Ajaxpaul
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Amidst several theories about who was behind the latest serial blasts in Mumbai, a deeply troubling new question is haunting investigators. Has money begun playing a bigger role than ideology? And are the motivations and anger of fringe groups being translated into action executed by criminals, sometimes so lowly that they are conveniently anonymous?
Doubts about the outsourcing of terror are cropping up again among a growing number of officials in the security establishment because of the inability of investigators to make sense of the jigsaw of terror in the past few years. "Even in cases where we have been able to achieve a breakthrough, there are significant gaps," says a senior official.
The spectacular nature of terror strikes then may not be backed by a similarly effective terror organization. There are indications that the whole business is being outsourced to local criminal gangs or individuals who would, for instance, carry out the recce, identify the spot and plant the bomb. All for adequate compensation.
This assumption, signs of which are now available in several recent cases, is prompting many within the establishment to suspect that at least some of the terrorist attacks may not be the handiwork of a singular organization; they could be acts executed through multiple layers, with the final operation handed over to people who actually may have nothing to do with the ideology behind it.
"For a few thousand rupees you can get criminals to place a bomb. They don't need any other particular capability," an officer says. "Unlike in the '90s, when we were able to track a crime of such nature from particulars of the man who planted the bomb, and trace it up to the very top, we are unable to connect the dots clearly today. The gaps in our investigations, between the attacker and the ideological top, are increasing."
Such gaps are visible in many of the serials blasts in Indian cities like Jaipur and Delhi, and even in the 2006 train blasts of Mumbai, the IC-814 hijack of 1999, and the Parliament attack. In fact, it was only in the 2008 Mumbai attacks that agencies had direct, credible evidence of the attackers' Pakistani links, thanks to the interception of communications between terrorists in Mumbai and their handlers in Pakistan.
The outsourcing of terror to criminals and others not really connected to the ideology is visible in most of the attacks of recent times, be it by Hindu fringe groups or Islamic fundamentalists. One officer points out that the way the Karachi Project (the ISI plan to recruit Indians to carry out terror strikes so that blame does not go back to Pakistan) is being executed, it is a definite example of how terrorism is finally being carried out by criminals.
Riyaz Bhatkal, the co-founder of Indian Mujahideen (believed to be an offshoot of Lashkar-e-Taiba for executing the Karachi Project), had been part of a criminal syndicate in Mumbai before he turned to terrorism. Investigators also suspect that some other members of IM, who are involved in executing the blasts, are criminal elements. "Ideology is not the sole motive. Money and protection plays a key part," an intelligence officer says. The creation of Indian Mujahideen may be a part of the Pakistani establishment's continuing strategy to bleed India from a thousand cuts, but its existence and survival are dependent on men like Bhatkal, he adds.
A similar pattern is visible among the Hindu fundamentalist group that was behind blasts in places like Mecca Masjid, Ajmer and in the Samjhauta Express. Sunil Joshi, one of the co-conspirators in the attacks, had earlier been charged with the murder of tribal leader Pyar Singh Nenama. Harshad Solanki, who is an accused in Gujarat's Best Bakery case, is another key player in the so-called right-wing terror module.
"What is emerging clearly is the fact that at the execution level there are these criminal elements who would do anything for a price," one officer says. And he believes that this concept of outsourcing may now have become the norm in terrorism and insurgency-related incidents across the country. Many say that in Kashmir and the Northeast, most of the violence in the name of insurgency is merely local criminal operations.
What makes outsourcing an added attraction today is the ease with which a bomb can be assembled and planted, meaning those doing it don't have to put themselves to much trouble. An Army explosives expert points out that putting together a bomb with RDX would require "fairly sophisticated levels of understanding" while assembling a bomb using TNT (trinitrotoluene) or ammonium nitrate is a far easier process that can be done by an amateur. All one needs is a timer, a detonator, the required explosives and shrapnel. "For a few thousand rupees, one can get a pretty potent bomb," he says.
Attesting this theory, an officer reminds how investigators in the German Bakery case in Pune had failed to link the suspect found in CCTV recordings to known sympathizers. "Ultimately, you are only looking at a limited number of suspects who have cropped up in previous investigations. What if the bomb planter is a new person?" an intelligence officer asks. A similar reason could be behind the inability to crack the attack in the Jama Masjid area of Delhi just before the Commonwealth Games, when two motorcycle-borne youths shot at a bus full of tourists.
But not all are convinced. Rana Banerjee, a retired senior Research and Analysis Wing officer (R&AW), says that a majority of the attacks are still carried out in the name of ideology. "If the outsourcing is happening, it is definitely to proven and tested outfits that may not have the same driving principles," he says. A senior officer spoken to for this article argues that Mumbai being repeatedly targeted should make those probing the attacks "think in very unorthodox manners", including the possibility of the bomb planters being completely unconnected to the brains behind it. "How really is Mumbai different from, say, Delhi? The impact of an attack would be the same and so would the mix of the population," he says. "One big difference is the presence of organised criminal gangs and the underworld in Mumbai. It is an area we need to probe better."
