Terrorist arrested at Lacknow

The Anti-Terrorism Squad of the Uttar Pradesh police on Friday arrested an active member of the Indian Mujahideen from the Gudamba police station area at LUCKNOW.

Mohammad Hakim is an accused in the September 13, 2008, serial bomb blasts in Delhi.

Addressing a press conference on Saturday, State ADG, Law and Order and Crime, Brij Lal said Hakim had enrolled as a final year student in an engineering institute in Lucknow.

He was among the 13 accused in the Delhi blasts case, on whom the Delhi police had announced a reward of Rs.1 lakh each, he said.

Mr. Lal said a Delhi police team had reached Lucknow to take Hakim on transit remand.

A team of the Maharashtra police was also in here in this connection.

Hakim was wanted in five cases lodged by the Delhi police in Karol Bagh, Greater Kailash, Tilak Marg and Connaught Place in connection with the serial blasts.

Interrogation revealed that Hakim was known to other IM members, Atif, Shadab, Zeeshan and Assadullah, Mr. Lal said.

A motorcycle, a driving licence and a student identity card were recovered from Hakim, he said.

During the course of investigation into the blasts, five militants — Mohammad Saif, Zeeshan Ahmed, Mohammad Shakeel, Zia-ur-Rehman and Saquib Nisar — were arrested. Two militants died in a shootout in Batla House in Delhi’s Jamia Nagar.

Six terrorists were arrested in Mumbai.

Read more...

Software application help the police to combat the hi-tech world of crime and terror

"The software application, which is in a pilot stage, will help the police and other law enforcement agencies to combat the fast emerging hi-tech world of crime and terror," the Ranbir Singh, Wipro's general manager said in a statement. 

Wipro Infotech has developed an integrated software for the police to combat crime and terror, the IT bellwether announced said.

According to anouncement for government and defence, the software will enable real-time information sharing between the various police units. The online application covers all activities related to the day-to-day functioning of police departments, including the back-end processes of administration, finance and stores.

"We see a huge role for IT in combating high crime rates effectively. The processes have been automated to ease the tasks of administration and record-keeping, thereby bringing in operational efficiency across the police department," Singh said.

The application also has a citizen interface through which complaints can be raised and the status of a lodged FIR (first information report) can be tracked. The user interface can display content both in English and the local language.

The application has operational modules to maintain records in police stations and agencies dealing with crime, law and order, wireless, traffic, intelligence and counter-intelligence. Wipro Infotech is the business unit of the global software major providing IT and business transformation services in India and West Asia, including the Gulf.

Read more...

Mumbai police gifted Pakistan ammunition

Mumbai police on Friday gifted Pakistan ammunition to blame the November 26 terror attacks on Indian groups by first saying they wanted to check if the Indian Mujahideen had links with the 10 gunmen and then backing off.

“The demand was erroneously mentioned in the remand application,” joint commissioner (crime) Rakesh Maria said tonight, possibly realising that Pakistan could seize on this to buttress its claim that Indians were behind the Mumbai attacks.

India holds that all the 10 gunmen were Pakistanis trained by the Lashkar, a group nurtured by the ISI, which plotted the Mumbai attacks. Delhi has been pressing Pakistan to hand over the plotters and the trainers.

But earlier in the day, the Mumbai crime branch told a court it wanted to verify if 20 alleged Indian Mujahideen members, in custody for blasts in Delhi, Ahmedabad, Surat, Bangalore and Varanasi, had ties with the gunmen.

In a remand application filed in court, crime branch officer Ashok Duraphe said a TV channel had aired a phone conversation with gunmen in the Taj hotel during the attacks, in which they were heard asking for the release of Indian Mujahideen members.

“They demanded to set free Indian Mujahideen operatives arrested in connection with the Delhi, Ahmedabad and Surat blasts,” the application said. “Taking into consideration their demand, the possibility of their link to the said recent incidents cannot be ruled out and inquiries to that effect are to be made.”

Six of the 20 accused were produced before the court. The judge extended their judicial custody till January 16.

In the evening, Maria scrambled to control the damage and ended up drawing more attention to the bungle. “We will file a corrigendum in court tomorrow. We will also conduct an internal inquiry,” he said, and stressed there was no link between the Indian Mujahideen and the gunmen.

Read more...