DNA Test, Hard Bargain with Saudi Nets 26/11 Prized Catch
By Harinder Baweja
June 26, 2012
In one of their most complex and intriguing operations lately, Indian intelligence agencies tracked 26/11 accused Abu Jundal alias Zaibuddin Ansari to Saudi Arabia and brought him to Delhi on June 21.
26/11 Mumbai Attack
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The operation took nearly a year, and involved intense negotiations with an otherwise indifferent Saudi Arabia. It also involved a DNA test, a senior intelligence official told HT requesting anonymity.
Pakistan apparently spent its last ounce of diplomatic sweat, trying to pressure Saudi authorities into releasing Abu Jundal.
Believed to be one of the handlers who directed the Mumbai carnage from a ‘control room’ in Karachi, Jundal is also suspected of having trained the 10 terrorists including Ajmal Kasab, who confessed to having learnt some Hindi from this handler.
Indian intelligence agencies had tracked Jundal to Saudi Arabia on a tip-off about a year ago. But early attempts to get his custody failed because although he is from Beed in Maharashtra, he had travelled to Saudi Arabia on a Pakistani passport.
For months, Pakistan’s ISI exerted immense pressure on Saudi, a home ministry official told HT. It did not want Jundal to be handed over to India at any cost. He was too prized a catch: A Lashkar-e-Taiba insider who could expose the role of ‘state actors’ in the Mumbai attack.
Soon after 26/11, when Kasab's capture and arrest had exposed Pakistan's role, President Asif Ali Zardari had famously said that "non-state actors" could have been involved in the Mumbai terror attack.
In a diplomatic game that involved three countries, India, too, stepped up pressure and sent several documents to the Saudi authorities to establish that Jundal may be using a Pakistani passport, but was actually an Indian citizen.
The clincher was a DNA test. A sample — obtained from Ansari's family — was sent to the Saudi authorities by India, the intelligence source said.
Once the test matched, the Pakistani game was up and the Saudi authorities were persuaded at last. Jundal was handed over to an Indian intelligence team which brought him back to Delhi's Indira Gandhi International airport.
Jundal — now remanded to police custody — will help the 26/11 investigation. While Pakistan has evaded providing voice samples of the handlers who controlled the attack from Karachi, India will at least be able to match the voice on the intercept with that of Jundal's.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/NewDelhi/DNA-test-hard-bargain-with-Saudi-nets-26-11-prized-catch/Article1-878581.aspx
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Zabiuddin Arrest Opens Doors for 26/11 Probe
By Praveen Swami
Jun 26, 2012
Intelligence officials and police have started questioning a Maharashtra man who offers fresh first-hand testimony on the identities of the Lashkar-e-Taiba commanders who guided the 10-member team that carried out the 26/11 attacks.
Zabiuddin Ansari, who investigators allege was present in the LeT’s control room in Karachi at the time of the attacks, was held by the Delhi Police on his arrival from Riyadh on Monday morning.
In telephone conversations intercepted during the 26/11 attacks, first revealed by The Hindu in February 2010 and now posted online, an individual speaking with a marked Mumbai accent can be heard instructing the terrorists to make a list of demands to the media. The men at the control room also issued instructions to the attack team on operational decisions that included killing of hostages, using voice-over-internet-protocol communications.
Ansari, informed sources said, was held by the Saudi authorities earlier this year while he was travelling on a Pakistani passport, identifying himself as Riasat Ali. In July 2011, New Delhi requested his extradition from Pakistan, as part of a group of more than 50 wanted fugitives.
The arrest, highly placed government sources said, came after months of patient work by the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and Saudi Arabia’s intelligence service, the Ri’asat al-Istikhbarat al-’Amah. Intelligence services in both countries identified Ansari on the basis of intercepted phone communications.
