Following the arrest of the four suspected terrorists on Tuesday night during a joint operation by Haridwar Police and Delhi Police, one cannot help wondering whether the educational hub Roorkee is fast becoming a preparatory platform for the terrorist outfits. Things are truly alarming as the students studying at the higher educational institutions are being caught young by the terrorist outfits which use them to collect information and do the subversion. The social media links of the tech savvy students facilitate the distantly located militant groups to get connected. A few Bangladeshis also infiltrated in the past across the borders to enter Roorkee. They were later arrested. A fresh probe has been ordered regarding the Roorkee blast case of December 6 ,2014 that killed a boy which had occurred a few metres away from DAV PG college, in the aftermath of Tuesday night’s arrest of four suspected terrorists from the same town. “Things look grim. Haridwar is a place where thousands swarm almost daily from different corners of the country. Any act of subversion might trigger devastating results. Security agencies can be complacent at the peril of the lives of thousands of people,” said an observer.
Speaking to The Pioneer, senior superintendent of police Santhil Abudai Krishn Raj said, “We would restart the probe into the bomb blast case that resulted in the death of a school-going boy from a fresh angle. The national investigation agency has already done inquiry in Haridwar and Roorkee to explore any outside angle involved in the case.”
A few suspected terrorists were arrested earlier too from Roorkee which is a hub of engineering and higher education.
Six years ago, during Kumbh Mela of 2010, police had arrested an ISI agent near BSM College of Roorkee. At the same location, an accused involved in money laundering was arrested on the information provided by intelligence agencies. Following bomb blast incident that happened in 2014, Roorkee was declared a highly sensitive area.
Moreover, IB team had arrested a suspected terrorist with Army documents. A map of the cantonment area and other objectionable articles were recovered from him.
Besides, nationals from Palestine, Yemen and Bangladesh nationalities had been arrested too on charge of having infiltrated into the region. A computer center owner was also caught with some objectionable documents. Two Bangladeshis were caught just a few days ago in January this year from Kaliyar and Roorkee railway station.
When asked to comment on the issue, SP rural Parminder Singh Dobhal said, “It is a countrywide phenomenon, terror spreading its wings. However, we must admit that the threat has deepened here over the past few years. Roorkee being a hub of engineering and technical education, students come from different backgrounds from different places. They can be easily contacted by the subversive elements through social media these days.”