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Phone call traced to Dubai
By Vinay Kumar
NEW DELHI, JAN. 23. In a crucial development in the probe into the shooting incident outside the American Center in Kolkata on Tuesday, Central agencies have traced the telephone number of the caller - Farhan Malik alias Aftab Ansari - to Dubai. He has allegedly owned responsibility for the attack saying that it was the handiwork of the Harkat-ul-Jehad-i-Islami.
CBI sources said that Farhan Malik - an Indian belonging to Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh - had telephoned the Superintendent of Police, CID, Kolkata, from Dubai at about 10 a.m. on Tuesday threatening similar attacks by his group in Delhi and Gujarat after claiming responsibility for the Kolkata outrage.
Stretching its resources and expertise, the CBI - which had probed the March 1993 Bombay serial blasts where several important leads had the Dubai connection - tracked down the telephone number from where the call was made to Kolkata.
Talking to The Hindu this evening, the CBI Director, P.C. Sharma, said the telephone number had been conveyed to the U.S. authorities through proper channels. As things stood now, the scene of follow-up action might shift to Dubai. It was still being ascertained whether the telephone was that of Malik or a public one.
Mr. Sharma, who had an hour-long meeting with the visiting Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) chief, Robert S. Mueller, on Tuesday, said the CBI was offering all possible assistance in investigating the Kolkata incident. The agency also happens to host the core group on terrorism which collects and disseminates information relating to terrorist incidents.
The FBI has agreed to share information on interrogation records and documents of the Al-Qaeda and Taliban cadre which it has collected in Afghanistan as well as from Pakistan. It was pointed out that a majority of the records and documents were being translated and would be made available in due course of time.
Mr. Sharma said the FBI chief was also told about Omar Sheikh, British citizen and graduate of the London School of Economics, who was lodged in the Tihar Jail here. Omar Sheikh was one of the three terrorists freed by India in return for the safe release of hostages of the hijacked IC-814 flight to Kandahar in December 1999. He said the use of third countries for targeting India by terrorist groups was indicative from the Kolkata shooting incident.
The CBI chief said the subject of the FBI registering a case in the IC-814 hijacking as an American citizen was on the flight also figured during the discussions. The CBI would support the move of extradition of the hijackers of IC-814 to the U.S. from Pakistan as it would mean beginning of trial there. The CBI presentation for the visiting FBI team also focussed on the IC- 814 hijacking case.
As the FBI Director's visit comes amid hectic diplomatic initiatives in the post-December 13 scenario, Mr. Sharma said terrorism should be tackled through a global approach. On the list of 22 wanted Indian criminals and terrorists believed to be sheltered in the U.S., he said the list included nine Punjab militants. Such information was being periodically shared with the FBI.
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