Bin Laden's shadow in Hyderabad

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by B Raman

August 26, 2007

Source: http://www.rediff.com/news/2007/aug/26raman.htm

During a visit to Hyderabad on July 31 and August 1, 2007, I was told that the influence of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba and the Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami was so pervasive in the local Muslim community that many members of the community kept in their houses pictures of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and Osama bin Laden.

Many government servants also complained that the government was aware of this, but the political leadership lacked the will to act against the extremist elements in the local Muslim community.

This became evident subsequently in the attempted assault on Taslima Nasreen, the Bangladeshi writer, by some prominent leaders of the local Muslim community when she had gone to Hyderabad to address a meeting. The political leadership, which was hesitant to act against the Muslim leaders involved, played down the incident.

The Pakistani jihadi organisations and Al Qaeda look upon Hyderabad as a Muslim land historically belonging to the Ummah, which needs to be 'liberated' from the control of non-Muslims.

They have been systematically setting up sleeper cells in the local Muslim community since 1995 and also among the Muslims from Hyderabad working in the Gulf. There were also reports of linkages with Bosnia.

Whenever there has been a major jihadi incident in south India, the police investigation has been bringing out a Hyderabad link, thereby indicating that Hyderabad serves as the GHQ of the pro-Al Qaeda jihadis in the South.

During the visit of President George Bush to India in March 2006, Hyderabad was one of the cities which saw anti-US demonstrations by sections of the Muslim community.

Some Muslim demonstrators allegedly carried photos of bin Laden and shouted pro-bin Laden slogans.

If we do not get out of our denial mode and act firmly against the extremist and anti-national elements, a 9/11 is waiting to happen in our homeland.

Bahukutumbi Raman is an expert on security and anti-terrorism operations. He headed the Counter-Terrorism Division of the Research & Analysis Wing (R&AW) for six years. He has been a member of various special task forces related to security and intelligence issues. An internationally acclaimed writer and lecturer, he regularly contributes articles to various national and international publications on security-related topics.

Devout Mohammedan identified in the killing of constable U.Ramesh Kumar

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Bhagyanagar (Hyderabad), May 15, 2010

Syed Waqaruddin Ahmed

Syed Viqaruddin Ahmed, a resident of the Malakpet area and belonging to "Darsgah-Jihad-O-Shahadat" (Centre for Holy War and Martyrdom), has been identified as one of the attackers in Friday’s shootout in Hyderabad in which one policeman was murdered. This unarmed policeman was killed in an unprovoked attack when three Jihadi gunmen attacked an unarmed police picket at the Khilwat junction of the Old City area of Hyderabad on Friday evening.

Constable U. Ramesh Kumar and his colleague Sri Hari were under a tree on a lunch break when three Muslim youths drove up to them on a motorcycle. One of the Muslims whipped out a gun and shot at the policemen. Eye witnesses said Ramesh made a vain bid to jump into a moving auto-rickshaw, as people ran helter-skelter on hearing the shots. The Muslim assailants chased Ramesh for over 20 yards and mercilessly pumped three bullets into his chest at close range and left him bleeding to death.
Ramesh was part of a five-member unarmed picket posted about a kilometre away from Makkah Masjid. Three of his colleagues were away when the attack took place.The body of Ramesh was shifted from Osmania General Hospital (OGS) here to his native Madanapalli in Chittoor district late last night after an autopsy.

Police officers with the body of Constable Ramesh Kumar

“We recorded statements of several eyewitnesses, including local shop owners and showed them Vikaruddin’s pictures. We are certain that it was Vicaruddin who, riding pillion, shot the policemen,” said a police officer who did not wish to be named.
Vikar Ahmed was identified as the assailant after investigators recorded statements of witnesses and analysed a blood-stained CD dropped by the Jihadi attackers at the site before they fled.Considered tech-savvy, Ahmed typed a letter contained in the CD in the name of "Tehreek Galba-e-Islam", claiming responsibility for the brutal attack and promising more “Jihadi attacks” in Hyderabad.