Much of the National Investigation Agency’s firsthand insight into the 26/11 plot has so far relied on the testimony of Pakistani-American jihadist David Headley, who carried out the reconnaissance, which allowed the assault team to reach its targets precisely. He identified Sajid Mir, LeT’s controller of transnational military operations, as one of the men who instructed the team. The Monday’s arrest, government sources said, came after months of painstaking diplomatic talks among the authorities in Riyadh, Washington and New Delhi. Indian dignitaries visiting Saudi Arabia in recent months lobbied the Saudi authorities for assistance in Ansari’s case. IB Director Nehchal Sandhu is also thought to have directly worked with his Saudi counterpart, Prince Muqrin bin Abdul-Aziz, to push forward the investigations.
A Washington-based Indian diplomat told The Hindu that the U.S. used its influence to push forward the case, seeing enhanced India-Saudi Arabia relations as a key element in bringing greater distance in India’s relationship with Iran.
“In the last six months,” a senior official told The Hindu, “Saudi Arabia has dramatically improved its cooperation on counter-terrorism issues with India.”
Source: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article3568185.ece
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India’s Prize Catch
By Hakeem Irfan and Dipanjan Roy Chaudhary
Jun 26, 2012
Arrest of 26/ 11 plotter Abu Hamza could give India a handle on Pak ISI role in terror strike
A BIG fish has been netted in the 26/ 11 Mumbai terror attack case, bringing a 43- month manhunt to an end.
Sayed Zabiuddin Ansari — who operates under the aliases Abu Jundal, Abu Hamza as well as Riyasat Ali, and allegedly remote- controlled the 2008 carnage from Karachi — was arrested on his arrival at IGI Airport on June 21 after being deported from Saudi Arabia on India’s request.
He was reportedly remanded in police custody for 15 days by a Delhi court on the same day. The 30- year- old alleged Lashkar-e- Tayyeba ( LeT) operative’s arrest by the Delhi Police special cell is being viewed as a major breakthrough in the investigation into the terror strike that shook the commercial capital of the country and indeed the entire nation.
Jundal, along with five others, was present in the ‘ control room’ set up at Karachi in Pakistan to handle the 26/ 11 attackers and was heard giving instructions to terrorists who were engaged in a fight with NSG commandos at Nariman House in Mumbai, officials associated with the probe revealed.
He had also taught Hindi to the 10 LeT terrorists who carried out the attack in November 2008 in which 166 people were killed and more than 300 wounded. A resident of the Georai area of Beed district in Maharashtra, he managed to give the slip to the Mumbai police when an RDX consignment was seized in Aurangabad in 2006, and left for Pakistan.
Jundal then operated out of terror camps in Karachi and Pakistan- occupied Kashmir, and became a key figure in the outfit’s plan to carry out strikes in the heart of India.
Interrogators added that Jundal had told the Lashkar terrorists to convey to the Indian media that the 26/ 11 attacks was a trailer and the entire movie was yet to come.
In the intercepted tapes, Ansari was heard using typical Hindi words such as prashasan (administration).
Furthermore, he directed the terrorists to conceal their Pakistani identity.
Jundal has apparently been singing like a canary since he was apprehended and has admitted his active role in the Mumbai attack, confessing that he worked in tandem with terror mastermind Zaki- ur Rehman Lakhvi.
During the interrogation, the key LeT operative also divulged a particular name and disclosed the latter’s specific task while executing the 26/ 11 strike. Interrogators suspect that this person was an ISI officer closely involved in executing the attack.
Jundal’s name figures in the 26/ 11 attack chargesheet as well as the related dossier India has handed over to Pakistan. It is thought that his interrogation will reveal additional links between the Pakistani establishment, including the ISI, and the gruesome attack.
The development is significant, coming ahead of Indo- Pak foreign secretary talks on July 4- 5 because New Delhi may hand over to Islamabad any leads from Jundal on Pakistan’s role in the terror strike. Union home minister P. Chi- dambaram confirmed the arrest on Monday, saying: “ The person who goes by the pseudonym Abu Jundal has been apprehended and remanded in police custody of our law enforcement agencies.” External affairs minister S. M. Krishna congratulated the security agencies. “ The Delhi Police have been doing a magnificent job.
