July 14, 2000, 20:10 Hrs (IST)
New Delhi: Deendar Anjuman, a little-known sect backed by Pakistani national
Zia-ul-Hassan, was behind the twelve bomb blasts in churches in south India over the
past six weeks, Home Ministry sources said on Friday.
The sources said the breakthrough in the case came during well-coordinated
investigations by the Intelligence Bureau conducted in Karnataka, Goa and Andhra
Pradesh when one Syed Ibrahim, injured seriously in a bomb blast in a Maruti van on
July 9 in Bangalore, confessed to his involvement. Two other occupants, Mohammed Fida
alias Rehaman Siddique and Zakir, died on the spot.
Ibrahim confessed that he had made visits to Goa in March and May this year to buy
the Maruti van. The explosives recovered from the van have the same composition as
those used in the blasts in religious institutions since May 21.
The sources said Zia-ul-Hassan visits India once a year for the Urs of his father who
was the founder of Deendar Anjuman. In Pakistan, he has set up Jamaat Hizbollah
Mujahideen and operates offices in Mardan, Lahore, Karachi, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi
and Sargodha. The activities of the sect have been noticed in some districts of
Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra, the sources added.
About 12 such blasts have taken place since May 21. The last was in St Paul and Peter
Church in Bangalore.
Investigations revealed that Zakir, one of the two who died in the van blast, had
visited Pakistan in September 1992 along with seven other Anjuman members.
Significantly, the source said he and his associates were given six weeks extension
of visa in Pakistan and visited Karachi and other places for which they did not
initially have permission.
Zakir was also arrested in August 1995 in Parbhani district of Maharashtra for
attempting to create sectarian tension by defiling the statue of Dr B R Ambedkar.
Anti-Christian hate literature was recovered from the residence of the injured Syed
Ibrahim at Bangalore and the Vijayawada office of the Anjuman. These include titles
like 'the god that never was - Jesus' and 'is this the Bible you believe in ?'.
The sources recalled that Home Minister L K Advani had repeatedly stressed that those
found guilty in the blasts would not be spared irrespective of their party or
religious affiliations.
UNI
