition by a Kuki organisation, asked that it submit audio tapes to substantiate its claim that the Chief Minister was instrumental in inciting and organising violence in the northeastern State.

Solicitor-General Tushar Mehta orally informed the court that the Chief Minister was meeting all the Kuki-Zo MLAs and that peace in the State had come at a huge cost.

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