The Hindu : New Delhi News : "LeT suspect is member of political party from U.P."

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, May 27, 2006

New Delhi

New Delhi

"LeT suspect is member of political party from U.P."

Devesh K. Pandey

He plays a pivotal role as a Lashkar coordinator

NEW DELHI: A young man allegedly belonging to the militant outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), for whom a joint team of the Mumbai and Delhi police had mounted a raid at his residence about a fortnight ago, is purportedly a member of a prominent Uttar Pradesh-based political party. The man, who is still at large, is suspected to be an important link between Pakistan-based LeT top bosses and militants operating in India.

According to a senior Mumbai Police officer, enquiries revealed that the suspect was enrolled as a member of the political party. He did so perhaps to hide his real identity. The joint police team raided his second floor residence on Grand Road in Mumbai but he had fled by then. Though no arms and explosives were recovered from the house, the police seized his computer.

Interestingly, the police came to know about the suspect from those arrested in previous operations. They had disclosed that he played a pivotal role as a Lashkar coordinator. However, the police got a specific lead about his activities and whereabouts from the alleged LeT militant, Feroz Abdul Latif Ghaswala alias Abdullah, a resident of Mumbai, who along with his accomplice, Mohammad Ali, a resident of Ahmedabad, was arrested at Hazrat Nizamuddin railway station here earlier this month.

It has come to light that the suspect was operating as one of the recruiters who initiated young men to join the "jehad" movement against India. At the instance of Azam Cheema, the LeT commander for operations in India outside Jammu and Kashmir, he used to send the new-recruits to Bangladesh for initial training in the handling of arms and explosives, mostly under the supervision of Harkat-ul-Jehad-e-Islami chief Mufti Abdul Hannan, who is presently behind bars. It is learnt that the wanted militant had also played a significant role in sending Abdullah to Bangladesh after he was initiated into terrorism in 2004.

Said to be in his mid 20s, the suspect has earlier been to Jammu and Kashmir to meet Lashkar militants operating in the Valley. Though he managed to escape the police net, the Special Cell of the Delhi police in coordination with the Gujarat police has been following the leads provided by Abdullah to track down his accomplices who worked for him in and around Ahmedabad where he had set up base in July 2005.

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