(L) Seven coaches were blown up in the 2006 serial train bomb blasts. Indian Mujahideen co-founder Yasin Bhatkal
EXCLUSIVE: NIA CHARGE SHEET AGAINST YASIN BHATKAL SAYS AL-QAEDAIS IM'S NEW BEST FRIEND
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) charge sheet against Indian Mujahideen (IM) co-founder Yasin Bhatkal has revealed that Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) wanted the Indian Mujahideen (IM) to postpone the July 2006 serial train blasts in Mumbai as it feared international scrutiny. The charge sheet also revealed that IM had planned a nuclear attack on Surat, the country's diamond hub, to avenge the 2002 Godhra riots.
The 272-page charge sheet, which also names Bhatkal's close associates Asadullah Akhtar, Uzair Ahmed and Manzer Imam, said that the ISI arrested top IM leaders Riyaz Bhatkal and Iqbal Bhatkal after the train blasts, seized their belongings and tortured them in custody for going ahead with the operation that killed 187 people and injured more than 700, top sources in the Home Ministry told this newspaper.
Bhatkal, 31, and his aides have been charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 121 (waging war against the country), 121-A (conspiracy to wage war) besides various sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
Exposing the role of IM, and particularly Bhatkal, in the entire conspiracy to carry out terror activities in India, the charge sheet said that Bhatkal has confessed to the terror outfit's involvement in all attacks on India from 2006, except the nine blasts in Bodhgaya in July, 2013.
The attacks carried out by IM, all of which were either executed or planned by Bhatkal, are the March 7, 2006 serial blasts in Varasani (28 killed), the July 11, 2006 train blasts in Mumbai (187 killed), the Hyderabad twin blasts in August 2007 (42 killed), the November 2007 blasts in courts of Varanasi, Faizabad and Lucknow (15 killed), the Jaipur blast in May 2008 (63 killed), the July 2008 serial blasts in Ahmedabad (56 killed), the September 13 and September 27 blasts in Delhi (a total of 33 killed), the German Bakery blast in Pune in February 2010 (17 killed), the Chinnaswami stadium blast in Bangalore in April 2010 (15 injured) and the Mumbai serial blasts in July 2011 (26 killed), the charge sheet said.
Al Qaeda is IM'S new partner
The charge sheet said that relations between the ISI and IM have soured to such an extent that there is now a deep-rooted mistrust between the two, and IM has begun shifting its bases to the al-Qaeda safe houses in north Waziristan and Afghanistan.
The ISI wanted IM to focus exclusively on carrying out terror attacks in India, but the outfit had global ambitions. The difference in ideology resulted in the ISI trying to bully IM into submission, the charge sheet said, adding that two Azamgarh men, identified as Abu Rashid and Bada Sajid, were handling the IM training camps in Waziristan and Afghanistan. Yasin himself was an expert bomb maker and IM's bomb-making capabilities have been hit after his arrest, the charge sheet said.
The charge sheet said that Bhatkal developed and maintained the terror outfit's modules and sleeper cells in Delhi, Darbhanga in Bihar, Mumbai, Karnataka, Bengal and Goa, and motivated the recruits by handing out CDs featuring Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri and al-Yazeed.
The charge sheet said that Yasin was planning to sneak out of India the family of top IM operative Mohsin Chaudhary, who executed the German Bakery blasts in Pune. "Chaudhary escaped to Pakistan via Bangladesh but his family in Mumbai was facing the heat from the interrogators. Yasin was asked to facilitate their escape to Pakistan," the charge sheet said.
Divisions in IM
The charge sheet said that there was a split in IM itself, as its operatives are not happy with Karachi-based Iqbal Bhatkal's lavish second marriage with a Pakistani woman. According to the charge sheet, Bhatkal told NIA that Iqbal's wife does not conform to Islamic ways, and Iqbal splurged money meant for jihad funds on his wife.
