BOMBAY, 2 September 2003 — Police yesterday charged four people with setting off bombs in Bombay to avenge the deaths of Muslims in religious riots in Gujarat last year.
The four were charged under the country’s tough anti-terrorism law that carries the death sentence.
The four are Syed Mohammad Hanif, 37, his wife Fahimida Syed Mohammed Hanif, their daughter Farheen Rahim, 18, and Arshad Shafiq Mohammad Ansari. Ansari, Fahimida and Farheen appeared in a court in Bombay.
Syed Mohammad Hanif did not appear in court because he was hospitalized with high blood pressure.
The four are part of a local unit of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, one of the main militant groups active in violent attacks in Indian-controlled Kashmir, said Bombay Police Commissioner Ranjit Sharma. “They call themselves the Gujarat Muslim Revenge Force,” he told reporters.
He said the Hanifs were from Bombay, which last week was rocked by the twin car bombs that that left scores dead and around 150 injured. Ansari was from Surat in the neighboring state of Gujarat.
“After the Gujarat riots, some of them went to Dubai and met people there. This is a big conspiracy,” Chhagan Bhujbal, the state’s deputy chief minister, told reporters. “There cannot be only two or four people behind it. Police are still investigating.”
Judge A.P. Bangale ordered the four into custody until Sept. 15. The mother and daughter wore veils as they walked into the court. They have been charged with involvement in the Aug. 25 bombings and a July 28 blast on a public bus in which three people were killed and 31 others wounded.
