Lashkar is back with its agenda to liberate Hyderabad from Hindu rule

The demand to liberate Hyderabad from Hindu rule and restore the rule of the Nizam has existed since 1948. It is looking to take advantage of the large Muslim population to achieve its cause

New Delhi, Feb 06: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) in its First Information Report (FIR) has said that the outlawed, Pakistan based terror group, Lashkar-e-Tayiba had made hand grenades available to its sympathisers to carry out lone wolf attacks in Hyderabad, Telangana.

The FIR further says that the accused persons booked by the NIA had been instructed to hurl grenades at public rallies and processions to create communal tensions.

The NIA also said that the Lashkar-e-Tayiba had tasked one Abdul Zahid alias Mohammad to carry out the terror attacks. He was also tasked with recruiting youth to carry out attacks across Hyderabad, the NIA said.

The 2007 call:

The case by the NIA clearly signals that the Lashkar-e-Tayiba has not taken its eyes of Hyderabad. In 2007, the outfit had given a call for Jihad and told its operatives that like Jammu and Kashmir, it would want to also annex Hyderabad to Pakistan.

An Intelligence Bureau official tells OneIndia that the Lashkar-e-Tayiba had planned on setting up a large terror network in Hyderabad in 2000 itself. That year, Lashkar leaders, Hafiz Saeed and Abdul Rehman Makki had declared that it is time to liberate Hyderabad from Hindu rule and restore the rule of the Nizam.

The first instance of this plot came up when the police arrested one, Ishtiaq who was sent by the outfit with an Indian passport. He had married a local and settled in Hyderabad with the intention of setting up a Lashkar-e-Tayiba module. He was however arrested by the police.

Following his arrest the outfit tasked Azam Ghauri, an accused in the Mumbai 1993 serial blasts. He had managed to recruit 70 Muslim youth. Ghauri was however killed in a police encounter.

Following this the outfit handed over the Hyderabad job to one Abdul Aziz. During this period there was plenty of literature about the Lashkar-e-Tayiba and its plans for the city circulated especially in the Old City.

It was around this time when another revelation came up about the role of the outfit in the city. A meeting of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Indian security agencies revealed that 21 terrorists operating in Pakistan, including Abu Jundal, had a Hyderabad connection.

Sleeper cells:

In 2010 itself the Intelligence agencies had information about terror cells in Hyderabad. The report said that the Lashkar-e-Tayiba had managed to set up sleeper cells and also had recruited fidayeens for suicide strikes.

The agencies learnt that there were 10 dedicated modules in the city. However since the blasts that took place in the city, the agencies managed to neutralise 4 modules at that time.

Another official said that the demand to liberate Hyderabad from the Hindu rule and restore the Nizam's rule had existed since 1948 itself. It was Sardar Vallabhai Patel who had largely managed to quell that claim, but attempts to liberate Hyderabad have always remained.

In Hyderabad, the Lashkar-e-Tayiba has also worked closely with the Harkat-ul-Jihadi Islami and had even handpicked one Shahid Bilal for the role in Hyderabad. The outfit feels that owing to the large Muslim population in the city, it will be able to go about its job. In the sermons that the outfit has issued, it has said that it would protect the Muslim women, the properties of Muslims. The Lashkar-e-Tayiba had also preached that Islamic supremacy is their goal and this can only achieved if the city is liberated from Hindu rule.

Details of the current case:

Besides Zahed, the NIA also booked one Maaz Hassan Farooq and Samidduin for conspiring to carry out terror strikes, in the city in October 2002.

The NIA's FIR also notes that these persons on the instructions of their Pakistani handlers had conspired to carry out strikes in Hyderabad, including lone wolf attacks.

The Hyderabad police had first registered the case on October 1 2022 under the provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act or UAPA. The investigations showed that Zahid had received hand grenades and was in the process of using lone wolves to hurl them at processions in a bid to cause communal trouble.

Taking into account the gravity of the case, the Union Home Ministry had decided to hand over the same to the NIA. The MHA had noted that the case was big in nature and also had inter-state ramifications.