M A I N   N E W S

Lashkar’s Tunda was in touch with ISI
Ran well-knit network in Pak, Bangladesh
Says Dawood living in Karachi safe house
Tribune News Service & Agencies

Terror mastermind Tunda had been pushing terrorists and explosives into India through Bangladesh border since 1998 Met Dawood at least seven times after 2000; handled underworld don’s fake Indian currency network BKI members Wadhawa Singh and Ratandeep Singh got in touch with Tunda seeking logistical support

Lakhvi calls the shots in LeT Tunda claimed LeT commander and Mumbai attack mastermind Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi called the shots in the terror outfit. Admitting his differences with Lakhvi, Tunda lamented he could not scale the terror outfit’s hierarchy despite being one of the founders of its pan-India operations as he was termed a spent force once he arrived in Pakistan from Bangladesh in early 2000.

New Delhi, August 18
Arrested Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorist Abdul Karim Tunda was running madrasas in Pakistan and training youths to become “jihadis”, sources in the Delhi Police said today.

Tunda, who was arrested from the Nepal border yesterday, told his interrogators he was in constant touch with Pakistan’s ISI and worked closely with it. He met leaders of several anti-India outfits during his stay in Pakistan.

Underworld don Dawood Ibrahim met him for the first time in 2000. The two subsequently met at least seven times. Tunda was handling Dawood’s fake Indian currency network.

The underworld don stayed in a safe house in Karachi and was guarded by the ISI. His movements were restricted and monitored by the intelligence agency, the officer said.

Tunda told the police that he owned two madrasas —“Mahamood Tali Islami Darul Fannon” — one based in Karachi and the other in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK).

He had been luring youths into joining these madrasas where he used to preach “jihad” and impart arms and bomb-making skills, the source said.

Tunda had been recruiting poor youngsters in Pakistan and training Indian youths who had fled to Pakistan to join terrorist groups such as the Indian Mujahideen.

Tunda became a bomb-maker after the 1985 Bhiwandi riot in Maharashtra to avenge his relatives’ killing, the source said.

He was actively involved in militancy in Jammu and Kashmir during 1990s. Tunda ran a well-knit network of terrorists in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar. He had also been pushing terrorists and explosives into India through the Bangladesh border since 1998.

Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) members Wadhawa Singh and Ratandeep Singh also got in touch with Tunda seeking logistical support. The BKI members used Tunda’s network to infiltrate arms and terrorists into India after the 2005 Satyam cinema hall blasts in the Delhi, the source said.

A month before the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed had directed Tunda to carry out a series of blasts during the games.

Tunda was pushing his men and arms into India through Bangladesh but some of them were arrested in Dhaka, while a few others were caught in West Bengal during a joint police and intelligence operation.

Tunda had also been associated with Rohingyan operatives active in Myanmar and the police suspected his men might have carried out recent attacks in India.