Let them go through the investigation, they will then send a report to the government and we shall act accordingly.” Jundal, who has an Interpol red corner notice against him, was arrested under the Unlawful Activities ( Prevention) Act ( UAPA), Explosives Act and Passport Act.
According to the Delhi Police, lone surviving 26/ 11 attacker Ajmal Qasab has also mentioned Jundal’s name in his confession to the court.
The voice sample of Jundal is now being sent for matching with those intercepted by security agencies during the Mumbai attack. The National Investigation Agency ( NIA) is expected to take custody of the LeT operative for further interrogation.
Jundal had been living in Saudi Arabia allegedly on a Pakistani passport and identified himself as Riyasat Ali for many months.
Police sources claimed that he had at least 10 aliases. The first tip- off about his presence in Saudi Arabia was given by an accused arrested in connection with the Jama Masjid blast in Delhi.
Though Jundal was born Indian, he changed nationalities and identities several times in the last few years. He stayed in Bangladesh, too, for some time. While in India, the ITI pass- out was part of banned organisation SIMI from where he shifted to the Indian Mujahideen and later allegedly joined LeT. He was also understood to have been involved in attacks on Mumbai trains in 2006 in which 180 people were killed as well as in the Ahmedabad pipeline blasts. The Bangalore police claimed that Jundal played a role in the 2005 Indian Institute of Science ( IISC) terror strike, too.
The Delhi Police Special Cell will travel with Jundal to Hyderabad, Patna, Karnataka, Mumbai and other places for further investigations.
Interestingly, the Delhi Police have also moved court seeking the production of two alleged Indian Mujahideen members who are lodged in a Bangalore jail.
A Mumbai court issued a production warrant against Jundal on Monday and a Mumbai police team is expected to reach Delhi shortly to seek his custody.
Jundal, who has an Interpol red corner notice against him, was arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Explosives Act and Passport Act
Source: Mail Today
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Who is Abu Hamza aka Abu Jundal?
Jun 26, 2012
Abu Hamza aka Abu Jundal is believed to be the lone Indian in Lashkar- e- Tayyeba’s control room in Pakistan which had directed the 26/ 11 attackers to their targets Along with five others, Jundal was present in the control room and was heard instructing the terrorists who were engaged in a fight with NSG commandos at Nariman House He asked the terrorists to identify themselves as Muslims from Hyderabad’s Toli Chowk area and was the one who taught the Lashkar terrorists the Hindi language He had also apparently told them to convey to the media that the attack was just a trailer and the movie was yet to come Jundal is believed to be of Indian- origin, as in the intercepted tapes, he was heard using archetypal Hindi words such as prashasan ( administration) and udharan’ ( example) The lone terrorist in Indian custody, Ajmal Qasab, had also Abu Hamza aka Abu Jundal who, it is believed, is Lashkar operative Syed Zabiuddin.
told a Mumbai court that one person by the name of Abu Jundal had taught them how to speak Hindi Hamza’s name was mentioned in the dossier India handed over to Pakistan in 2009 as a senior LeT functionary who was closely monitoring the 26/ 11 attacks Jundal has reportedly changed nationalities a number of times and has several fake passports
IS THIS MAN SYED ZABIUDDIN ANSARI?
Mohammad Amjad Khwaja, an activist of Harkat- ul- Jihad- i- Islami from Hyderabad who was arrested in 2010 in Chennai, had told interrogators that Jundal was the alias of Syed Zabiuddin Ansari, a Lashkar operative who belonged to Beed in Maharashtra Khwaja pointed to Ansari after the police played recordings of the conversation between Jundal and the two terrorists who had attacked Mumbai’s Nariman House A dossier given to Pakistan during the foreign secretary level talks in Delhi in February 2010 listed Zabiuddin’s name among the 24 terrorists India wanted Pakistan to hand them over. In his profile, it was mentioned he’s from Beed, Maharashtra Zabiuddin was identified in the dossier as an accused in the Aurangabad arms haul case (2006) and his profile had no mention of any involvement in the 26/ 11 attacks
Source: Mail Today
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Saudis Helped India Nab 26/11 Handler Abu Jundal
By Neeraj Chauhan
Jun 26, 2012
NEW DELHI: Saudi Arabia has helped India with a major breakthrough in the probe into the 26/11 attacks by facilitating the arrest of Syed Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal, one of the key plotters of the Mumbai raid.