Business of terror - The Times of India
Doubts about the outsourcing of terror are cropping up again among a growing number of officials in the security establishment because of the inability of investigators to make sense of the jigsaw of terror in the past few years. "Even in cases where we have been able to achieve a breakthrough, there are significant gaps," says a senior official.
The spectacular nature of terror strikes then may not be backed by a similarly effective terror organization. There are indications that the whole business is being outsourced to local criminal gangs or individuals who would, for instance, carry out the recce, identify the spot and plant the bomb. All for adequate compensation.
This assumption, signs of which are now available in several recent cases, is prompting many within the establishment to suspect that at least some of the terrorist attacks may not be the handiwork of a singular organization; they could be acts executed through multiple layers, with the final operation handed over to people who actually may have nothing to do with the ideology behind it.
"For a few thousand rupees you can get criminals to place a bomb. They don't need any other particular capability," an officer says. "Unlike in the '90s, when we were able to track a crime of such nature from particulars of the man who planted the bomb, and trace it up to the very top, we are unable to connect the dots clearly today. The gaps in our investigations, between the attacker and the ideological top, are increasing."
Such gaps are visible in many of the serials blasts in Indian cities like Jaipur and Delhi, and even in the 2006 train blasts of Mumbai, the IC-814 hijack of 1999, and the Parliament attack. In fact, it was only in the 2008 Mumbai attacks that agencies had direct, credible evidence of the attackers' Pakistani links, thanks to the interception of communications between terrorists in Mumbai and their handlers in Pakistan.
The outsourcing of terror to criminals and others not really connected to the ideology is visible in most of the attacks of recent times, be it by Hindu fringe groups or Islamic fundamentalists. One officer points out that the way the Karachi Project (the ISI plan to recruit Indians to carry out terror strikes so that blame does not go back to Pakistan) is being executed, it is a definite example of how terrorism is finally being carried out by criminals.
Riyaz Bhatkal, the co-founder of Indian Mujahideen (believed to be an offshoot of Lashkar-e-Taiba for executing the Karachi Project), had been part of a criminal syndicate in Mumbai before he turned to terrorism. Investigators also suspect that some other members of IM, who are involved in executing the blasts, are criminal elements. "Ideology is not the sole motive. Money and protection plays a key part," an intelligence officer says. The creation of Indian Mujahideen may be a part of the Pakistani establishment's continuing strategy to bleed India from a thousand cuts, but its existence and survival are dependent on men like Bhatkal, he adds.
A similar pattern is visible among the Hindu fundamentalist group that was behind blasts in places like Mecca Masjid, Ajmer and in the Samjhauta Express. Sunil Joshi, one of the co-conspirators in the attacks, had earlier been charged with the murder of tribal leader Pyar Singh Nenama. Harshad Solanki, who is an accused in Gujarat's Best Bakery case, is another key player in the so-called right-wing terror module.
"What is emerging clearly is the fact that at the execution level there are these criminal elements who would do anything for a price," one officer says. And he believes that this concept of outsourcing may now have become the norm in terrorism and insurgency-related incidents across the country. Many say that in Kashmir and the Northeast, most of the violence in the name of insurgency is merely local criminal operations.
What makes outsourcing an added attraction today is the ease with which a bomb can be assembled and planted, meaning those doing it don't have to put themselves to much trouble. An Army explosives expert points out that putting together a bomb with RDX would require "fairly sophisticated levels of understanding" while assembling a bomb using TNT (trinitrotoluene) or ammonium nitrate is a far easier process that can be done by an amateur. All one needs is a timer, a detonator, the required explosives and shrapnel. "For a few thousand rupees, one can get a pretty potent bomb," he says.
Attesting this theory, an officer reminds how investigators in the German Bakery case in Pune had failed to link the suspect found in CCTV recordings to known sympathizers. "Ultimately, you are only looking at a limited number of suspects who have cropped up in previous investigations. What if the bomb planter is a new person?" an intelligence officer asks. A similar reason could be behind the inability to crack the attack in the Jama Masjid area of Delhi just before the Commonwealth Games, when two motorcycle-borne youths shot at a bus full of tourists.
But not all are convinced. Rana Banerjee, a retired senior Research and Analysis Wing officer (R&AW), says that a majority of the attacks are still carried out in the name of ideology. "If the outsourcing is happening, it is definitely to proven and tested outfits that may not have the same driving principles," he says. A senior officer spoken to for this article argues that Mumbai being repeatedly targeted should make those probing the attacks "think in very unorthodox manners", including the possibility of the bomb planters being completely unconnected to the brains behind it. "How really is Mumbai different from, say, Delhi? The impact of an attack would be the same and so would the mix of the population," he says. "One big difference is the presence of organised criminal gangs and the underworld in Mumbai. It is an area we need to probe better."
Business of terror - The Times of India
