A Tinderbox Town

The town has witnessed riots in 1984 and in 1992 when large-scale violence took place in the aftermath of the Babri mosque demolition.The last and worst large-scale communal violence erupted on October 26, 2001 soonafter the US bombing of Afghanistan, when Muslims in Malegaon had called for aboycott of US goods. The communal riots continued for five days, killing 15people injuring many more, destroying property worth crores. This is perhapswhat brought Malegaon on the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) radar. The LeT disinformationprogramme picked up, with its website carrying pictures, which it alleged, wereof mosques and copies of the holy Koran destroyed by Hindu militants. In 2003, soon after the Ghatkopar blast, police claimed to have neutralised a terror modulein Malegaon with purported plans to attack the Maharashtra Mantralaya, led by SIMI member NoorSikander.

Malegaon thus remains one of the declared "ultra-sensitive zones"along with Bhiwandi and Thane. Which is why there was an imminent danger of the situation going out ofcontrol, Union Home Secretary V K Duggal was quick to ask Maharashtra’s Chief Secretary to talk to local leaders in Malegaon to maintain peace.Union home minister Shivraj Patil did not rule out the possibility of terrorist hand behind theblast: "Such incidents do not take place on their own. Someone triggers it. We all know who theyare". He said the "bigger design" of those behind the blasts in Malegaon of Maharashtra is to see that different sections of the society clash and create more turmoil.

While police officials were not sure whether any terror sleeper cells were involved in the blasts,they said the possibility is being looked into as "the region has become a hotbed for Islamist groups and is also very communallysensitive".

As recently as this May, police had seized several weapons including AK-47rifles and RDX in a raid on an electrical shop, following arrest and questioning of five persons in Malegaon after arms seizures at Aurangabad and Manmad.Thereafter, a small quantity of RDX was recovered in Malegaon from a local doctor's residence.