MAJOR TERRORIST ATTACKS IN INDIA (2000-2006)
August 5th 2008 07:18
MAJOR TERRORIST ATTACKS IN INDIA (2000-2006)
20 March 2000
Massacre at Chattisinghpora, J&K
On the eve of President Clintons
visit, militants massacred 35 Sikhs in
the village of Chattisinghpora.1 The
militants were dressed in Indian
Army uniforms, a tactic which is
now commonly used by the
insurgents. No group claimed
responsibility for the attack
1 October 2001
Attack on J&K State Legislative
Assembly, Srinagar
A car bomb exploded near the State
Assembly killing 38 people.2 The
bombing was followed by an armed
assault into the Assembly premises
by three armed terrorists.
13 December 2001
Attack on the Indian Parliament,
New Delhi
Militants attacked the Indian
Parliament in which nine policemen
and parliament staffer were killed.
All five terrorists were killed by the
security forces and were identified as
Pakistani nationals. The attack took
place around 11:40 am (IST), minutes
after both Houses of Parliament had
adjourned for the day. The suspected
1 Praveen Swami, The massacre at
Chattisinghpora, Frontlne , Volume 17 - Issue
07, April. 01 - 14, 2000
2 Praveen Swami, An Audacious Strike,
Frontline, Volume 18 - Issue 21, October 13 -
26, 2001
terrorists dressed in paramilitary
uniforms entered Parliament in a car
through the VIP gate of the building.
The extent of the attack could have
been worse because the car [which
had a Home Ministry label and a red
beacon light] was packed with 30 kg
of RDX and containers with hand
grenades.3 The militants used AK-47
rifles, and grenades for the attack.
Investigations revealed that the
terrorists aim was not only to kill
important political figures but also to
create chaos inside Parliament and
take hostages.
Senior Ministers and over 200
Members of Parliament were inside
the Central Hall of Parliament when
the attack took place. The attack also
led to a military standoff between
Pakistan and India [Operation
Parakram].
22 January 2002
Attack on American cultural centre,
Kolkata
Militants attacked an American
cultural centre in Kolkata killing at
least four police officers and injuring
. Police arrested at least 50 suspects
in the aftermath of the incident. The
government accused Pakistan of
involvement in the attack.
14 May 2002
Massacre of family members of
Army personnel, Kaluchak, J&K.
At least 30 persons, most of them
members of families of Army
personnel, were killed and over 60
wounded in one of the militant
suicide attacks in Jammu on the
Kaluchak cantonment area.5 As a
result of the attack security was
beefed up at all cantonments around
the country.
21 May 2002
Firing at Hurriyat meeting; Abdul
Ghani Lone killed, Srinagar
Abdul Gani Lone, senior leader of
the the separatist All-Parties
Hurriyat Conference was shot dead
by unidentified gunmen in Srinagar,
a day ahead of the visit of Prime
Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to
Kashmir valley.6 Shortly after the
assassination Indian intelligence
learned that three operatives, codenamed
Abu Hadid, Abu Hamza and
Abu Rahel, carried out the execution.
The rally on May 21 was held to
commemorate the assassination of
religious leader Mirwaiz Mohammad
Farooq by the Hizbul Mujahideen in
1990.
25 August 2005
Twin Blasts, Mumbai
Two powerful car-bomb explosions
took place in South Mumbai killing
at least 46 persons and injuring over
4 Rahul Bedi and Jack Fairweather, Gunmen
kill five in attack on American offices, The
Telegraph U.K, 23 January 2002.
5 Luv Puri, 30 killed in Jammu suicide
attack, The Hindu,15 May 2002
6 Praveen Swami, The Killing of Lone,
Frontline, Volume 19 - Issue 12, June 8-21,
2002
160.7 The first of the two blasts,
several kilometres apart took place at
1.03 p.m. in the crowded Jhaveri
Bazar, close to the temple of
Mumbadevi. The second, four
minutes later, occurred in a pay-andpark
facility close to the famed
Gateway of India and the Taj Mahal
Hotel. The timing of the blasts and
the choice of locations were
apparently decided for causing the
maximum damage.
