100 WOMEN STORM TOP COP'S OFFICE: PROTEST AGAINST MILITANTS' ARREST

August 29, 2004 - (The Tribune) Over 100 Muslim women, protesting against the arrest of eight Muslim youths allegedly having links with the militant outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), today forced their way into the high-security office of the City Police Commissioner here and were taken into custody.

The burqa-clad women and children holding placards like “Don’t harass Muslim youths” and “Police down, down” and raising slogans entered the room on the fifth floor where Police Commissioner R. P. Singh was scheduled to address a press conference in connection with the arrests.

A lone security guard tried in vain to close the iron gate when the women pushed through and entered the office compound.

Being a Sunday, there was not much security at the entrance and the dramatic arrival of the women led to commotion in the building as the slogans reverberated through all five floors.

The police then evicted the women and took them into preventive custody on a charge of stopping the movement of vehicles on the road outside the Police Commissioner’s office.

The police also used mild force to disperse a group of men standing outside the office.

Commenting on the incident, Mr R. P. Singh said: “It was a known strategy of the LeT to organise such protests through women to mount pressure and divert the attention of the police.”

Earlier in the day, eight persons allegedly having links with the LeT and plotting to blast a Ganesh temple at Secunderabad railway station and attack Americans and Jews were arrested.

Naseeruddin, president of the Tahreek Tahfuz Share Islam (TTSI), who was among the arrested, has has been working clandestinely on behalf of LeT leader Abdul Bari, alias Abdul Hamaza, a resident of Hyderabad city and at present operating from Saudi Arabia, Mr R. P. Singh told reporters here.

The police was looking out for another seven persons, including an explosives expert and the brain behind the conspiracy, he said.

Those arrested were close associates of Gulam Yazdani, alias Naveed, alias Abu Bhai, a Pakistan-trained LeT militant who was at large, he said.

The arrested persons, who had procured explosive materials, had plans to foment communal disturbance in the state capital during the Ganesh festival next month, Mr R. P. Singh added. — PTI

From: http://www.tribuneindia.com/2004/20040830/main3.htm