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Mumbai Heat
2 arrested for buying SIM card used by terrorists

Kolkata, December 6
In the first arrests in the probe into the Mumbai attacks, two persons, one from Srinagar and another from Kolkata, have been arrested for allegedly obtaining on fake IDs 22 SIM mobile cards, one of which was used during the November 26 terror strikes.

Mukhtar Ahmed Sheikh (35), originally a resident of Rehanbari in Srinagar, who ran a shawl business in Kolkata for some time and married a local girl, was arrested in New Delhi yesterday by the Special Task Force of Kolkata police, STF chief Rajiv Kumar told reporters here.

Tauseef Rehman, 26, a resident of Tiljala Road here, was arrested from Howrah railway station.

The two are the first to be arrested after the 60-hour siege ended on November 29 leaving 183 dead and nearly 300 injured.

Mohammed Ajmal Amir Iman was the lone terrorist arrested during the siege while nine others were killed by security forces.

The two had bought 22 SIMs from various shops here submitting fake ID documents, of which 13 were procured against the voter ID of Tasueef's uncle, Ashraf Numan, who is dead, Kumar, who is the additional commissioner of police (special), claimed.

Of the 13 bought against the name of Numan, one was used during the Mumbai terror attacks, he said, adding that some of the SIM cards were pre-activated. Sheikh was brought from Delhi to the metropolis today.

A Mumbai police team would arrive here in a day or two to question the two, the STF chief said. — PTI

Al-Qaida may target Goa installations

Panaji, Dcember 6
International terror network al-Qaida would target certain installations in tourist hotspot Goa, warns a Goa cabinet note circulated to ministers here.

“Today, Goa faces serious threat from terrorists and there were specific inputs that al-Qaida would target certain installations in Goa. Goa has a coastline of 105 km, major sea ports and beaches,” the cabinet note signed by chief secretary J P Singh reads.

This is the first time that Goa government has admitted that the state was on the al-Qaida radar, something it had been publicly denying so far.

“Goa is declared as the permanent venue for IFFI. It has already added to the busy tourist calendar of the state, thereby putting massive stain on the police machinery. To handle such situations, an increase of reserve force is the need of the hour to ensure effective patrolling,” the note adds.

A Kashmiri youth Tarique Batloo was arrested with explosives at South Goa’s Margao railway station in 2006. The police investigations had revealed that Batloo’s connection with militant outfit Tehrik-Ul-Mujahid.

However, Batloo was acquitted in 2008 by a Goa court as police failed to establish offence against him.

The state cabinet, which had met on December 2, discussed the need to have an additional India Reserve Battalion (IRB), an armed police force. — PTI