Militant Training Camps on Sri Lankan Soil - L. Ganesan

On 5 May Central security agencies claimed that Pakistan’s ISI had plans to carry out terror attacks on two foreign consulates.

(CHENNAI ) - L. Ganesan, a senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member warned his party on 5 May 2014 in Tiruchi that Pakistan had chosen Sri Lanka as a base for organising arms training camps for terror outfits and was trying to send militants into India through coastal routes. He said that Sri Lanka was aware of these illegal activities taking place on its soil, but had not acted upon them. The recent arrest of a Sri Lankan national and suspected ISI operative Zakir Hussain in Chennai strengthened this perception, he said.

However, India’s Inspector-General of Police Mahesh Kumar Agarwal said that the investigation so far had not indicated any link between the May Day twin blasts and Zakir Hussain, arrested by the Chennai police three days earlier.

Ganesan alleged that the twin blasts on the Bangalore-Guwahati Express at Chennai Central were aimed at the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi.

They could also have been carried out to strike fear in the minds of the people during Mr. Modi’s election meeting held in Andhra Pradesh that day, he said.

Seeking a probe by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), Mr. Ganesan, however, welcomed the Tamil Nadu government’s decision to take the NIA on board in the case. There should be no ego clash between the Centre and the State, and the aim should be to work it out as early as possible.

On 5 May Central security agencies have claimed that Pakistan’s ISI had plans to carry out terror attacks on two foreign consulates in India, with evidence for this reportedly given by a Sri Lankan national, arrested from Chennai, during his interrogation.

Official sources claimed on Sunday that Sakir Hussain, a Lankan national, told his interrogators that he had been hired allegedly by an official in the Pakistani High Commission in Colombo as per the alleged ISI plans to conduct reconnaissance of the US Consulate in Chennai and the Israeli Consulate in Bengaluru.

Hussain was arrested on April 29 in a coordinated operation involving various countries, including a South East Asian nation. He is reported to have told the interrogators that the Pakistan’s spy agency was planning to send two men from Maldives to Chennai and that he had to arrange for their travel documents and hideouts.

Hussain reportedly mentioned the name of Amir Zubair Siddiq, who is Counsellor (Visa) at Pakistan High Commission in Colombo, as his alleged handler.

The sleuths recovered pictures of US and Israeli consulates showing various gates and roads leading to the two premises, the sources said.

Cyber signatures showed that the pictures were downloaded at a computer within the premises of Pakistan High Commission at Colombo and this had been shared with Sri Lankan authorities, the sources claimed.

The Sri Lankan military refuted as “baseless” an allegation by a senior BJP leader in Tamil Nadu that Pakistan-backed extremists are being trained in the country. “In the backdrop of the Indian elections, an accusation has been made that terrorists are being trained in Sri Lanka. This is a baseless allegation,” military spokesman Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasuriya said.

“Sri Lanka is a country which suffered from terrorism for over 30 years. We will not support terrorism in whatever form,” Wanigasuriya stressed.

He was referring to L Ganesan statement earlier that Pakistan-backed extremists were being trained in Sri Lanka and would be infiltrated into India to execute terror attacks.

Ganesan said the training was being carried out despite both Pakistan and Sri Lanka being aware of it, PTI reported.

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