Jundal, who directed Ajmal Kasab and other 26/11 attackers from the Lashkar control room, was picked up by the Saudi police, who put him on a New Delhi-bound flight after alerting the authorities here about their prize catch.
The Lashkar terrorist , an Indian national wanted in many terror cases who was arrested on June 21, has since made the stunning claim that LeT chief Hafiz Saeed was present in the control room when the 26/11 masterminds choreographed the Mumbai attacks. He has also said that ISI and Pakistani army officials were involved in planning 26/11 and attended the meetings.
After Kasab and David Headley, the arrest of Jundal is seen as the third major success in India's effort to unravel the 26/ 11 plot.
Kasab's arrest was important since his Pakistani nationality exposed Islamabad's initial stubborn denial about involvement in the strike, and put paid to the plan to pin the blame on home-grown terrorists; even Hindu radicals.
Taught 26/11 attackers Hindi
Abu Jundal's significance lies in the key role he played in preparations and during the 26/11 attack on Mumbai. Being from Beed in Maharashtra, he taught the basics of Hindi usage to the Pakistani Laskhar squad. On the fateful day, he was in the control room firing instructions to killers, and also coached the killers to wrong-foot the Indian investigators and global community by posing as members of a fictional Indian outfit: Deccan Mujahideen.
In the tapes of the conversation between the terrorists and those in the control room, one of the handlers is heard saying "Lo Jundal Bhai se baat karo", in what is seen as reflecting his familiarity with the plotters and executioners. Sources said, he was present when Lashkar commander Zaki-ur Rahman Lakvhvi trained the attackers in a 12-day training camp organized at Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Jundal himself tutored the terrorists for three days on how to get by in Mumbai.
His statement to the Delhi Police about Saeed's presence in the LeT control room directly incriminates the LeT chief who has strenuously denied his complicity in the terror strikes.
Sources in the Delhi Police said Jundal, who figures in India's list of "most wanted" fugitives sheltered in Pakistan, has said that Lakhvi, Azam Cheema, Muzammil and one more handler were also in the control room.
Indian authorities expect him to provide more clarity on the participation of two serving officers of Pakistan army — Major Sameer and Major Iqbal. The 26/11 tapes have a reference to one "Major General Saheb". Indian authorities hope Jundal would help them ascertain the identity of this person and his connection with the ISI.
Jundal is a vital part of the conspiracy. Tutored by him, the attackers claimed they were motivated by Indian government's atrocities against Muslims and the plight of Kashmiri Muslims. The ploy that fitted well with Pakistan's claim that terrorism in India was an indigenous affair; although the use of typical Hindi expressions like "prashashan" for authorities and recommendations for Sachar Commission immediately led Indian investigators to smell a rat.
"He knows a lot. He claims that they prepared for years for the 26/11 attack and every person was assigned a separate task. Being a Maharashtrian, he was given the task to familiarize the killers with local dialect as well as Mumbai's topography. He instructed the gang on how to ask for directions and what to say if checked and quizzed," said a senior officer familiar with the details of his interrogation.
Jundal was produced before chief metropolitan magistrate Vinod Yadav by a Delhi Police team, led by ACP Ashok Chand and DCP Sanjeev Yadav. The Delhi Police have been given his custody for 15 days after which he may have long sessions with the police from Maharashtra and Gujarat as well as the NIA. He may also be brought face-to-face with Kasab.