24 September 2002
Akshardham Temple Attack
The siege of the Akshardham temple
complex of the Swaminarayan sect
ended after a commando operation.
The two terrorists who stormed it the
previous evening were killed. A total
of 29 individuals including 16
women and four children, were
killed in the terrorist attack and 74
were injured, a few of them
seriously.8 A National Security
Guard commando was also killed
and one critically wounded in the
operation. Two State police
commandos lost their lives while
rescuing the people trapped in the
complex before the NSG men took
position. The Prevention of
Terrorism Act court on July 1, 2006
awarded death sentence to three
persons in the 2002 Akshardham
temple terror attack case.9
5 July 2005
Attack on makeshift Ram temple,
Ayodhya
Six heavily armed militants, who
made an attempt to storm the highsecurity
makeshift Ram temple in
Ayodhya were killed before theycould reach the shrine. The attackers
came in an ambassador car at around
9:00am, following an explosive-laden
jeep, which they rammed into the
security barricade to breach the
cordon. While one militant who
rammed the jeep was killed, five
others were killed in the encounter
with security personnel from the
CRPF [Central Reserve Police Force]
and PAC [Provincial Armed
Constabulary].10
A woman devotee was killed in the
crossfire while a tourist guide was
killed because of the explosion. The
driver of the ambassador car has
been arrested and three security men
were injured in the operation, which
lasted nearly one-and-half-hours.
Police sources said that the militants
were disguised as devotees. The
consequences of a successful assault
on the makeshift temple would
have been catastrophic for
communal harmony. The attack was
similar to the attack on the Jammu
and Kashmir legislature in that a
combination of suicide car-bombers
and conventional small-arms attack
was used.
29 July 2005
Jaunpur Train Explosion
At least 10 people were killed and
more than 50 others injured in the
explosion on the Shramjivi Express
in Uttar Pradesh . Traces of the high
explosive RDX had been found in the
compartment where the blast
occurred.11 Two Bangladeshi
nationals belonging to the banned
10 Venkitesh Ramakrishnan, In search of
answers, Frontline, Volume 22 - Issue 15,
July16 - 29, 2005
11Explosives found on India train
[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/472673
7.stm]
outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) were
arrested at New Delhi railway
station by the Special Cell on
February 28, 2006. The police
claimed to have recovered 3
kilograms of RDX, two electronic
detonators, two pistols, Bangladeshi
passports and fake Indian currency
worth Rs. 40,000 from them.12
18 October 2005
Ghulam Nabi Lone, Education
Minister of J&K Killed, Srinagar
The Jammu and Kashmir Minister of
State for Education Ghulam Nabi
Lone was shot dead by a militant,
while CPI (M) State secretary M.Y.
Tarigami escaped unhurt in a similar
bid in the high-security Tulsi Bagh
area of Srinagar on October 18, 2005.
Two security guards and a civilian
were also killed in the incidents, for
which the Islamic Front and Al-
Mansoorein had claimed
responsibility.13
29 October 2005
Blasts in New Delhi
At least 70 persons were killed and
several injured in three powerful
serial explosions on the evening of
October 29, 2005.14 While two bombs
went off at busy marketplaces
[Paharganj and Sarojini Nagar], one
exploded inside a Delhi Transport
Corporation bus [near Govindpuri].
No terrorist outfit has so far claimed
responsibility. The first explosion
took place around 5.25 p.m. at Chheh
Tuti Chowk in Paharganj, central
Delhi, and the bus blast at 5.40 p.m.
12 Staff Reporter, Alleged Bangladeshi
militants held at New Delhi station, The
Hindu, 28 February 2006
13 Shujaat Bukhari, J&K Minister Lone shot
dead, The Hindu, 19 October 2005.