Tehreek Galba-e-Islam is another name for Jihadi terror group "Darsgah-Jihad-O-Shahadat" (Centre for Holy War and Martyrdom), which is itself a front-organisation of the banned SIMI. All of them are ISI-funded and get weapons, training and logistics from Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Tayyaba and HUJI to impose a full-scale Islamic Shariah rule in India.

It was for the third time in the last 17 months that Islamic Jihadis attacked policemen on duty in Hyderabad city. So far, two policeman have been killed and two seriously wounded in these Jihadi attacks.

Earlier, in December 2008, Jihadis led by Syed Vikaruddin Ahmed had escaped after firing on a counter-intelligence police team who had gone to arrest him at Santhoshnagar, seriously injuring head constable Rama Raju.Last year, Wiqaruddin and another Jihadi accomplice fired at a police picket in the Falaknama basti area, killing Home Guard K Balaswamy, and leaving Constable T Rajendra seriously injured on May 18, 2009.Analysing the spent cartridges at the scene of this Friday's attack, forensic experts said the caliber of the bullets fired matched those used in the Falaknuma attack.

Police blocking a road with barbed wires to check passers-by after Jihadis shot dead a constable in Hyderabad on Friday.

Update:

Martyred policeman cremated amidst public outpouring of grief
Tirupati, May 15, 2010

Martyred policeman U.Ramesh Kumar

Thousands of people thronged Gattuvaripalle village in Madanapalle rural mandal near Tirupati in Chittoor district on Saturday to pay their last respects to the martyred constable U. Ramesh, who was killed by Jihadis in Hyderabad on Friday (May 14, 2010).

As the body arrived at his native village in the afternoon, the family members broke down.
The district police authorities consoled them and arranged the funeral with police honors. Apart from Ramesh’s relatives and friends, the general public from neighboring villages thronged the funeral.
The district ministers, Ms Galla Arunakumari and Dr P. Ramachandra Reddy, the district collector, Mr V Seshadri, superintendent of the police, Mr P.V.S. Ramakrishna, senior police officials from Kadapa and Hyderabad attended the funeral.

Policeman killed by Muslims as 'Islamic terror' strikes Hyderabad

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Police officers with the body of Constable Ramesh Kumar

Martyred policeman U.Ramesh Kumar

May 14, 2010

In a unprovoked terror attack by two Jihadi gunmen in the old city of Hyderabad on Friday, a police constable, U.Ramesh Kumar was shot dead as he stood next to a police picket.

The incident took place this evening near Volga Hotel in Shahali Banda area, about a kilometer from the Charminar and Mecca Masjid.

26-year-old U.Ramesh Kumar was born in Chittoor district and belonged to the 11th battalion of the Andhra Pradesh Special Police.

Police Commissioner A K Khan said Ramesh was hit by fired two rounds of fire from close range and was hit in the chest and the back.

The constable Ramesh was rushed to Osmania hospital where he was declared dead on arrival. Two other policemen were being treated for their injuries.

Friday's incident, in which two scooter-borne Muslim terrorists opened fire at a police picket in Shah Ali Banda locality, was a repeat of the attack of May 18 last year. One police constable was killed and another was injured when two motorcycle-borne Islamic terrorists had opened fire at the policemen at Falaknuma.

Khan told mediapersons at the scene of today's incident that the attack took place at around 4 pm when police men had heaved a sigh of relief as the Friday prayers had passed off peacefully.

"Some of the policemen on the picket duty had gone for lunch when unidentified persons had opened fire," he said.

Immediately a red alert was sounded in Hyderabad and neighbouring Cyberabad and police started looking for the suspected persons. Vehicles were being searched extensively.

When asked whether a wanted terrorist Viqaruddin, suspected in last year's attack could be involved in today's incident, Khan said, "It is difficult to say that he has done it. But he is among the suspects. There could be other people who were missing", he said.

The police had been hunting for Viqaruddin for more than a year, as he was wanted in two other attacks on policemen.