Indian authorities expect Abu Jundal to provide more clarity on the participation of two Pak army officers — Major Sameer and Major Iqbal— in the 26/11 attack.
Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Saudis-helped-India-nab-26/11-handler-Abu-Jundal/articleshow/14396009.cms
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26/11 Attacks: Cops Find Voice That Guided 11 Terrorists
By Shishir Gupta, Jatin Anand & Karn Pratap Singh
June 26, 2012
The thick, chilling voice that guided 11 terrorists during the 26/11 massacre in Mumbai was the only one that US national and LeT terrorist David Coleman Headley could not recognise during his interrogation in the US.
It was the voice of 36-year-old Abu Jundal — who was formally
According to sources, Jundal, during his preliminary questioning by Delhi Police and security agencies, has gone into some details about his involvement in guiding the attackers.
He confirmed the presence of top Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, Muzammil, Abu Al Qama, Zarar Shah and Sajid Mir in the control room set up in Karachi to direct the massacre. “We were giving instructions over phone about the activity outside the hotel,” Jundal reportedly told investigators.
He was thoroughly involved in the groundwork as well. “I taught the men Hindi, Marathi and some words in north Indian accent,” Jundal said. He also taught them location surveillance and how to melt into crowds in Mumbai. “After they were ready, we went to the port in Karachi from where we saw them off,” he told the officers.
But besides providing the lowdown on 26/11 attack, Jundal’s interrogation also provided a big picture of the network.
After fleeing to Pakistan in 2006, Jundal was living in the Karachi cantonment with the aid of LeT commander Abdul Aziz, who was involved in the Bangalore blast and IISc attack.
He has confirmed the activities of Yaqoob, who heads the naval wing of the LeT and was involved in sending the gunmen to Mumbai. Yaqoob’s name was first mentioned by Headley.
He confirmed that anti-India terrorist operations are still being planned in Karachi, and gave details about Lashkar commander Salauddin, Himayat Baig, main accused in the German Bakery blast, and Shaikh Abdul Khaja, picked up by Indian agencies from Colombo in July 2010.
Jundal, however, has not given any details about Lashkar’s Hafiz Saeed till now.
Source: http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/NewDelhi/26-11-attacks-Cops-find-voice-that-guided-11-terrorists/Article1-878584.aspx
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Transcript Of Conversation Between Jundal And 26/11 Terrorist
Jun 26, 2012
Excerpt: Conversation between 26/11 terrorists and handler
Transcript of conversation between Pakistan-based Abu Jundal, a handler of the 26/11 terrorists, and a terrorist at Chabad House:
Handler: Remember that every one person you kill there is like taking 50 lives.... H: Listen
Terrorist: Yes, yes
H: Get rid of these people. Kill them
T: By Allah's wish it is all quiet. There is no movement
H: No, no wait. Shoot. If firing starts, you won't know the timing, direction and intensity
T: I've run out of grenades
H: Do it
T: What? Shoot them?
H: Yes. Make them sit up and shoot them in the backs of their heads
(Later) H: Have you done the job or not?
T: No, I will do it in front of you. I was waiting for you
H: Do it in the name of Allah. (Woman screams: Please don't kill me!)
H: You killed one?
T: Both together
T: Allah willing today is Friday. Today will be the final fight
H: Use all of your might. Do it. Shoot them. Get them
T: Intense fire has started. Firing has started in our room
H: Take cover
(A little later) H: Yes, what happened?
T: I've been hit
H: Where?
T: On my side and leg
H: May Allah protect you
T: Pray for me, so that I attain martyrdom
Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Transcript-of-conversation-between-Jundal-and-26/11-terrorist/articleshow/14402734.cms
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Jundal Had Sent Jama Masjid Shooter to India to Help IM Boss
By Neeraj Chauhan
Jun 26, 2012
NEW DELHI: In what proves Abu Jundal and Lashkar's direct link with Indian Mujahideen (IM) and the Jama Masjid attack of September 19, 2010, sources said Jundal was a friend of Mohammad Adil alias Ajmal, a Pakistani national who was arrested by the special cell in November 2011 along with 12 IM members from a Meer Vihar factory.