14 Staff Reporter, Serial blasts kill 70 persons
in Delhi, The Hindu, 29 October 2005
at Govindpuri in South Delhi and the
third and most powerful one at 5.45
p.m. at the Sarojini Nagar market in
South-West Delhi. An explosive
device was defused outside the State
Bank of Bikaner at Chandni Chowk
in the Old City area. Chargesheets
were eventually filed against Tariq
Ahmed Dar and Rafiq Shah in this
case.15
28 December 2005
Attack on the Indian Institute of
Science, Bangalore
A senior scientist from New Delhi
was killed and at least five persons
were injured when assailants opened
fire and lobbed grenades at the
Indian Institute of Science (IISc.)
Suspected terrorists of the Lakshar-e-
Taiba barged into the prestigious
Indian Institute of Science campus
and opened fire indiscriminately
killing a retired professor of IIT Delhi
and injuring four others.16
7 March 2006
Serial Blasts in Varanasi
The first explosion occurred in
Sankat Mochan temple near Benaras
Hindu University. Many pilgrims
were in the temple, as Tuesdays are
considered particularly holy by
devotees of Hanuman, the deity of
the Sankat Mochan shrine.
Two other explosions occurred at the
Cantonment railway station one
in the Shivganga Express bound for
Delhi and another in a waiting hall.17
At least 100 people were injured. Six
bombs were found from other areas
15 Praveen Swami, War on Many Fronts,
Frontline, Volume 22 - Issue 24, November.
05 - 18, 2005
16 Staff Reporter, Scientist killed as gunman
opens fire in Bangalore, Hindu, 29 December
2005.
17 Serial blasts in Varanasi
[http://www.telegraphindia.com/1060308/asp/f
rontpage/story_5941755.asp]
in the city, including in a restaurant
frequented by foreigners.
A mastermind of the Varanasi blasts
and five of his accomplices were
arrested on the April 6, 2006 by the
Uttar Pradesh police. A module of
the Bangladesh-based Harkat-ul-
Jehadi-Islamia (HuJI) was also
discovered. Wali Ullah and his
associates were arrested from
different parts of the state and a large
quantity of arms and ammunition
recovered from them.18
1 May 2006
Massacre of Hindus and Gujjars,
Doda & Udhampur, J&K
35 Hindu villagers were killed in two
separate terrorist attacks in the
districts of Doda and Udhampur.
Twenty two residents of the
mountain hamlets of Kulhand and
Tharva, were shot dead outside their
homes late at night. Thirteen
shepherds were shot dead north of
the Lalon Galla, a high-altitude
meadow above the town of
Basantgarh.19
1 June 2006
Attack on RSS Headquarters
Three militants were killed in an
attack on RSS Headquarters.20 Police
said the militants attempted to drive
a white Ambassador car, fitted with
a red light, towards the building at
dawn. They were killed in an
exchange of fire with security
personnel, on being challenged.
18 Varanasi blasts mastermind, 5 accomplices
arrested
[http://www.hindu.com/2006/04/06/stories/200
6040608120100.htm]
19 Praveen Swami and Luv Puri, Serial terror
strikes claim 35 lives in Doda and Udhampur,
The Hindu, 2 May 2006
20 Praveen Swami, Terror strike on RSS
headquarters foiled, The Hindu, 2 June 2006
11 July 2006
Mumbai Train blasts
The toll in the serial blasts that took
place in the city rose to 190. Police
said 190 persons were killed and
another 625 injured in the blasts that
took place in first class
compartments of trains at Mira-
Bayandhar, Jogeshwari, Mahim,
Santacruz, Khar, Matunga and
Borivli on the Western Railway on
the 11th of July between 6:00 and
6:40pm. Over 200 suspects21 had
been rounded up as a result of the
ongoing investigation, with no group
claiming responsibility suspicion has
fallen on the Lashkar-e-Taiba and
SIMI. A possible hurdle to the
ongoing peace process has been
created with both India and Pakistan
exchanging acrimonious comments
over the incident. The National
Security Advisor M.K. Narayanan in
fact accused Pakistan of complicity in
the blasts.22
21 Special Correspondent, Anti-Terrorist
Squad conducting combing operations in
Mumbai, The Hindu, 14 July 2006.