In an earlier attack, Viqaruddin had allegedly opened fire on a police picket at Falaknuma and killed a constable named Balaswamy. On December 3, 2008, Viqaruddin had allegedly opened fire on two policemen at Santoshnagar and injured them

He pointed out that after the intelligence warning of a possible terrorist attack in Hyderabad, police was maintaining high vigil and carrying out massive search operations.

During the search operation, the police had arrested a suspected operative of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba Ziaul Haq. Police commissioner said Haq was trained in Pakistan and after lying low for many years, he was now planning to carry out attacks in the city.

Stringent police bandobast near the shootout site in Old Hyderabad

MIM MLA Afsar Khan arrested for assaulting policeman on duty

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April 18, 2010:

Hyderabad police Sunday arrested Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) legislator Afsar Khan for slapping a police constable. Afsar Khan, member of Andhra Pradesh state legislative assembly from Karwan constituency in Hyderabad, and his two supporters were booked under section 353 of the Indian Penal Code (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty). The case was booked at Humayun Nagar police station and the legislator and his two aides were taken into custody. A large number of Jihadi supporters of Khan gathered outside the police station protesting his arrest. The MLA was released on bail late in the night. Police said the MLA slapped constable Shiva Prasad of Humayun Nagar police station Saturday when Shiva tried to stop Khan's cousin Jeelani from beating a Hindu boy at Sakina complex in Mehdipatnam area over a petty issue. The incident took place in the presence of sub-inspector Nagendar Rao. The police reached the complex after a woman lodged a complaint that Jeelani was beating her son for disturbing residents of the complex. As the police intervened and tried to stop Jeelani, a cousin of the MLA, and others from beating the boy, Khan reached there and allegedly slapped the constable. Violent attacks are not new to Khan. This Jihadi legislator has been arrested on at least three occasions in the past on criminal charges. In 2008, Khan was arrested for opening fire in the air to stop civic officials from demolishing an illegal building. In August 2007, Khan was one among the three MIM legislators arrested for violently attacking and attempting to lynch feminist and human rights crusader Taslima Nasreen at Hyderabad Press Club for blasphemy. Attack on Doctors In December 2007, he allegedly attacked Hindu junior doctors at government-run Niloufer Hospital. The barbaric attack triggered indefinite strike by doctors, paralysing healthcare across the state for several days. The AP Junior Doctors Association (APJDA) G. Raju said that the MLA’s inhuman behavior was nothing short of an attack on the medical profession. Junaid, a relative of MIM legislator Afsar Khan, took his daughter to Niloufer Hospital. He assaulted some doctors and ransacked a room following an argument with doctors after he was asked for a case shoot of the patient. He was taken into police custody following a complaint by the doctors. Later, Afsar Khan arrived at the hospital with his supporters. Doctors revealed Khan abused and manhandled several of them, including some women doctors. He also went to Nampally police station, where Junaid was being hold, and lodged a counter complaint against the doctors, accusing them of negligence and misconduct. The doctors went on a flash strike and demanded Khan's arrest.

Even after centuries of living in India, these Muslims consider themselves Arab, not Indian

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Such Jihadi localities are ticking time-bombs and cancerous lesions that will eventually turn India into a Saudi Arabia

http://living.oneindia.in/cosmopolitan/cosmo-life/2010/barkas-street-mini-arabia-hyderabad-010410.html

Barkas Street, A Mini Arabia In Hyderabad

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Barkas Street, located in Hyderabad is a hub of Arab culture, music and cuisine.

It was a colony of the former employees of Nizams, the sovereigns of the erstwhile princely state of Hyderabad. As they were surrounded by hostile rulers in the Deccan, Nizams trusted the tall and strongly built Arabs. Arabs had been mostly recruited in their personal army. Their numbers grew and the Arabs were settled in barracks on the outskirts of the walled, gated city.

The name 'Barkas' is derived from the word 'Wadiya Barkas', which is a colony in Saudi Arabia. A regiment from Barkas in Arabia had been called to Hyderabad. So most of the residents of this colony are the original inhabitants of Yemen and Arabia. A male member from each family is currently working in the Gulf countries.

