Plot to kidnap Rahul foiled
Plan Was More Daring Than The Kandahar Hijack Drama Of 1999
Pervez Iqbal Siddiqui | TNN
Lucknow: A crack team of the Uttar Pradesh police on Friday busted a meticulously planned terror plot by radical Islamic suicide bombers allegedly to kidnap Congress MP Rahul Gandhi. Three Pakistani men arrested by the Special Task Force (STF) said they had planned to hold Rahul Gandhi hostage to seek the release of 42 hardcore terrorists jailed in India.
The three fidayeen belonging to Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed were caught in a pre-dawn swoop in Lucknow after a brief exchange of fire with the anti-terror squad.
The jihadis—Identified by the police as Mohammed Abid alias Fateh from Lahore, Yusuf alias Faisal of Multan and Mirza Rashid Beg alias Raja Kajafi of Sialkot—were on a mission to take hostage “a prominent political personality’’ who, sources said, was none other than Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi.
In return, they were to put pressure on the Centre unconditionally to release 42 jailed terrorists, including 2001 parliament attack convict Afzal Guru and other notorious jihadis like Nasrulla Mansoor, Yusuf Nepali and Abu Jinder. They had also planned to coerce the Centre to open talks on Kashmir’s independence.
Had the men, all in their 20s, succeeded, it would have been an operation more daring and damaging than the Kandahar hijacking in December 1999, an STF source said.
National security adviser M K Narayanan confirmed late Friday that Rahul Gandhi was among the targets for abduction. The JeM, he said, had executed similar operations to free its jailed members in the past as well. He also said central agencies, anticipating such threats, had recently upgraded the security of the Gandhi family and some other politicians, including opposition leader L K Advani.
The UP government, however, said the JeM plot was directed solely at Rahul Gandhi. Special secretary, home, Mohammed Idris, said, “The investigating agencies have so far not disclosed the name of the politician.’’
STF officers close to the long investigation that led to Friday’s catch said the terrorists had been keeping a close watch on Rahul’s movements and they had with them newspaper clippings of his planned activities. The car in which they were travelling had a Rae Bareli registration number, which was later found to be fake.
The terrorists had drafted an elaborate plan in which patience was the operative part. Their aim was to gain employment with the UP Congress office in Lucknow for odd jobs like that of a sweeper and execute their plan only after they had thoroughly familiarised themselves with the goings-on in the office and its surroundings. They were prepared to wait for as long as two years, sources said. Security to be beefed up for netas on Jaish hit-list
Lucknow: Three Jaish-e-Mohammed fidayeens have been arrested in Lucknow for plotting to kidnap Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and seek the freedom of 42 comrades from Indian jails. Mohammed Abid, the key man, had been mandated to hold a hand grenade with its pin out in one hand and the hostage in the other after grabbing him from a public place. Additional DG, STF, Shailja Kant Misra said once the VVIP was abducted, the three were meant to direct authorities to fly in two Kashmir-based journalists. “The two were then to form a link between the militants and the authorities for negotiations,’’ said Misra, who led the operation. The terrorists did not carry the usual ordnance grenades, but a Chinesemade one. Two AK-47 rifles, three Chinese pistols, 221 cartridges, 16 grenades, and 5 kg of RDX and detonators were recovered from them. The UP government has briefed central intelligence agencies about the information extracted from the arrested terrorists to ensure that the political personalities on the ‘hit-list’ are provided full security. TNN
Dark terror designs come to light
A significant part of their elaborate plan was to take up jobs as sweepers and cleaners at the Pradesh Congress office in Lucknow to familiarise themselves with its activities and surroundings
Hostage taking would have involved physically grabbing the victim and waving a grenade with its pin out to ward off security. Terrorists were trained to hold on to such a grenade for up to 48 hours
The terrorists also had plans to occupy a hall like the one at the Congress office for dry runs. It was also to serve as their shelter, while simultaneously keeping them away from the sight of security agencies
The three terrorists were supposed to take turns in holding the grenade, thereby prolonging the custody of the hostage for weeks if needed. These grenades were smaller in size, and could easily fit into a palm
Before the Lucknow plot, two members of the Gandhi family, Indira and Rajiv, had fallen to terrorists
