Destination Lucknow for Lashkar & Co?

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">Not everyone is coming here for <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">chikan</span> and <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">kebabs</span>. But visitors whose tastes go beyond the usual factors that pull in tourists are coming here nonetheless. Discreetly, and often under assumed identities. It is no longer a revelation that barely a few weeks before they were gunned down in the much written about pre-dawn encounter on June 15, Ishrat and Javed had visited Lucknow three times in 10 days.Fresh investigations now suggest that Lashkar terrorist Salim alias Amjad Ali Rana who was among the four killed in the Ahmedabad encounter was also in Lucknow around the same time, checking into Hotel Mezbaan International on La Touche Road where Javed and Ishrat were already staying, posing as Abdul Rehman and Ayesha. Salim too had checked in under a false name: Rajkumar <br /><br />But while the fact that they were here is old news, generally speaking, nobody seems to know exactly what brought the threesome to Lucknow, especially a dangerous mercenary like Salim. The Pakistan-based militant is believed to have infiltrated into the country from the Bandipore sector and was still nursing a bullet injury sustained during a shootout with security forces. So what was the urgent business in the city that Salim ignored his injury and rushed here shortly after being discharged from a clinic in Delhi where he had been undergoing treatment? <br /><br />Ahmedabad''s additional commissioner of police, DG Vanzara, who is investigating the case, offers a plausible explanation: "Salim was asked to meet Javed and Ishrat in Lucknow and procure weapons from some Lashkar modules here on the instructions of Dubai-based Lashkar-e-Toiba chief Muzammil. We are certain about their identities. The staff of hotel Mezbaan has recognised Javed and Ishrat from their photographs," Vanzara told <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Lucknow Times</span> over the phone. But why Lucknow of all places? Couldn''t they have procured weapons from elsewhere? "We are still trying to figure out that. I believe they wanted to carry out a major operation in Lucknow itself but changed their plan at the last moment," says Vanzara.<br /><br />According to a senior IB official, Lucknow figures in the itinerary of these and other subversive elements merely by default. "Lucknow''s proximity to ''sensitive'' districts like Azamgarh, Kanpur, Faizabad and particularly Ayodhya makes it the ideal place for a stopover. You can check into any hotel and visit these places without drawing anybody''s attention," says he. <br /><br />Could this be the reason why Salim and Javed also travelled to Faizabad? "Perhaps. We see no other reason why they should go there," says Vanzara. Seconding him is SSP, Special Task Force Anil Agarwal. "Ayodhya is of special interest to Lashkar which is essentially an anti-Hindu outfit. Also, most BJP and VHP leaders actively involved in the temple movement are from this region and are on their hit list," says Agarwal.<br /><br />No less worried by the trend is Lucknow SSP Kamal Saxena. "We are left in no doubt. The city does figure in the itinerary of militants," quips Saxena.<br /><br />Does that mean that UP''s bustling showpiece of modernity and Amir Khusro''s lovely courtesan Lucknow, has now become transit point for terrorists? "I don''t know. I have just taken over am therefore in no position to go by any hypothetical situation," says recently appointed IG Zone Sulkhan Singh. <br /></div> </div><div class="section2"><div class="Normal"><br />Lucknow''s track record however suggests a trend that does not make for pleasant analysis: <br /><br />*Just a few months back, on April 13 to be precise, the STF arrested two LeT commanders from Chinhat and recovered one AK-56 rifle and 5 kgs of explosives from them. One of those arrested was 37-year-old Atharuddin who was involved in carrying out an attack on an army camp at the Red Fort in Delhi. <br /><br />*Two Lashkar terrorists, Altaf Husain and Salim Qamar were arrested from the high security Cantonment area in August 2001. Besides over 12 kgs of RDX, five batteries, three detonators and several rounds of ammunition were also recovered from their possession. <br /><br />*In 1999, the police nabbed Lashkar module Azizuddin with a Kalashnikov from a guest house in Hazratganj. <br /><br />*In April 2001, not very far from the IG Lucknow''s Gomti Nagar office, the Special Task Force gunned down three militants. Two rocket launchers, assault rifles and grenades were recovered from the slain militants. <br /><br />Hopefully, situations involving fundamentalists operating in Lucknow would stay in the ''hypothetical'' framework, but as of today, we wouldn''t bet on it.</div> </div>