In this mini Arabia, where the current population is more than 1.5 lakh, the guests are welcomed with dates and qahwah (Arabian coffee). The roofs of the houses are decorated with the beautifully calligraphed verses, or Quranic Ayaats as they call.

One can savour Iranian dishes like Haleem (meat cooked with crushed wheat and spices) and Biryani (rice cooked with chicken) in any places in Hyderabad. But the sweet version of Haleem, known by the name Harees, is only available at Barkas.

At dawn, people from far-flung corners of the city and beyond flock to Barkas, to enjoy the piping hot delicacies at select restaurants.

Egyptian singer Amar Deyab and Lebanese lyricist Nancy Agram are quite popular among the residents.

Even in death, the exclusivity continues. The non-resident Muslims in Barkas are not allowed to find a resting place here.

"With God's grace, since the colony came into existence and till it exists, we will follow Arab culture," says Ali Bin Abdul Rehman, a resident of the colony.

In Arab countries, the youth of Hyderabad Barkas are obsessed with soccer. Hence the colony's link with the Arab world is not merely with the language and culture but through sports as well.


Reader Comment:

Not just Arabs. There are also tens of thousands of foreign African Muslims - all recent arrivals - living in Hyderabad. No one understands why they are there. Most of them are from west African nations like Nigeria. They are not students. They are not employed. No one knows what they do. Some of them claim that they are students of Islam. But its difficult to believe that a 40 year old is a student. Well - in India, that too in Hyderabad? And they came from some African country to study? Study what ?

They are so many of them in the old city that one could get an impression that you are in some other country like Morocco or Nigeria.

It is important that these guys are screened for national security.

No one should be allowed to mess with India.

Hyderabadi Muslim brides are treated like dirt in Pakistan

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Yet thousands of Hyderabadi fathers hanker after Pakistani alliances for their own daughters

G.S. RADHAKRISHNA, WITH INPUTS FROM RASHEED KIDWAI

http://telegraphindia.com/1100401/jsp/frontpage/story_12290475.jsp#

Hyderabad, March 31, 2010:

A celebrity wedding always turns heads but don’t expect Hyderabad to go gaga over Sania Mirza and Shoaib Malik’s “Indo-Pak alliance”. The city hosts about 1,000 such marriages every year.

Since Partition, Hyderabad has been a happy hunting ground for Pakistani grooms, attracted by the reputation Indian brides enjoy across the border. Every summer, eligible Pakistanis and their relatives descend on the Andhra Pradesh capital, which has a large Muslim population with daughters to marry off.

“The overseas grooms come on the strength of references from former Hyderabadis who now live in Pakistan,” said Mohammed Zaheeruddin, chief qazi of Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy district, who has solemnised several cross-border marriages.

When India took over the Nizam’s kingdom in 1948, over 25,000 Muslim families, with 1.5 lakh members, had moved into Pakistan and now live mostly in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi.

They still have links with their old city and send their sons to find brides here, or act as matchmakers for other Pakistanis.

It’s the city’s large number of elite and affluent Muslim families that makes Hyderabad such a hotspot for cross-border marriages. These families’ influence also makes visas and permits easier to arrange for the groom and his relatives.

The key reason Hyderabad scores over places like Lucknow or Bhopal is that its “social position” in global Muslim circles is higher than that of other places on the subcontinent — or in Saudi Arabia, Iran or Afghanistan.

This has been especially so since 1921 when the last and exiled Caliph of the Ottoman empire, Abdul Majid II, gave his exquisitely beautiful daughter Durrushehvar and his niece in marriage to the Nizam’s sons. The Caliph had nominated the Nizam’s eldest son as heir to the Caliphate, thus uniting the supreme spiritual authority of the Muslim world with its greatest concentration of riches.

The cross-border marriages generally work well. “Why shouldn’t they? Their (Pakistanis’) customs, food habits and dress — even the Urdu they speak — are similar to ours,” said Assembly employee Habib Abdul Shafi, whose nephew recently married a Pakistani MBA.

“Our daughters feel comfortable living in Pakistan,” said Yusuf Saleem, a dentist whose daughter wed a Pakistani scientist last year.