22 Shishir Gupta, Pak hand, says NSA; Arjun,
Antulay have a different take, The Indian
Express, 14 July 2006.
20 March 2000
Massacre at Chattisinghpora, J&K
On the eve of President Clintons
visit, militants massacred 35 Sikhs in
the village of Chattisinghpora.1 The
militants were dressed in Indian
Army uniforms, a tactic which is
now commonly used by the
insurgents. No group claimed
responsibility for the attack
1 October 2001
Attack on J&K State Legislative
Assembly, Srinagar
A car bomb exploded near the State
Assembly killing 38 people.2 The
bombing was followed by an armed
assault into the Assembly premises
by three armed terrorists.
13 December 2001
Attack on the Indian Parliament,
New Delhi
Militants attacked the Indian
Parliament in which nine policemen
and parliament staffer were killed.
All five terrorists were killed by the
security forces and were identified as
Pakistani nationals. The attack took
place around 11:40 am (IST), minutes
after both Houses of Parliament had
adjourned for the day. The suspected
1 Praveen Swami, The massacre at
Chattisinghpora, Frontlne , Volume 17 - Issue
07, April. 01 - 14, 2000
2 Praveen Swami, An Audacious Strike,
Frontline, Volume 18 - Issue 21, October 13 -
26, 2001
terrorists dressed in paramilitary
uniforms entered Parliament in a car
through the VIP gate of the building.
The extent of the attack could have
been worse because the car [which
had a Home Ministry label and a red
beacon light] was packed with 30 kg
of RDX and containers with hand
grenades.3 The militants used AK-47
rifles, and grenades for the attack.
Investigations revealed that the
terrorists aim was not only to kill
important political figures but also to
create chaos inside Parliament and
take hostages.
Senior Ministers and over 200
Members of Parliament were inside
the Central Hall of Parliament when
the attack took place. The attack also
led to a military standoff between
Pakistan and India [Operation
Parakram].
22 January 2002
Attack on American cultural centre,
Kolkata
Militants attacked an American
cultural centre in Kolkata killing at
least four police officers and injuring
. Police arrested at least 50 suspects
in the aftermath of the incident. The
government accused Pakistan of
involvement in the attack.
14 May 2002
Massacre of family members of
Army personnel, Kaluchak, J&K.
At least 30 persons, most of them
members of families of Army
personnel, were killed and over 60
wounded in one of the militant
suicide attacks in Jammu on the
Kaluchak cantonment area.5 As a
result of the attack security was
beefed up at all cantonments around
the country.
21 May 2002
Firing at Hurriyat meeting; Abdul
Ghani Lone killed, Srinagar
Abdul Gani Lone, senior leader of
the the separatist All-Parties
Hurriyat Conference was shot dead
by unidentified gunmen in Srinagar,
a day ahead of the visit of Prime
Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to
Kashmir valley.6 Shortly after the
assassination Indian intelligence
learned that three operatives, codenamed
Abu Hadid, Abu Hamza and
Abu Rahel, carried out the execution.
The rally on May 21 was held to
commemorate the assassination of
religious leader Mirwaiz Mohammad
Farooq by the Hizbul Mujahideen in
1990.
25 August 2005
Twin Blasts, Mumbai
Two powerful car-bomb explosions
took place in South Mumbai killing
at least 46 persons and injuring over
4 Rahul Bedi and Jack Fairweather, Gunmen
kill five in attack on American offices, The
Telegraph U.K, 23 January 2002.
5 Luv Puri, 30 killed in Jammu suicide
attack, The Hindu,15 May 2002
6 Praveen Swami, The Killing of Lone,
Frontline, Volume 19 - Issue 12, June 8-21,
2002
160.7 The first of the two blasts,
several kilometres apart took place at
1.03 p.m. in the crowded Jhaveri
Bazar, close to the temple of
Mumbadevi. The second, four
minutes later, occurred in a pay-andpark
facility close to the famed
Gateway of India and the Taj Mahal
Hotel. The timing of the blasts and
the choice of locations were
apparently decided for causing the
maximum damage.
