The outfit that brought terror down south

The Deendar Anjuman sect first hit the headlines in the year 2000 when it allegedly triggered off serial blasts in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Goa at places of worship. Since then the sect has been under the watchful eyes of cops.

The tribunal for Prevention of Unlawful Activities recently extended the ban on the outfit in Andhra Pradesh by another two years. While extending the ban, the tribunal observed that the sect was indulging in anti-social activities and had hence not withstood the scrutiny of the tribunal.

Intelligence Bureau officials say the sect was responsible for setting up first of the sleeper cells in Karnataka. The agency adds that an alert has been sounded and surveillance stepped up in the wake of the ban being extended, as they feel that the sect could cause trouble as a retaliatory measure.

The tribunal to hear this case was constituted by the Union Home Ministry in the year 2001, a year after the serial blasts that rocked Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. The tribunal was entrusted with the task of going into the contentions of both sides (Police Department and the sect) before taking a final call on whether the ban to outfit or not.

It was also decided that the ban would be reviewed periodically depending on the activities of the sect.

Destabilising South India: The sect was formed by Hazrat Moulana Deendar Channabasaveshwara Siddiqui in 1924 in Bellampet, Gulbarga district of Karnataka.

The sect reportedly concentrates on creating communal disharmony and there have been instances when statues of Dr B R Ambedkar have been desecrated to flare up tension between caste Hindus and Dalits. As police stepped up the vigil on this sect, it came to light that the sect had plans of destabilising the whole of South India.

In its formative years the sect concentrated on activities, which preached that Islam was a mixture of local cultures, religion and traditions. This group emerged on India's terror scene after it allegedly wrought havoc in South India -- triggered 13 blasts across 3 states.

Following the serial blasts, several arrests were made and during the course of interrogation it came to light that money was being pumped in from Pakistan to fund terror activities in South India. A bank account had been opened exclusively for the purpose at a nationalised bank in Krishna district in Andhra Pradesh.

Although several outfits have taken over this role now, the sect continues to have links with several Pakistan-based outfits such as the Fidayin. With help from Deendar Anjuman, Pakistan-based terror outfits planned to set up bases in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra also. The sect lured members of different communities stating that religion was one and later brainwashed them.

Another startling disclosure, which emerged during investigations, was that the sect, headed by their leader Zia-ul-Hassan based in Mardan, Pakistan, had in 2003 planned to invade South India. An estimated nine lakh Pathans were expected to be part of this attempt. However, the plan was thwarted owing to stepped up vigil along the border.

Activities of this sect have taken a back seat as of now with the Harkat-ul Jihadi Islamia gaining dominance in the region. Although the final objective of both outfits seems to be the same, HuJI has gone a step ahead and wants to liberate the people of Hyderabad and restore the rule of the Nizam. For this purpose, the HuJI has been using Karnataka as a base to set up the modules to strike at will in Hyderabad and other parts of Andhra Pradesh.