Police nap on sleeper cells
Despite having several state and city-level antiterror wings working exclusively to thwart the movements of extremists, sleeper cells thrive in Hyderabad and the outskirts.
The availability of easy accommodation for Dilsukhnagar blast conspirators Syed Maqbool and Obaidur Rehman earlier, and slain Simi members, Md Aijajuddeen and Md Aslam, in the city proves how deep-rooted these cells are in Hyderabad.
The Counter Intelligence agencies, which could curb the Maoist threat successfully with accurate intelligence gathering, are now baffled by the nebulous construction of these cells in urban spaces.
Apart from the state counter intelligence cell and the elite OCTOPUS with more than 1,000 trained men specialised in gathering intelligence and combating terrorists, there are special wings in the city like the special investigation team, special branch and commissioner’s task force who are supposed to keep surveillance on terror activities in the city. However, they could not prevent any of the five earlier blasts nor catch any major terror suspects before they caused major damages.
According to senior officials of TS police, there have been periodical alerts from central intelligence agencies about the possible movements of extremists in the city and neighbouring districts. However, despite the SIMI operatives using the city as their interim dens while carrying out robberies in Medak and Karimnagar, the state police did not have a clue about it.
Higher officials admit that the hazy structure of the sleeper cells is the biggest challenge for the state police. “Welltrained secret agents of terror modules maintain this complex structure. They never raise suspicion and can provide shelter for the operatives. This is what happened before the Dilsukhnagar blast. They could gather explosives and even carry out a test blast in the city outskirts discreetly,” said a senior cop.
He also added that infiltration of these faceless members into several religious institutions is also apparent in the city.