That may be so for most, but Sania and Shoaib may have been wise in deciding to settle down in Dubai. Not only might living in Pakistan have posed a problem for Sania as she continued to represent India in international events, the international athlete may have found Pakistani culture and dress codes, especially those for married women, a little restrictive.

A cultural mismatch had broken the marriage of Shoaib’s peer Imran Khan, whose English heiress wife Jemima felt herself stifled by the conservative lifestyle imposed on her in Pakistan and lacerated by the constant spotlight on her cricket legend-turned-politician husband.

Qazi Zaheeruddin said most instances of an Indo-Pak alliance going wrong, or engagements being broken, come from affluent families. “But such occurrences are one in 10,000 among the common folk, whose engagement and nikaah occur almost together or within a week,” he said.

Shoaib has admitted to having been engaged to a Hyderabadi girl eight years ago and then split from her.

“Even Sania Mirza broke her engagement (to a Hyderabadi childhood friend) and got ready for another wedding within two months,” the qazi pointed out.

The cross-border marriages have, however, declined since the 1990s after terrorism soured the two countries’ relations. Earlier, Hyderabad used to host some 4,000 to 5,000 such weddings a year.

Getting no-objection certificates from the home departments of the two countries has become more difficult now, said Urdu journalist Quyyum Khan. “In the past decade and a half, the environment has got vitiated and problems in visa and stay permits have surfaced,” he said.

“One has to run from pillar to post to get clearances, which get delayed even if one pays large bribes,” said Abdul Hameed, whose daughter recently married a Pakistani.

Mohammed Faheemuddin, a research scholar in Islamic studies who married a Pakistani a decade ago, said: “We are looked upon as traitors just because we seek an alliance in Pakistan.”

But such weddings have their critics, such as Abdul Wahab, a high court lawyer.

“Most Indian settlers in Pakistan are termed muhajirs (refugees) by the Pakistanis who would not give their daughters in marriage to them. So, the Indian settlers come down to Hyderabad or other district towns in Andhra Pradesh looking for alliances,” Wahab said.

Some others speak of the problems of marrying members of the Pakistani elite. Dilshad Jah, descendant of a Hyderabadi nawab, had married a Pakistani aristocrat but says it ended in divorce because her society would not accept him.

“They do not consider us as having any blue blood at all,” he said.

A leading Hyderabad citizen whose spices and dry fruit business extends to Pakistan and West Asia spoke of his experience after his daughter married into a rich family in Sialkot.

“They treated us like subordinates. Eventually, I had to bring my daughter back,” he said.

“It wasn’t like this immediately after Partition but things changed during military rule in Pakistan. Even the bigwigs among the muhajirs couldn’t get brides in Pakistan and were forced to come to Hyderabad,” said Mohammed Bin Mohammed, a retired government official who once served the Nizam.

Remember the real Komaram Puli ?

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Komaram Bheem is a famous Hindu Vanavasi leader who fought against the erstwhile Asaf Jahi dynasty for the liberation of Hyderabad State at the beginning of the 20th century. In Telugu, he is known as Komaram Puli ('Tiger') for his bravery and martial skills.

The birth of the liberation movement originally took place when Hindus, be it villagers (Gramvasis), forest-dwelling tribals (Vanavasis) or city-dwellers (Nagaravasis), were fed up of the atrocities of the Nizam of Hyderabad.

Under the Nizam's theocratic rule (as under the previous rule by the Sultans), Hindus were killed or forcibly converted in lakhs. Countless Hindu women and children were raped and carred away as sex slaves. Ancient Hindu temples were desecrated and destroyed and built over by mosques. Hindu names of cities were banned and Islamic Slave Names were imposed on cities, viz. Hyderabad, Nizamabad, Sikandarabad, Adilabad, Karimnagar, Zaheerabad, Musheerabad, Quthbullapur and so on.

As neither Vanavasis, Gramvasis or Nagaravasis were spared the Islamic oppression, it was obvious that all of them would rise up in revolt. A group of Hindu bravehearts together to protest these acts, and finally, took up violent means to counter the Nizam and safeguard the Hindu masses. Komaram Bheem is a bright flame that lit the fire of liberation amongst the people.

