Soft-drink bombs: SIMI's new weapon

AHMEDABAD: Having used ammonium nitrate-based bombs to devastating effect in serial blasts across the country, the Student Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) was experimenting with a new concoction using hydrogen peroxide to make liquid bombs.

Prototypes of liquid bombs were first experimented with in the Vagamon forests in Idukki district of Kerala where a SIMI camp was held in December 2007 to impart terror training to its cadres. The camp was organized by Kerala SIMI secretary, PA Shivli. The experiments with hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) were revealed in the statement of SIMI general secretary Safdar Nagori during interrogation after his arrest by the Indore police on March 26 this year.

"Liquid bombs are as potent as the ones which use ammonium nitrate. The concoction can be injected in plastic or glass bottles of soft-drinks and detonated without attracting much attention," said a senior Madhya Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) official.

"The terrorists knew that the government would impose strict restrictions on supply of ammonium nitrate. H2O2 was a suitable alternative as it can be obtained from chemist shops easily," said the police official.

Officials said the soft-drink bottles could be placed in crates or stacked in closed goods carriers and then detonated. SIMI planned to use food colours to make these bombs look like the original beverage. They had also figured out how to fix the batteries and detonators for triggering the device.

SIMI was inspired by the liquid bombs tried out by the Trans-Atlantic flight bombers in London in August 2006. Eight Al Qaida terrorists were held while planning to carry the liquid bombs in seven Trans-Atlantic flights.

According to Nagori's statement, this bomb-making technique was first introduced to the SIMI cadres by Hyderabad-based Raziuddin Nasir who had been trained at the Dera Ismail Khan terror training camp in Pakistan.

Nasir (21) was arrested by Karnataka police in January this year from Davangere. He is the son of the Hyderabad cleric Maulana Naseeruddin, currently in a Gujarat jail facing trial in the murder of former Gujarat home minister Haren Pandya.


(http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Ahmedabad/Soft-drimk_bombs_SIMIs_new_weapon/articleshow/3379416.cms)

A migrant from D.I.Khan

I hail from Dera Ismail Khan, now part of NWFP in Pakistan. I lived in several cities as my father was in the Army. After graduating from Roorkee, I worked in Kolkata, Hyderabad and Delhi before coming to Bangalore in 1985. All these places welcomed outsiders, with Bangalore being the most welcoming. This is the essence of India, where people from diverse backgrounds live, work and contribute together.

It is easy to make Bangalore your home. The people are friendly. The presence of a large number of educational institutions and PSUs has created a multi-cultural society, which gives the city a distinctive character. All of us have a feeling of collectively contributing to Bangalore and Karnataka.

I love Bangalore, where I have spent most of my corporate life. I have been part of the growth of the IT industry, which gave Bangalore the title of India’s Silicon Valley. MindTree Consulting, which I co-founded with nine others, was set up in 1999. Apart from contributing to the city’s economic development, we have contributed to creating an environment-friendly workplace and a high-quality image of the industry. Through CII, I worked with the government to plan for the long-term development of Karnataka.

I also get immense satisfaction from my association with Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled and the Spastic Society of Karnataka.

Ustad Rashid Khan Kolkata
(http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Special_Report/Im_a_migrant_this_is_my_city/articleshow/2788430.cms)