Terrorists use jails for recruitment, officials on alert

The mystery of how a mobile repairman learned to make a crude bomb remained unanswered for eight months, puzzling Karnataka police. The accused in the Mangaluru blast claimed he acquired the skills to make improvised explosive devices by watching videos, but the explanation failed to convince the authorities.

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On November 19, an explosion in an auto-rickshaw in Mangaluru injured the driver and a passenger, prompting the state police chief at that time, Praveen Sood, to declare it an ‘act of terror with the intention to cause serious damage’ on November 20.

During the investigation, the bomber was identified as Mohammad Shariq. Police found that the bomb used potassium chlorate, a substance commonly used in making matchboxes and crackers. Later in the month, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) took over the probe into the Mangaluru blast from Karnataka police.

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A recent revelation by Nagpur police indicated that Afsar Pasha, an operative of the terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Taiba, trained the accused involved in the Mangaluru bomb blast to prepare crude bombs. Pasha’s involvement came to light during his interrogation by Nagpur police after he was taken into custody from Belagavi jail in Karnataka.

Pasha provided training in making cooker bombs to the accused while they were in prison in Karnataka, police said. Notably, Pasha had received bomb-making training in Bangladesh and had orchestrated a blast in Dhaka. During his imprisonment for terror activities, Pasha formed a group in Belagavi jail, indoctrinating prisoners from the moniority community to participate in terror missions against India.

Shariq had been previously arrested in December 2020 when pro-terror graffiti was discovered in Mangaluru. His associate, Mazz Muneer Ahmed, was also arrested in connection with the case.

While Karnataka police are yet to establish the connection claimed by Nagpur police, it remains uncertain if Shariq had spent time in Belagavi in connection with the graffiti case. Police are checking whether he was transferred there at any point.

This case raises concerns about prisons in Karnataka becoming hotbeds for indoctrination, training and recruitment for terror activities. The revelation comes shortly after the Central Crime Branch (CCB) arrested a suspected terror module on July 18.

The arrested individuals include Syed Suhel Khan (24), Mohammed Umar (29), Zahid Tabrez (25), Syed Mudassir Pasha (28) and Mohammed Faisal (30), all suspected to be part of the terror module.

The raid yielded significant evidence, police said, including seven locally made pistols, 45 rounds of ammunition, walkie-talkie sets, a dagger and 12 mobile phones.

Moreover, crime branch officers discovered four hand grenades at one of the suspects’ residences.

The police revealed that the prime accused Mohammad Junaid played a pivotal role in directing the five individuals currently in custody, police said on, possessing exclusive knowledge of a plan to acquire arms and explosives. However, during their investigation, crime branch sleuths uncovered that Junaid was receiving guidance from Tadiyantavide Nazir, also known as T Nazir, who was located in.

Nazir, a native of Kerala and the former South India commander of Lashker-E-Taiba, was arrestedin connection with the Bengaluru blasts in 2008.

“We believe that Nazir was crucial in radicalising these men who were in prison in connection with a murder case,” Bengaluru police commissioner B Dayananda said. “The suspects, previously employed as mechanics and drivers, were initially arrested in 2017 by the RT Nagar police for the kidnapping and murder of a businessman named Noor Ahmad, but during their stay, Nazir ideologically motivated them to take up arms.”

When asked how a terror suspect held in a high-security wing of the prison came into contact with the murder accused, the police commissioner explained that an altercation among the gang during their prison stay resulted in their move to the high-security wing.

Nasir, who has been in prison for over 13 years, radicalized a few members of a group of 20 youth who were lodged in the Bengaluru Central Prison between 2018 and 2019, police said.

It is not the first instance of terror recruitment occurring within prison walls. Syed Abdul Rehman, arrested for murder and dacoity in 2011, was allegedly radicalized by two terror-accused inmates, Mohammed Fahad Khoya, a Pakistani national, and Afsar Pasha, accused of the 2005 attack at the Indian Institute of Science.

When Rehman was out on bail, he allegedly put together a terror module, leading to their arrest. In March 2023, a special court convicted the two suspects of radicalization.

After the investigation uncovered radicalization and recruitment within the prison, Bengaluru police raised their concerns with prison authorities, Dayanand said. “We have shared our findings and concerns over the issue,” the police chief said. “We have asked the prison department to take appropriate action to curb this issue.”

Malini Krishnamurthy, director general of police, prisons, did not respond to calls despite several attempts.AA