Komaram Bheem was born in a family of Gond Tribals in the forests of Adilabad. He was not exposed to the outside world and did not have any formal education.

Komaram Bheem is not the hero that our literatures have raved upon. Neither is he a magical superman that Indian cinema has created.

He is like the wild forest into which, far from the madding crowds of civilisation, he was born. He is the very heart-throb of the Gond Tribals, whose hearts were in the forests of Adilabad. Komaram Bheem fought against the religious Jazia tax that was imposed by the Nizam government on Hindus. He revolted against the injustice meted out to his brothers. He defied courts and the law, choosing to depend on the wild world. He took up cudgels against Nizam Nawab's soldiers, and fighting Babi Jhari, he breathed his last as a martyr.

Komaram Bheem is the Hindu superman at the beginning of the 20th century, and a veritable 'Bheem' in the contemporary Hindu history, a great warrior of valour that stood like a rock to protect Hindu tribals. He revered the beauty of Sombai, he was a man who never knew anything other than physical labour, and he was a beacon that lighted up the dark world of the Gonds with the flames of Hindutva like the very sun lighting up the wilderness.

Like all the children of wild, Bheem's younger days did not expose him to the outside world. As he came on the threshold of adolescence, he heard the plight of tribals paying unjustifiable Jazia tax. Even as an adolescent, he took to task Siddiqui, an Officer of the Nizam, and gave him a taste of his muscle. Evading the police and traversing such places as Chanda and Pune, he finally reached the Gond land to sow the seeds of revolution.

Bheem was inspired by Alluri Sitaramaraju, and his heart was aflame when he heard the death of Bhagat Singh. Realising that the time was near to revolt against the the Nizam Government's wild official injustice, Komaram Bheem became a veritable deity, raging with the fire of revolt.

Talukdar Abdul Sattar failed to bring Bheem to kow-tow his line. Abdul Sattar, well equipped with ninety policemen armed with guns, attacked Bheem, who did not have any armour to protect himself. On that fateful full moon night, hundreds of followers of Bheem armed themselves with bows, arrows, swords and spears. The fearless Gonds launched a frontal assault, from just a dozen feet away from the Nizam's police force, braved their guns, only to be riddled with bullets.

That night, the moon burnt like a flaming sun.

That night, the wild moonlight became a veritable stream of tears.

That night, the martyr Komaram Bheem became a deity and eternal hero to the Hindu community.

A movie, Komaram Bheem, was made directed by Allani Sridhar, which received several awards such as A P State Nandi Awards, Best Feature Film on National Integration and Best First Film of Director Allani Sridhar.

On December 17, 2009, it was announced that a statue of Bheem would be created in Hyderabad. The government has decided to install in Hyderabad a statue of Komaram Bheem, who carried out a crusade in Adilabad area for Hindu Vanavasis' rights during the Nizam period, as he symbolised the Hindu Vanavasis’ self-respect and sacrifice.

Lashkar terrorist held in Hyderabad; Terror strike averted

Police Commissioner A.K. Khan showing to the media photographs of Mohd. Zia-ul-Haq in Hyderabad on Monday.

Times of India, May 4, 2010

HYDERABAD: In a major breakthrough, the Hyderabad police arrested a hardcore Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operative, Mohammed Zia-ul-Haq, from Edibazar in the city. They seized two Chinese-make grenades, a 7.4 mm pistol with six live rounds and a cellphone from him.

Briefing the media, city police commissioner A K Khan said, "We had information that a few suspected terror elements were planning to strike at thickly populated areas. We foiled their bid and arrested Zia-ul-Haq."

On a tip-off, police picked up a few suspects. Of them, 34-year-old Haq, resident of Edibazar, was found to be an LeT operative. A native of Khanapur in Adilabad district, he was working as a cab driver in the city.