Adil had fired on Taiwanese tourists in the Jama Masjid attack. He, sources said, was sent to India to help IM boss Ahmad Zarar Siddi Bappa alias Shahrukh in his operation by Abu Jundal. Delhi Police had even got a non-bailable warrant issued against Jundal after it raided IM's Meer Vihar factory in Delhi last year.
Delhi Police believe that apart from providing details about the planning and funding of 26/11 Mumbai attacks; Jundal's arrest may open a Pandora's box of information. A source said, "He may provide information about hideouts of Lashkar and Indian Mujahideen terrorists in India."
"Abu Jundal knows the Bhatkal brothers - Riyaz and Iqbal, bosses of Indian Mujahideen based in Karachi -- very well. He claims that the Bhatkal brothers used to come to joint meetings of Lashkar and IM. For the Jama Masjid attack, the Bhatkal brothers asked Jundal to provide a man, an expert in firing," another source said.
This is when Adil alias Ajmal, who has been named as the main accused and chargesheeted by Delhi Police, was sent to help Shahrukh. Jundal is not named as an accused in the Jama Masjid attack but sources said they were questioning him about the plans of Indian Mujahideen and Lashkar since he had met the Bhatkal brothers.
Sources said Jundal's name had cropped up during Adil's interrogation after which a warrant was issued against him in the Meer Vihar (Delhi) factory case where a large cache of arms and ammunition was recovered and 12 IM terrorists were arrested over a period of time. If sources are to be believed, the special cell tracked Jundal's location in Saudi Arabia after which agencies requested the Gulf country to arrest him and deport him.
Police also believe that Jundal met Shahrukh whenever the latter visited Pakistan.
In its chargesheet in the Jama Masjid case, Delhi Police had mentioned that "Qateel Siddiqui and Mohammad Adil went on a black bike and fired at Taiwanese tourists at Jama Masjid gate number 3, in which two Taiwanese nationals were injured while Shahrukh, Waqas and Tabrez planted the pressure cooker bomb in a stolen Maruti car with the number plate DL6C CD 1042, near the transformer adjoining Jama Masjid police station".
Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Jundal-had-sent-Jama-Masjid-shooter-to-India-to-help-IM-boss/articleshow/14399105.cms
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Abu Jundal Admits Role in 26/11 Attack, Links with ISI
June 25, 2012
LeT terrorist Syed Zabiuddin alias Abu Jundal, who was arrested by Delhi Police, has admitted his active role in the 26/11 attack saying he had worked in close tandem with terror mastermind Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi. During his interrogation, Jundal confessed his role in the country's worst terror attack and admitted that he was present in the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) control room in Karachi and was giving direction to the 10 terrorists who carried out the strike. Jundal took a particular name and his specific task in executing the 26/11 attack. The interrogators suspect that this person was an ISI officer who was closely involved in executing the terror strike. After November 26, 2008, Jundal, a native of Beed district in Maharashtra, stayed in Pakistan for sometime before leaving to Saudi Arabia where he was working as a teacher. He has at least ten aliases and the first tip-off about his presence in Saudia Arabia was given by a terrorist who was arrested in connection with the Jama Masjid blast. Jundal also stayed for sometime in Bangladesh. Sources said Jundal's voice sample is being sent for matching with those which were intercepted by the security agencies during the attack. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is also expected to take custody of Jundal for further interrogation. The sources said foreign intelligence agencies have helped to track down Jundal, who was wanted in several terror cases in Delhi, Maharashtra and Gujarat. Jundal was arrested on his arrival from Saudi Arabia at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport by Delhi Police on June 21.
Source: http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/NewDelhi/Abu-Jundal-admits-role-in-26-11-attack-links-with-ISI/Article1-878396.aspx
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