Indian Mujahideen has revealed Jama Masjid attack in Bihar

The interrogation of Mohammad Tariq Anjum Hasan, 34, founder member of Indian Mujahideen, has revealed that the Jama Masjid attack of September 19, 2010, in which two Taiwanese tourists were injured and a car explosion took place, was planned at his residence in Bihar.

Sources claimed that Yasin Bhatkal alias Shahrukh, believed to be the India chief of IM, was part of the planning. Tariq has provided fresh details of the Jama Masjid operation, although eight IM members who were part of the attack are already in custody.

Tariq, sources said, has provided names of at least 15 IM members settled in Bihar's Darbhanga district, Bhatkal in Karnataka and Unnao in Uttar Pradesh. Police have procured non-bailable warrants against these 15 suspects.

Bomb assembled at Meer Vihar

Tariq Hasan has revealed names of several IM operatives residing in various parts of the country.

The attack, which had taken place just a few days before the Commonwealth Games, was planned at Tariq's house in Nalanda, sources said. Apart from Tariq and Shahrukh, Qateel Siddiqui (one of the attackers) and few other members were part of the meeting.

There the plan of firing at tourists and then keeping a bomb in a car was drawn up. The plan had taken shape at least two months prior to the attack, after which Shahrukh had contacted Riyaz Bhatkal and Iqbal Bhatkal in Pakistan and then they had sent a Lashkar operative Mohammad Adil to Delhi.

"After that, they came to Delhi and IM boss Shahrukh made bombs at the Meer Vihar factory. They recceed the Jama Masjid area for at least two days. We suspect Tariq had also come to Delhi at that time but did not go to Jama Masjid," said a police officer.

There were four men involved in Jama Masjid attack including Shahrukh himself, Mohammad Adil, Mohammad Qateel Siddiqui and Mohammad Irshad Khan. Qateel and Adil had gone to Jama Masjid on a stolen bike and fired on Taiwanese using a 9mm pistol. Officials said the attack was meant to avenge the Batla House encounter.

Police have taken Tariq to Pune and a few other places in south India as they believe that Tariq knows about the hideouts of Shahrukh. The team is also probing whether he was involved in the 13/7 blast as well.

Officials say they have got NBWs issued against 15 suspected IM members.

Tariq, sources add, raised funds through three ways - orchestrating robberies in various states, getting hawala money from Pakistan in his accounts and then routing it to different modules and third - taking religious donations or receiving money from gulf countries. Tariq was arrested two days ago from Nalanda.

CWG scam: Sheila Dikshit blaming Chidambaram in letter to Manmohan Singh?

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit had shot off an angry letter to Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh last year over the Commonwealth Games scam.The dated March 28, 2011, in which Ms Dikshit makes an angry defence in the case, slamming the report of the Shunglu Committee which probed alleged irregularities in organising the event.

"Committee report has caused damage to the government and my image," said Ms Dikshit. She also wrote that the "Committee failed to appreciate the need for consultations", and that
"Direct insinuations were deliberate, mischievous and defamatory."

The committee's observations had indicted the Dikshit Government for cost and time overruns in projects related to the Games. It had said that Ms Dikshit had failed in her supervisory role and that she had centralised the procedures which led to delays.

In her letter to Dr Singh, the Delhi chief minister also seems to be blaming the then Finance Minister P Chidambaram for lack of coordination that led to delays in completing the projects and hence, inflating costs.

"Project implementing ministries complained of delays in getting financial clearances," states the letter, written soon after the Shunglu Committee report was made public.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had appointed a committee headed by former Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) VK Shunglu on October 25, 2010, soon after the completion of the mega sports event, to probe allegations of corruption, misappropriation of funds, irregularities and weaknesses in management of the Games.

The Commonwealth Games scam has also put Sheila Dikshit's government in the dock with a court in Delhi asking the police earlier this month why it had not filed a First Information Report (FIR) against the chief minister. The court was hearing a complaint filed by RTI activist Vivek Garg, which blames the chief minister for inflating costs and cites several letters written by her to the Prime Minister as evidence. 

Delhi Police informed the court on Monday that the complaint had been forwarded to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) since it was investigating cases related to the event. The next hearing is on February 23.

The Commonwealth Games were seeped in controversy and the event made international headlines for poor organisation and project delays. Charges of corruption in the award of contracts and purchase of equipment led to the arrest of CWG Organising Committee head Suresh Kalmadi and his top aides.