While studying Intermediate, Haq left for Saudi Arabia to work there. There he got acquainted with a Pakistani national, Abu Ali, who introduced him to LeT commander Abdul Aziz, the commissioner said. Later, Abdul Aziz sent him to Pakistan in 2002 for training. After landing in Karachi, he went to Muzaffarabad where he was received by one Abu Kasim. He was trained at an LeT camp for a month, he added.

Later, he along with seven other Indians infiltrated into India through the Poonch sector of Jammu & Kashmir. Since then, he has been working with various travel companies as taxi driver. Instructed to work as a sleeper cell, he did reconnaissance of HITEC City, Imax theatre and film theatres in Chikkadpally while regularly contacting his handlers.

In December, 2005, Haq reportedly received a call from Abdul Aziz tasking him to proceed to Delhi. Haq went to Delhi and received four hand grenades and a pistol with six live rounds from a courier sent by LeT handler Mehmood.

The LeT commander started mounting pressure on Haq to execute a 'sensational operation'. Haq went to Odeon Deluxe theatre in Chikkadpally on May 7, 2006 and lobbed a grenade under a seat 10 minutes before interval at around 10.15 pm. He wanted to throw another grenade outside the cinema, however, since the one lobbed inside the hall exploded, he panicked and left the second one in a dustbin, the commissioner said.

Though Haq remained under the radar, in a "sleeper cell", since 2006, of late, he wanted to start some attacks with LeT handlers. In Hyderabad, Haq was doing recce of vulnerable targets behind the disguise of a taxi driver, said the police commissioner.

Mohammed Zia-ul-Haq was actively looking out for targets to cause bomb blasts in thickly-populated Hindu areas of the city and to cause ‘maximum damage’. He was also close to finalising an attack on top multinational Deloitte's offices in Hyderabad.

DJS terrorists shoot, seriously injure two policemen, red alert in Hyderabad

Waqar Ahmed

HYDERABAD, India, Dec 3, 2008 (Reuters) – A policeman who tried to arrest a local Muslim leader in the southern city of Hyderabad were injured on Wednesday when the Muslim Jihadis opened fire. Their leader Waqar Ahmad was a former SIMI activist who is presently active in the notorious terror group DJS (Darshgah Jihad O Shahadath).

The shooting came amid heightened security alerts across India barely one week after the November 26 attacks in Mumbai where 171 Hindus, Jews and Christians were massacred by Islamic Jihadis.

There was panic in Hyderabad after accomplices of a former SIMI activist Waqar Ahmed, an accused in the Mecca Masjid blast case, opened fire on a police team at Santhoshnagar Cross Roads today afternoon. Waqar Ahmed has been absconding and police said they received a tip-off that he was moving around in the slums adjoining Santhoshnagar. A team of anti-insurgency force policemen was dispatched there to check the information.

Police officials said that the police patrol spotted Wiqar Ahmed walking near the Santhoshnagar cross road and started to chase him.

The "Tanveer Sanitation" store near Santoshnagar Crossroads where the firing took place

As the constables cornered Waqar Ahmed near the "Tanveer Sanitation" store and were taking him away, a four member gang of DJS Jihadis emerged suddenly and started firing. They opened fire at the policemen in which head constable Rama Raju was hit in the stomach and collapsed on the road. The injured constable has been rushed to the Apollo DRDO hospital where his condition is stated to be serious. Another constable suffered hand injures as the bullets struck his hand. Immediately, the four DJS terrorists, along with Wiqar Ahmad, escaped.

Braveheart head constable Rama Raju who was seriously injured

Hyderabad Police Commissioner B Prasada Rao said, “A police patrol recognised Waqar Ahmed and he was surrounded but suddenly his accomplices opened fire and a Head Constable Rama Raju was hit in the stomach. He has been admitted to the Apollo Hospital. The Islamic terrorist fled the spot in the ensuing melee.”

The owner of "Tanveer Sanitation" store has been arrested for questioning and possible terror ties.

Meanwhile, a red alert has been announced in the city. Police put up barricades across the city and all vehicles are being checked. Additional forces have been rushed to public places and suspicious persons are being frisked and their identifies are being checked.