24 September 2002
Akshardham Temple Attack
The siege of the Akshardham temple
complex of the Swaminarayan sect
ended after a commando operation.
The two terrorists who stormed it the
previous evening were killed. A total
of 29 individuals including 16
women and four children, were
killed in the terrorist attack and 74
were injured, a few of them
seriously.8 A National Security
Guard commando was also killed
and one critically wounded in the
operation. Two State police
commandos lost their lives while
rescuing the people trapped in the
complex before the NSG men took
position. The Prevention of
Terrorism Act court on July 1, 2006
awarded death sentence to three
persons in the 2002 Akshardham
temple terror attack case.9
5 July 2005
Attack on makeshift Ram temple,
Ayodhya
Six heavily armed militants, who
made an attempt to storm the highsecurity
makeshift Ram temple in
Ayodhya were killed before theycould reach the shrine. The attackers
came in an ambassador car at around
9:00am, following an explosive-laden
jeep, which they rammed into the
security barricade to breach the
cordon. While one militant who
rammed the jeep was killed, five
others were killed in the encounter
with security personnel from the
CRPF [Central Reserve Police Force]
and PAC [Provincial Armed
Constabulary].10
A woman devotee was killed in the
crossfire while a tourist guide was
killed because of the explosion. The
driver of the ambassador car has
been arrested and three security men
were injured in the operation, which
lasted nearly one-and-half-hours.
Police sources said that the militants
were disguised as devotees. The
consequences of a successful assault
on the makeshift temple would
have been catastrophic for
communal harmony. The attack was
similar to the attack on the Jammu
and Kashmir legislature in that a
combination of suicide car-bombers
and conventional small-arms attack
was used.
29 July 2005
Jaunpur Train Explosion
At least 10 people were killed and
more than 50 others injured in the
explosion on the Shramjivi Express
in Uttar Pradesh . Traces of the high
explosive RDX had been found in the
compartment where the blast
occurred.11 Two Bangladeshi
nationals belonging to the banned
10 Venkitesh Ramakrishnan, In search of
answers, Frontline, Volume 22 - Issue 15,
July16 - 29, 2005
11Explosives found on India train
[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/472673
7.stm]
outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) were
arrested at New Delhi railway
station by the Special Cell on
February 28, 2006. The police
claimed to have recovered 3
kilograms of RDX, two electronic
detonators, two pistols, Bangladeshi
passports and fake Indian currency
worth Rs. 40,000 from them.12
18 October 2005
Ghulam Nabi Lone, Education
Minister of J&K Killed, Srinagar
The Jammu and Kashmir Minister of
State for Education Ghulam Nabi
Lone was shot dead by a militant,
while CPI (M) State secretary M.Y.
Tarigami escaped unhurt in a similar
bid in the high-security Tulsi Bagh
area of Srinagar on October 18, 2005.
Two security guards and a civilian
were also killed in the incidents, for
which the Islamic Front and Al-
Mansoorein had claimed
responsibility.13
29 October 2005
Blasts in New Delhi
At least 70 persons were killed and
several injured in three powerful
serial explosions on the evening of
October 29, 2005.14 While two bombs
went off at busy marketplaces
[Paharganj and Sarojini Nagar], one
exploded inside a Delhi Transport
Corporation bus [near Govindpuri].
No terrorist outfit has so far claimed
responsibility. The first explosion
took place around 5.25 p.m. at Chheh
Tuti Chowk in Paharganj, central
Delhi, and the bus blast at 5.40 p.m.
12 Staff Reporter, Alleged Bangladeshi
militants held at New Delhi station, The
Hindu, 28 February 2006
13 Shujaat Bukhari, J&K Minister Lone shot
dead, The Hindu, 19 October 2005.
