1994 kidnappings of western tourists in India

Terrorist incidents in Delhi, India November 2018 November 2018 1994 kidnappings of western tourists in India Delhi, India 1994 09 29 yes–1994 10 19 yes Firearms (guns) 4 Harkat-ul-Ansar (Al-Hadid), including Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh The 1994 kidnappings of western tourists in India were the abductions of four foreign tourists in Delhi, India, between 29 September and 20 October 1994, by terrorists. The kidnappings were perpetrated by the anti-Indian terrorist group Harkat-ul-Ansar (HuA),Harkat-ul-Ansar was the merger of Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami and Harkat-ul-Mujahideen in 1993. Harkat-ul-Mujahideen had split from Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami 1985 but re-united, they split again in 1998. Jaish-e-Muhammad was formed as a splinter group of Harkat-ul-Mujahideen by Masood Azhar in 2000.Harakat-ul-Mujahedeen. Center for International Security and Cooperation. Foreign Service Institute. Stanford University. groups under the pseudonym of Al-Hadid, led by Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh to secure the release of HuA leaders. Sheikh was caught and ultimately imprisoned at the Tihar Jail in Delhi.Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh https://www.counterextremism.com/extremists/ahmed-omar-saeed-sheikh 2022-08-23 Counter Extremism Project enRath Saroj Kumar 2020 Ilyas Kashmiri through the Prism of HuJI, HuA, HuM, JeM, Brigade 313 and al Qaeda https://www.academia.edu/44824474/Ilyas_Kashmiri_through_the_Prism_of_HuJI_HuA_HuM_JeM_Brigade_313_and_al_Qaeda SSRN Electronic Journal 1556-5068 The abductees included three British citizens, Myles Croston, Paul Rideout, and Rhys Partridge, and one American, Béla Nuss; all of them were rescued unharmed by the police.McGinty, Stephen. The Scotsman, 16 July 2002. 16 July 2002 The English Islamic Terrorist. The Scotsman Edinburgh http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=1204&id=763812002 live 22 September 2006 https://web.archive.org/web/20050919151256/http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=1204&id=763812002 19 September 2005Dugger Celia W. Celia W. Dugger 8 February 2002 A NATION CHALLENGED: A SUSPECT; Confession in 1994 Case Evokes Pearl Abduction The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/08/world/a-nation-challenged-a-suspect-confession-in-1994-case-evokes-pearl-abduction.html?sec=&spon=&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink 27 April 2010 HuA would also perpetrate the 1995 kidnapping of western tourists in Kashmir where most of the hostages were killed with one being beheaded. Sheikh was released (along with Harkat leader Masood Azhar and Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar) in 1999 in exchange for hostages of Indian Airlines Flight 814 which had been hijacked by fellow Harkat members. He would go on to kidnap and allegedly murder Daniel Pearl in 2002. Background A violent insurgency had been going on in Jammu and Kashmir since 1989. Kidnappings of foreign tourists had been attempted by Kashmiri Militants, most notably the attempt to kidnap seven Israelis in 1991.Kashmir Rebels Kill Israeli Tourist, Marking New Phase in Conflict, The New York Times, 1991-06-28 However, until this point the separatists had not kidnapped anybody outside of the disputed state.Indian Police Free 3 Britons Held Hostage, The New York Times, 1994-11-02 Three of those kidnapped, Paul Benjamin Ridout and Christopher Miles Croston (both kidnapped on 16 October)Incident Summary for GTDID: 199410160004 https://www.start.umd.edu/gtd/search/IncidentSummary.aspx?gtdid=199410160004 2022-09-08 Global Terrorism Database and Rhys Partridge (Australian citizen of British heritage, kidnapped on 29 September),Incident Summary for GTDID: 199409290011 https://www.start.umd.edu/gtd/search/IncidentSummary.aspx?gtdid=199409290011 2022-09-08 Global Terrorism Database were from Great Britain and a fourth, Béla Nuss (kidnapped on 19 October),Incident Summary for GTDID: 199410190005 https://www.start.umd.edu/gtd/search/IncidentSummary.aspx?gtdid=199410190005 2022-09-08 Global Terrorism Database was an American citizen of Hungarian heritage from San Francisco; all were kidnapped at gunpoint.3 Britons and 1 American Freed From Kashmiri Militants in India, The New York Times, 1994-11-01 Kidnapping The tourists were all befriended by young British Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh who was a member of Harkat-ul-Ansargroups and pretending to be an Indian under the name "Rohit Sharma".Briton recalls brush with ‘reluctant kidnapper’, Dawn, 2002-02-15 He told them that his uncle had died and left a village for him. He then invited them to visit the village with him. The three Britons were taken to a village near Saharanpur and kept captive there by his associates.A NATION CHALLENGED: A SUSPECT; Confession in 1994 Case Evokes Pearl Abduction, The New York Times, 2002-02-08 Béla Nuss was the last to be kidnapped and was kept in Ghaziabad just outside Delhi.My big adventure, Harper's Magazine, January 2002 The kidnappers demanded that the Indian government free ten militants imprisoned in Kashmir and threatened to behead their captives if the demand was not met. Rescue Béla Nuss was freed on 31 October by the police, while investigating a robbery, police came across the house where he was being kept captive. After information given to the police by Nuss about other hostages being held, police staked out the house, captured one of the drivers, and the interrogation of two terrorists, later arrested at the site, led them to the village of Saharanpur, where the Britons were being held captive. Omar Saeed was also captured and wounded when he had returned to the Ghaziabad house to talk to Nuss after being informed that he had stopped eating four days before. Two policemen and a militant were killed in a pre-dawn shoot-out at the second location on 1 November. All the tourists were freed unhurt. Aftermath Three Pakistani militants belonging to Harkat-ul-Ansargroups were given death sentences and three others life sentences by a Delhi court in April 2002 for their roles in the kidnapping, while Sheikh's charges had been dropped in exchange for his release.https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/3-Harkat-militants-awarded-death-sentence/articleshow/8176584.cms https://web.archive.org/web/20121023061755/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2002-04-27/india/27138652_1_life-imprisonment-pakistani-militants-foreign-tourists live 23 October 2012 3 Harkat militants awarded death sentence The Times of India 27 April 2002 4 January 2020 PTI Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd.http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/2002/04/28/stories/2002042801050800.htm 3 Pakistanis sentenced to death https://web.archive.org/web/20090712021457/http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/2002/04/28/stories/2002042801050800.htm 12 July 2009 The Hindu 28 April 2002 4 January 2020 usurped Hinuonnet Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh was incarcerated in Tihar Jail and stayed in prison till December 1999 when he was released in exchange for the passengers aboard hijacked Indian Airlines Flight 814.https://www.tribuneindia.com/2002/20020216/main4.htm Tihar — base of Islamic radicals? The Tribune 16 February 2002 4 January 2019 He subsequently was alleged to be involved in the murder of Daniel Pearl. He was sentenced to death on 14 July 2002 in Pakistan.http://www.rediff.com/news/2002/jul/15pak.htm Omar Sheikh sentenced to death in Pearl murder case Rediff.com 15 July 2002 4 January 2019 Under CIA interrogation Khalid Sheikh Mohammed confessed to being the one who personally wielded the blade that killed Daniel Pearl.Burger Timothy J. Zagorin Adam Fingering Danny Pearl's Killer http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1545441,00.html time.com Time Inc. 27 September 2014 12 October 2006 In popular culture The kidnapping was the subject of a 2008 episode of the television series, Banged Up Abroad. The Indian film Omerta (2017 film) is based on this kidnapping and Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh.Omerta https://www.zee5.com/global/movies/details/omerta/0-0-189437 2022-08-23 ZEE5 en Notes See also 1995 kidnapping of western tourists in Kashmir References External links Profile: Omar Saeed Sheikh, BBC, 2002-07-16 Category:1994 crimes in India Category:Islamic terrorist incidents in 1994 Category:Terrorist incidents in India in 1994 Category:1990s in Delhi Category:October 1994 crimes Category:October 1994 in India Category:Kashmir conflict Category:Islamic terrorism in India Category:Crime in Delhi Category:Rao administration Category:Kidnappings in India Category:Kidnapping in the 1990s Category:Hostage taking in India Category:Attacks on tourists in India