According to the charge sheet, Bhatkal told the interrogators that he had asked Riyaz Bhatkal whether a "small nuclear bomb" could be arranged to attack Surat, to which Riyaz responded, "Anything can be arranged in Pakistan." The plan, however, could not be initiated because of Yasin's arrest, the charge sheet said.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) charge sheet against Indian Mujahideen (IM) co-founder Yasin Bhatkal has revealed that Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) wanted the Indian Mujahideen (IM) to postpone the July 2006 serial train blasts in Mumbai as it feared international scrutiny. The charge sheet also revealed that IM had planned a nuclear attack on Surat, the country's diamond hub, to avenge the 2002 Godhra riots.
The 272-page charge sheet, which also names Bhatkal's close associates Asadullah Akhtar, Uzair Ahmed and Manzer Imam, said that the ISI arrested top IM leaders Riyaz Bhatkal and Iqbal Bhatkal after the train blasts, seized their belongings and tortured them in custody for going ahead with the operation that killed 187 people and injured more than 700, top sources in the Home Ministry told this newspaper.
Bhatkal, 31, and his aides have been charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 121 (waging war against the country), 121-A (conspiracy to wage war) besides various sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
Exposing the role of IM, and particularly Bhatkal, in the entire conspiracy to carry out terror activities in India, the charge sheet said that Bhatkal has confessed to the terror outfit's involvement in all attacks on India from 2006, except the nine blasts in Bodhgaya in July, 2013.
The attacks carried out by IM, all of which were either executed or planned by Bhatkal, are the March 7, 2006 serial blasts in Varasani (28 killed), the July 11, 2006 train blasts in Mumbai (187 killed), the Hyderabad twin blasts in August 2007 (42 killed), the November 2007 blasts in courts of Varanasi, Faizabad and Lucknow (15 killed), the Jaipur blast in May 2008 (63 killed), the July 2008 serial blasts in Ahmedabad (56 killed), the September 13 and September 27 blasts in Delhi (a total of 33 killed), the German Bakery blast in Pune in February 2010 (17 killed), the Chinnaswami stadium blast in Bangalore in April 2010 (15 injured) and the Mumbai serial blasts in July 2011 (26 killed), the charge sheet said.
Al Qaeda is IM'S new partner
The charge sheet said that relations between the ISI and IM have soured to such an extent that there is now a deep-rooted mistrust between the two, and IM has begun shifting its bases to the al-Qaeda safe houses in north Waziristan and Afghanistan.
The ISI wanted IM to focus exclusively on carrying out terror attacks in India, but the outfit had global ambitions. The difference in ideology resulted in the ISI trying to bully IM into submission, the charge sheet said, adding that two Azamgarh men, identified as Abu Rashid and Bada Sajid, were handling the IM training camps in Waziristan and Afghanistan. Yasin himself was an expert bomb maker and IM's bomb-making capabilities have been hit after his arrest, the charge sheet said.
The charge sheet said that Bhatkal developed and maintained the terror outfit's modules and sleeper cells in Delhi, Darbhanga in Bihar, Mumbai, Karnataka, Bengal and Goa, and motivated the recruits by handing out CDs featuring Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri and al-Yazeed.
The charge sheet said that Yasin was planning to sneak out of India the family of top IM operative Mohsin Chaudhary, who executed the German Bakery blasts in Pune. "Chaudhary escaped to Pakistan via Bangladesh but his family in Mumbai was facing the heat from the interrogators. Yasin was asked to facilitate their escape to Pakistan," the charge sheet said.
Divisions in IM
The charge sheet said that there was a split in IM itself, as its operatives are not happy with Karachi-based Iqbal Bhatkal's lavish second marriage with a Pakistani woman. According to the charge sheet, Bhatkal told NIA that Iqbal's wife does not conform to Islamic ways, and Iqbal splurged money meant for jihad funds on his wife.
According to the charge sheet, Bhatkal told the interrogators that he had asked Riyaz Bhatkal whether a "small nuclear bomb" could be arranged to attack Surat, to which Riyaz responded, "Anything can be arranged in Pakistan." The plan, however, could not be initiated because of Yasin's arrest, the charge sheet said.
No comments:
Post a Comment