* Police says no sign of Muslim terror groups being involved
* Security forces kill eight militants in Manipur
* Security forces kill eight militants in Manipur
MUMBAI, GUWAHATI: Indian police are probing the possible involvement of Hindu extremists in two separate bomb blasts last month that killed seven people in the west of the country, newspapers reported on Friday.
Two dailies said the investigation was looking at whether a right-wing group with links to the youth wing of the nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Indias main opposition party had a hand in the attacks in Malegaon and Modasa on September 29. The Times of India said police had specific clues pointing to the involvement of right-wing Hindu groups, while the Daily News and Analysis (DNA) said the attacks were similar to others in Muslim areas in recent years.
The blast in Malegaon, 280 kilometers northeast of Mumbai in Maharashtra state, happened in a crowded market near a mosque. The second in Modasa, in neighbouring Gujarat, was also in a predominantly Muslim area. Both came after a wave of deadly bombings apparently directed at middle-class Hindus in Indian cities and claimed by Islamist extremists. No one has so far claimed responsibility for the Malegaon and Modasa attacks. DNA quoted an unnamed police officer as saying: These blasts do not fit into the pattern of Muslim terror groups. And in most cases we have credible evidence to link it to Hindu groups. But the question is, how proactively are we willing to investigate?
Another investigator was quoted as saying there was a hidden fear in Hindu-majority India that prevents officers from speaking out. In response to the reports, a senior Maharashtra state police official told the Press Trust of India news agency only that all aspects of the matter are being investigated. Simultaneous bombings in Malegaon two years ago killed 38 people and wounded more than 100. Most of the victims were Muslims. Gujarat, ruled by the BJP, was the scene of serious rioting in 2002, when an estimated 2,000 people, mostly Muslims, were killed by Hindu mobs.
Militants killed: At least eight suspected separatists have been killed in shootouts with security forces in Indias restive northeastern state of Manipur, police said on Friday. Five of the militants belonged to the Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP), a rebel group fighting for an independent homeland for the majority Metei community in Manipur, which borders Myanmar, a police spokesman said. The KCP had claimed responsibility for a powerful explosion on Tuesday in the state capital Imphal in which 17 people were killed and more than 30 wounded. Police did not reveal the identities of the other suspected militants killed on Thursday. More than 19 militant groups are active in Manipur, a state of 2.4 million people in Indias remote northeast region. Nearly 10,000 people have died in insurgency-related violence in the state in the past two decades.
