LeT sends terrorist in Mumbai to activate modules

Even as the Mumbai police continue a massive manhunt for the two suspected terrorists who have slipped into the city, details emerging about the duo suggest that they had been sent down to carry out disruptive activities such as planting bombs in cars and also activating the dwindling modules.

Intelligence Bureau sources said that the two men who have slipped into Mumbai are of Pakistan and Bangladeshi origin. Both these men report to the Lashkar-e-Tayiba-HuJi combine and these two men are just one of the few who have been planning on launching a major attack on Indian soil. Till date the IB has around 130 alerts specific to Mumbai and the Ganesh festivities and the dominant threats are from the Lashkar and the HuJI.

The threat specific to the duo Kalimuddin Khan who operates under the alias Rameshwar Pundit and Hafiz Sareef states that the duo wanted to disrupt festivities by setting off car bombs. The targets could be any place of worship and would be aimed at creating maximum damage, sources point out. Moreover these groups are also making desperate attempts to rake up communal clashes since they have always found it easier to set up shop in the backdrop of such violence. These groups also have in mind the possible tension that may erupt in the followings weeks owing to the Ayodhya verdict. Hence in the days to come they would be planning extensively and also sending in more of their cadres to re-activate their cells or modules and gather men in order to carry out terrorist activites in India.

Kalimuddin the Pakistani and Sareef the Bangladeshi may have got in touch with some local operatives of their group andd sought their help. Sources say that such an operation was first planned with the help of local operatives but then the plan was later changed and two foreign operatives were sent in.

The IB alert was first sent to the Home Ministry and it indicates that these two men had entered into the city nearly three to four days back. This indicates that the operation was being planned for quite some time now and they may have been in touch with the local modules from where the intercepts were generated in the first place.

According to the IB, terror groups are on a major rebuilding exercise in both Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra where they have lost their clout to a large extent. Dozens of modules especially in Maharashtra have disappeared and with the latest crack down on the Pune blasts case, their strongest base in that city has also gone down.

The two suspicious men may have come down to even activate some of the modules apart from carrying out attacks. This is usually the pattern that terror groups follow when they need to carry out a major attack or even activate modules in the country. Foreign terrorists are usually sent down to activate modules since they are the ones who convey the message directly and even provide with the finances. Moreover local cadres have shown signs of being more impressed with the forieng ones and the pep talks given by them usually works more when compared to the one given by the local cadres, the IB says.