Rethinking Islam with Sultan Shahin

Islam,Terrorism and Jihad
01 Aug 2008, NewAgeIslam.Com
MYSTERYOF THE SURAT BOMBS: Where have disappeared those who spotted the bombs and saved the city?

By Kamran Sulaimani in Surat

THE Surat bombs are shrouded in mystery. Nobody knows where they came from, who planted them, or why they didn't go off. Now, adding to the list of unanswered questions is the one about the bomb spotters of Surat.

About two dozen bombs were discovered in the city, some at unlikely places – tucked behind hoarding bills and up on trees. But, no one appears to know who first spotted a bomb.

The police seem to have been tipped off about most of the bombs by one group of BJP activists. But, in most cases they weren't the ones who spotted the bombs. They were told about it by others. Now, on being asked, they seemed to have forgotten who were the people who told them about the bombs.

But these were all untrained people and yet they had no trouble in discovering the bombs. Among those who are baffled by this is Surat Police Commissioner R. M. S. Brar. He could not explain why bombs were found on trees: "I cannot explain the phenomena as far as the location of the bombs are concerned. What I can say is people are becoming aware about the bombs and therefore they have started looking for it."

But, where have Surat's bomb spotters disappeared after saving the city from what may have been a huge tragedy? MAIL TODAY decided to unravel the mystery by visiting 15 spots in Varachha and Mahidharpura where bombs were spotted and later defused.

Inquiries in Varachha revealed the name of Pravin Bhalala. He a Vishwa Hindu Parishad VHP) activist and real estate broker. He was the first one to make a call to the police control room, alerting the police about a bomb in Varachha, hub of Surat's diamond business.

Bhalala got a call from one of associates in the City Light area about a bomb that he had spotted. He relayed the message the police. But he doesn't remember who the caller was. This was much after he made the startling discovery of a car laden with explosives. Bhalala was walking down Varachha when some shopkeepers known him pointed to one car that was parked in front of their shops. That was on July 27.

Bhalala, president of the Gau Rakshak Suraksha Samiti GRSS), said that he had been glued to the TV set the previous day, following the blasts in Ahmedabad. Apparently, he had heard about the cars involved in the Ahmedabad blasts and was armed with adequate information about them.

This is how Bhalala describes discovery of the car laden with explosives. " I watched the entire coverage of the Ahmedabad blasts. I saw that a Wagon car belonging to the CD number series was used for one of the blasts. The next day, when I went to Varachha, I found three shopkeepers debating what to with a car parked in front of their shop. As it had a doctor's sign on it, I checked with doctors in the area but none of them claimed it. Later, I glanced the number plate and saw the same CD series. I got suspicious and informed the police. The police, who decided not to open the door as may have triggered explosion, instead broke the glass. They took out several kilos of ball bearings, ammonium nitrate and other explosives."

By this time, the VHP activist appeared to have specialised in bomb spotting. As it turns out, Bhalala was not the only one from the Sangh Parivar who had discovered the bombs. His senior in the Sangh hierarchy, Bhimji Budhna, a corporator with the Surat Municipal Corporation and president of the Surat diamond market got a call around 10.30 am on Monday. got a call from one of my workers in the Shakti Vijay Housing Society area who said a bomb had been found near a transformer next to the complex," said Budhna.

Like Bhalala, he doesn't remember who called him. "I don't remember his name now, but if you visit that place, people will tell you about him," he said. Budhna's claim to fame lies elsewhere. He is the man who saw live bombs at the unlikeliest places. "On Monday (July 28), I was talking on the phone with somebody and when I looked up I saw a green polythene bag on the hoarding of Varachha bridge. I recognised the plastic bag and called up the police. Later, I found two other bombs on hoardings and then one in the fencing around a sapling. The bomb squad defused them all."

Then, the BJP leader, seems to have called his men who fanned out to find bombs and they were immediately successful. There were bombs wherever they searched. "We did not look for any specific area. We started finding bombs one by one in the same area. At the same time our workers found bombs in other areas too," he said.

According to Budhna, he and his men were spotting bombs everywhere. They were behind Shakti Vijay Apartments, near the power substation, at Baroda Prestige, inside the meter box in the same area and then in Mohan Baugh in Matawadi. Budhna claims to have spotted 11 bombs. Bhalala does not think much about the fact that no one seems to remember who spotted the bombs first.

Bhalala would rather describe this as a community effort. "We started a campaign asking our members and acquaintances to move around and look for such bombs. We started getting calls from our members and other people and we kept moving from one place to another informing the police about the bombs," he said.

Not everyone is convinced. Many people wonder whether the Surat bombs were really duds.

"How could the police, which was patrolling the streets on Saturday miss the bombs? Suddenly, the next day 18 bombs were found at the most unlikely places. Why would terrorists plant bombs on a tree?" asks a local diamond retailer on the condition of the anonymity.
kamran. sulaimani@mailtoday.in

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