Ending the year 2011 with a smile!

From India lifting the World Cup to Vidya Balan making women feel comfortable in their own skin, 2011 gave us much to smile about. reports

As 2011, four days shy of lapsing into the past, makes way for 2012, we recall the people and events that had us breaking into a smile. A smile, like the Mona Lisa painting has famously taught us, spreads forth from the wellspring of happiness as it does from the depths of despair. Smiles that emanate from the cockles of our heart were aplenty this year, and smiles that say 'serves him well' abounded too. And, best of all, smiles that assured us that all's truly well with the world. Here's our pick...

Anna Hazare: His war cry against corruption and the corrupt galvanised a countrywide movement and mobilised the young and old like never before in post-Independent India. That he refused to be cowed by powerful politicians or critics, who identified with his cause but questioned his means, made him the unyielding crusader whom neither prison nor Parliament could tame.

Virender Sehwag: He gave us a two-ton reason to smile. Kolaveri became Kola-Viru as he, in 219 masterful strokes, erased the ignominy of our England tour. With the World Cup win and Viru's veer double knock against the West Indies, we pretty much owned the game .

Vidya Balan: The actor taught us how to embrace sexuality without being apologetic. With her role in Dirty Picture, she conveyed a message to women that fat and flab were no reasons to feel insecure about or ashamed of their bodies.

Veena Malik: It takes guts to pose the way Veena did on the cover of a magazine. And if you're from the other side of the border, it takes much more than that. Heck, we even sniggered at the ISI stamp inked on her arm.

Kapil Sibal: No one quite knows how and when this once enlightened and suave political figure went senile in his 60s, but advocating for Internet censorship in today's age and time was evidence enough that Sibal is a man far removed from ground realities. He had the country's Netizens laughing away at the absurdity of the state playing net nanny.

Dhanush: The actor gave Tamil and Kollywood a leg-up in a country where Bollywood and item songs rule the entertainment roost. His Kolaveri-di video became such a 'murderous rage' online that many think this could well be the beginning of the end of the north-south divide. Despite some venerable critics slamming the song, its popularity continues unabated. The rip-offs too!

Beti B: Hers was easily the most anticipated delivery of the year. While bookies placed huge bets on Aishwarya and Abhishek's baby, its sex, the due date, and whether it would be a normal or Caesarean birth, Beti B slid forth into this world on a sweet 16 November morning, proving most speculations just that, and also proving that from day one she's very much her own person. She's also become the nation's new blue-eyed (or is it green?) girl.

Sunny Leone: When she made the transition from Karen Malhotra to Sunny Leone, little did we know that one day she'd have us furiously scouring the net to get to know her better. She added luscious variety to a reality show that was becoming jaded and boringly scripted. She raised the show's TRPs and enlarged many an err.. eyeball! The men made sure they had an academic reason to justify their playful pursuits by insisting they were simply 'checking out' the Bigg Boss inmate!

Harvinder Singh: Though some questioned his literally strong-arm tactic, for young India, disillusioned and let down by the political class, the fact that he'd taken on the high, mighty and heavyweight politico Sharad Pawar was reason enough to smile and feel empowered.

Siddhartha Mukherjee: This biographer of cancer put the dreaded C-word centrestage and brought it to the realm of everyday conversation. The Emperor of All Maladies, which won him the Pulitzer Prize, is neither ominous nor reverential or steeped in sentimentality peculiar to diseases that, generally, have a terminal consequence. It is anchored in reality, and narrated in tellingly impactful prose.

William and Kate Middleton: They made us believe in fairy tales and happily-ever-after endings. If Diana had become the people's princess, Kate Middleton arrived as one.

Pippa Middleton: Boy, did she lead from behind! Her pert, firm butt became this year's most photographed and Facebooked posterior. A bottom(less) reservoir of happy smiles!

The World Cup victory: After 28 years, we were holding aloft the Worl Cup. It was full-on celebration unleashed in the entire country. And when teammates lifted Sachin Tendulkar on their shoulders and did the victory lap around the stadium, the smile on our lips had the tear in our eye for company.

Formula One: With the fiasco of the Commonwealth Games behind us, we'd lost belief in our ability to pull off an event of this magnitude and sophistication. But we raced to victory with this one!

The world's not coming to an end next year, or indeed in a zillion years, so have yourselves a Happy New Year, and spread the cheer!