Lashkar wants to woo Naxals

The arrests of four people in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh a couple of days ago may throw light on the suspected links between the Pakistan-based terror group, Lashkar-e-Tayiba, and the Naxalite movement in India.

During an interaction with Rediff.com last year, M L Kumawat, former special secretary, Union home ministry, and one of India's leading experts on Naxalites, had pointed out that the Naxalites would like to derail democracy in India. "To attain this," Kumawat had said, "they can go to any lengths and even team up with terror groups."

A few weeks ago Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh claimed that the Lashkar-e-Tayiba and the Naxalites were in cahoots.

Intelligence Bureau sources told this correspondent that 50-year-old Lashkar operative Umer Madani arrived in India in May 2009 to initiate contact with the Naxalites. Before he could do so, he was arrested by the Delhi police.

During his interrogation, Madani allegedly revealed that he had been asked to meet Lashkar contacts in India and hand over money to them. This money was

meant to be passed onto some Naxalite leaders, according to Madani's confession, revealed to this correspondent by Intelligence Bureau sources.

'I was to meet my handlers and through them make contact with Naxalite leaders,' Madani is also alleged to have confessed.

Two months after Madani's arrest, the Intelligence Bureau sources told this correspondent that the Lashkar sent in another operative named Yusuf Salim.

Salim, who was arrested in Kashmir by the security forces, told his interrogators that he was on his way to Delhi where he was to meet individuals who were to introduce him to some Naxalite leaders.

Salim clarified that the Lashkar had sent feelers to the Naxalites, but had not struck a deal with the Leftist rebels.

When Altaf, a member of Dawood Ibrahim's gang, was arrested two days ago by the Cottonpet police in Bengaluru, he had been planning to hand over Rs 2.5 million to a supposed Naxalite sympathiser.

The Intelligence Bureau sources say the Lashkar is desperate for logistical help in India, and hence their overtures to the Naxalites, who, they believe, enjoy considerable local support.