The Hindu : `Terrorists wanted to secure release of 3 men from jails'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Feb 20, 2002

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`Terrorists wanted to secure release of 3 men from jails'
By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, FEB. 19. Besides setting up bases in several parts of the country, the ISI-backed criminal-terrorist network _ involving Harkat-ul-Jehad-e-Islami (HUJI) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) _ wanted to secure release of three of their men from different Indian jails.

Interrogation of those arrested in a five-month operation by the Delhi Police Crime Branch showed that Mufti Kifayatullah and Mehboob, both top commanders of HUJI, had sent these militants to secure the release of Abdul Rahim, accused in abducting four British citizens in 1994, and Haji Nasrullah Langriyal, founder of HUJI and involved in killing of 20 Border Security Force (BSF) personnel in Jammu and Kashmir. Haji's name was also included in the list of terrorists to be released as part of the Kandahar trade-off in 1999.

One of the arrested HUJI militants, Tariq Mehmood, a Pakistan national, who was arrested along with two others from Nizamuddin on January 30, also told the police that Aftab Ansari, who was in touch with Omar Sheikh, had plans to kidnap Saurav Ganguly to secure the release of Mohammad Amir, a LeT militant, who is lodged in Tihar and is accused in a series of blast cases here during 1996 to 1998.

Aftab also had plans to carry out a terrorist strike at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) in Mumbai, apart from kidnapping Sachin Tendulkar for ransom.

In fact, investigations showed that these modules depended on kidnappings for ransom in a big way to cover for their finances. While no individual names of any prominent persons in the Capital have been revealed by the militants, they have been active more outside Delhi.

Asif Raza Khan, arrested on October 29 along with Arshad Khan and a woman associate, Anita Das, was the main coordinator for anti-India activities in association with Omar Sheikh and Aftab Ansari, who were working in Pakistan. His interrogation also showed that HUJI and LeT militants had a hideout in Hazaribagh.

``There was information about the hideout and vigilance was maintained, but they could not be raided,'' said the Delhi Police Commissioner, Ajai Raj Sharma, adding that there was no indication about the Kolkata case of January 22. Later, the Delhi Police, along with the local police, killed two Pakistan nationals in Hazaribagh on January 28.

In due course of time, the Delhi Police will also seek remand of Aftab Ansari, who had earlier jumped bail, left the country and set up a crime syndicate with the help of Omar Sheikh.

Delhi as junction

The Pakistan-based ISI-backed terrorist-criminal network has been using Delhi as a junction to facilitate flow of finance and logistics to carry out its activities in other parts of the country.

``People in jails are not sitting quiet,'' said Mr. Sharma, here today. ``One of the arrested militants, Abdul Majid, a Pakistan national, remained in touch with three associates of Omar Sheikh _ Tahir Ali, Mohammad Ali and Mohammad Raeef _ who are now in jail and coordinated the plans,'' he said.

Abdul Majid, along with Mohammad Ashraf and Mohammad Amran _ all Pakistan nationals and members of Harkat-ul-Jehad-e-Islami (HUJI) _ were arrested at Shahdara in Delhi on February 6. Their interrogation revealed that they were trained in Afghanistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

The Commissioner said Abdul Majid had been staying in Delhi for the past five years and was proficient in the use of Internet _ for which he was specifically trained _ to coordinate the activities of HUJI in and outside Delhi.

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