14 Staff Reporter, Serial blasts kill 70 persons
in Delhi, The Hindu, 29 October 2005
at Govindpuri in South Delhi and the
third and most powerful one at 5.45
p.m. at the Sarojini Nagar market in
South-West Delhi. An explosive
device was defused outside the State
Bank of Bikaner at Chandni Chowk
in the Old City area. Chargesheets
were eventually filed against Tariq
Ahmed Dar and Rafiq Shah in this
case.15
28 December 2005
Attack on the Indian Institute of
Science, Bangalore
A senior scientist from New Delhi
was killed and at least five persons
were injured when assailants opened
fire and lobbed grenades at the
Indian Institute of Science (IISc.)
Suspected terrorists of the Lakshar-e-
Taiba barged into the prestigious
Indian Institute of Science campus
and opened fire indiscriminately
killing a retired professor of IIT Delhi
and injuring four others.16
7 March 2006
Serial Blasts in Varanasi
The first explosion occurred in
Sankat Mochan temple near Benaras
Hindu University. Many pilgrims
were in the temple, as Tuesdays are
considered particularly holy by
devotees of Hanuman, the deity of
the Sankat Mochan shrine.
Two other explosions occurred at the
Cantonment railway station one
in the Shivganga Express bound for
Delhi and another in a waiting hall.17
At least 100 people were injured. Six
bombs were found from other areas
15 Praveen Swami, War on Many Fronts,
Frontline, Volume 22 - Issue 24, November.
05 - 18, 2005
16 Staff Reporter, Scientist killed as gunman
opens fire in Bangalore, Hindu, 29 December
2005.
17 Serial blasts in Varanasi
[http://www.telegraphindia.com/1060308/asp/f
rontpage/story_5941755.asp]
in the city, including in a restaurant
frequented by foreigners.
A mastermind of the Varanasi blasts
and five of his accomplices were
arrested on the April 6, 2006 by the
Uttar Pradesh police. A module of
the Bangladesh-based Harkat-ul-
Jehadi-Islamia (HuJI) was also
discovered. Wali Ullah and his
associates were arrested from
different parts of the state and a large
quantity of arms and ammunition
recovered from them.18
1 May 2006
Massacre of Hindus and Gujjars,
Doda & Udhampur, J&K
35 Hindu villagers were killed in two
separate terrorist attacks in the
districts of Doda and Udhampur.
Twenty two residents of the
mountain hamlets of Kulhand and
Tharva, were shot dead outside their
homes late at night. Thirteen
shepherds were shot dead north of
the Lalon Galla, a high-altitude
meadow above the town of
Basantgarh.19
1 June 2006
Attack on RSS Headquarters
Three militants were killed in an
attack on RSS Headquarters.20 Police
said the militants attempted to drive
a white Ambassador car, fitted with
a red light, towards the building at
dawn. They were killed in an
exchange of fire with security
personnel, on being challenged.
18 Varanasi blasts mastermind, 5 accomplices
arrested
[http://www.hindu.com/2006/04/06/stories/200
6040608120100.htm]
19 Praveen Swami and Luv Puri, Serial terror
strikes claim 35 lives in Doda and Udhampur,
The Hindu, 2 May 2006
20 Praveen Swami, Terror strike on RSS
headquarters foiled, The Hindu, 2 June 2006
11 July 2006
Mumbai Train blasts
The toll in the serial blasts that took
place in the city rose to 190. Police
said 190 persons were killed and
another 625 injured in the blasts that
took place in first class
compartments of trains at Mira-
Bayandhar, Jogeshwari, Mahim,
Santacruz, Khar, Matunga and
Borivli on the Western Railway on
the 11th of July between 6:00 and
6:40pm. Over 200 suspects21 had
been rounded up as a result of the
ongoing investigation, with no group
claiming responsibility suspicion has
fallen on the Lashkar-e-Taiba and
SIMI. A possible hurdle to the
ongoing peace process has been
created with both India and Pakistan
exchanging acrimonious comments
over the incident. The National
Security Advisor M.K. Narayanan in
fact accused Pakistan of complicity in
the blasts.22
21 Special Correspondent, Anti-Terrorist
Squad conducting combing operations in
Mumbai, The Hindu, 14 July 2006.
22 Shishir Gupta, Pak hand, says NSA; Arjun,
Antulay have a different take, The Indian
Express, 14 July 2006.
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