Meet terror's latest tentacle

Intelligence agencies are frantically trying to unravel their new nightmare, which goes by the name of Harkat-ul-Jihad-e-Islami

NEW DELHI: In 1998 when intelligence agencies started combing the heights of Kargil after Indian troops had reclaimed it they found several documents and letters written in Bengali. At that time the significance of their find did not sink in.

But now, over the last two years, not only is the significance sinking in with telling effect, the hierarchy of terror outfits is also getting clearer. There are two versions of Harkat-ul-Jihad-e-Islami (HuJI) - the Pakistani version, on which the agencies have always trained their spotlight on, and the Bangladeshi one, which has emerged out of the shadows with devastating force.

"HuJI has been successful in India due to local participation," say a senior official of Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).

Born during the Afghan Mujahideen operations, HuJI was never expected to be a threat to India. Taking a leaf out of BPOs

Ever since President Pervez Musharraf joined the US War on Terror after the 9/11 attacks, the Pakistani intelligence establishment has been under immense pressure to clean up their act. The emergence of HuJI-Bangladesh can be traced back to this pressure. Most of the actual operations being carried out by HuJI-Pakistan were siphoned off to HuJI-Bangladesh.

The transfer of operations was followed by funds.

"It was as if Pakistan had taken a leaf out of Indian BPOs. The cost of carrying out an operation from Bangladesh was significantly cheaper," an intelligence officer told DNA. "Everything from raw materials - ammonium nitrate, triggers and RDX - to personnel (read jihadis) was cheaper." 

But the change of base also meant a change in focus. The Pakistani intelligence establishment reduced its focus on Jammu and Kashmir. While everyone from the international community to the Indian Army rejoiced in the declining militant activity in the state, the new targets became India's financial and economic heart - Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai.

"The Pakistani intelligence establishment has changed its strategy. It now realises that the only way to hobble India is to hit it where it hurts most - economy," says a top intelligence official.

Local muscle is deadly
HuJI has probably the largest number of non-Kashmiri supporters from within India. HuJI's stunning attacks have been mounted by local recruits. "HuJI changed dynamics of terrorism. They minimised the role of foreigners, recruited locals, trained them in terror tactics," an official says.

Investigators believe among HuJI's most significant recruits is Shahid Bilal- key suspect behind the recent Hyderabad blasts. Bilal is suspected to be involved in all three attacks in Hyderabad - suicide attack on headquarters of STF in 2005, attack on Mecca Masjid and last week's blasts.

Cog in global terror network
A key man behind HuJI-Bangladesh was Mufti Abdul Hannan, an Afghan veteran who had education in Uttar Pradesh's Deoband, one of the world's largest Islamic schools imparting training in the ultra-conservative Wahabi beliefs. 

"Today HuJI seems to have internalised and successfully executed the strategy of global jihad networks of Europe, Iraq and other areas. They are making bombs out of chemicals commonly available," says an official. "This has significantly brought down the risk of an operation." 

The greatest success of HuJI comes from the fact that they have able to create their India cells-where the brain and the foot soldiers are all mostly Indians. "It is their success, and our biggest challenge," says an official who has spent a long period in Kashmir through the 1990s.