Terror trail points to 26/11 accused

Mukesh Ranjan in new delhi & Shiv Kumar in Mumbai

Mukesh Ranjan in new delhi & Shiv Kumar in Mumbai

The relationship between the civil and military establishment in Pakistan is as fragile as ever. Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif amplified it as much when he recently talked about non-state actors’ complicity in 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. He also appeared to acknowledge that militant groups are active in that country. The Pak dithering is evident: nine judges have been changed in the last eight years for the special court looking into the Mumbai attacks. Then, there are fresh indications that those given a long rope by Pakistan in 26/11 are regrouping. 

A few days back the Maharashtra Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) on a specific input from Kolkata Special Task Force (STF) detained an alleged Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) operative, Faisal Hasan Mirza, having “definite” links to Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, the key accused in the 26/11 case, as wells as fugitive don Dawood Ibrahim. 

Mirza (32) is an electrician and resident of Jogeshwari in north-west Mumbai. He claimed he was planning to kill several leading Indian politicians and film personalities and also conduct a series of bomb explosions in several cities. He was also allegedly in touch with top LeT men. ATS officials said his association with the terror outfit that carried out 26/11 attack on Mumbai grew stronger when it was found that he went to Sharjah and later Dubai in the UAE.

The investigators also suspect that Pakistan-based terror outfits are in the process of reviving their networks, which were busted following the arrest of Riyaz Bhatkal some years ago. Bhatkal’s Indian Mujahideen was allegedly responsible for several terror attacks in India.

The investigators believe that Mirza underwent extensive training at LeT’s Karachi and Muzaffrabad facilities, in the use of arms, making bombs and carrying out lone-wolf attacks in India. He underwent a two-week training programme under the patronage of terror outfits controlled by Pakistani intelligence and establishments, the investigators said. 

Earlier, in Dubai Mirza came in contact with Indian Mujahideen (IM) co-founder Amir Reza Khan, who made arrangements for him to reach Karachi and remained in contact with him. Khan is also wanted by Interpol for his role in the 2001 abduction of shoe baron Partha Roy Burman and a 2002 terror attack on American Cultural Centre in Kolkata.

In a bid to camouflage Mirza’s Pakistan visit, his handlers booked him on a flight to Nairobi and asked him to extricate himself from the rest of the journey during the aircraft’s halt at Karachi in Pakistan, the ATS sleuths said. 

ATS officials said Mirza was in touch with fugitive gangster Chhota Shakeel’s alleged aide, Farooq Devadiwala, who is his relative. Devadiwala was Mirza’s handler and he was awaiting orders from him when apprehended. The ATS sleuths claimed that the accused was also tasked by the underworld-terror nexus to “recruit locals, who will be taken to Pakistan for terror training”.

The Officials also informed that Devadiwala has been detained by the authorities in the UAE after a request by the Indian agency. The Mumbai ATS is hoping that Devadiwala would soon be extradited to India so that the names of other members of this conspiracy would come to light. 

ATS officials claim that they have got a few more names of those in touch with Mirza, and their whereabouts were being checked. The officials said that Mirza lied about losing his passport the first time around. The passport was later recovered from his in-law’s residence. As per the alert sounded by Kolkata STF, Mumbai ATS officials said, Mirza had returned to Mumbai around two months ago and was waiting for orders to carry out attacks.

On May 16, members of the Maharashtra ATS arrested one Allahrakha Mansuri (32) from Gandhinagar in Gujarat. Apparently, Mansuri and Mirza were in touch with Devadiwala via mobile phone conference calls. The ATS sleuths said they suspected Mansuri to be a landing agent for the IM, tasked with distributing weapons and explosives smuggled to India via the sea route from Gujarat.