Syed Zabihuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal, like other masterminds of 26/11, would have remained safe from the law had it not been for his determination to start a fresh terror campaign against India.
NEW DELHI: Syed Zabihuddin Ansari aliasAbu Jundal, like other masterminds of 26/11, would have remained safe from the law had it not been for his determination to start a fresh terror campaign against India.
Determined to recruit fresh hands for terror acts against India, the resolute jihadi created a website to lure youth from India. Sources close to the investigation said Jundal committed the mistake, fortunately so from the Indian viewpoint, of using the same site to interact with his accomplices in the Lashkarestablishment who have been under heightened global scrutiny since 26/11 and the disclosures of Pakistan-born American jihadi, David Headley.
The electronic trail is what is supposed to have led intelligence agencies to conclude that the man behind the active website could be "someone of interest" to them, and pointed to his new location in Riyadh, the Saudi capital.
The suspicion was strengthened by a Facebook account which Jundal had opened using his original identity—i.e. Zabihuddin Ansari.
The blunder not only led the FBI to him but also provided Indian investigators with a treasure trove of information, including four email accounts. The accounts, which were active before his arrest in May last year in Saudi Arabia, hold details of conversations between him and his accomplices, including those in India. "We have hit a jackpot," said an investigator to underline the value of information that has fallen in their lap.
Officials said they have also taken data from his mobile phones and have got some documents which were recovered from his accommodation when he was caught in Riyadh. The cops have also recovered an ID card of Pakistan from Jundal, sources said.
Apart from meeting Indian youths in Saudi Arabia and running a taxi hire business in the name of Riyasat Ali, Jundal was active on Facebook. He was running the taxi business as a mere cover. "He was not making much money out of it. For his activities, he used to get money from valid bank transfers in his accounts from Pakistan and also through hawala," sources said.
Investigators were tightlipped whether Jundal had any knowledge about the whereabouts of Fasih Mohammed, a terror suspect who recently went missing in Saudi Arabia, or if he was ever in touch with him. "We don't think he knows Fasih," an officer said.
Jundal was staying in Riyadh since early 2010 and his passport was issued in Shikarpur near Karachi. He was caught in Riyadh and kept there for several months. Indian agencies pursued the matter with Saudi agencies after which he was deported to Delhi on June 21.
Determined to recruit fresh hands for terror acts against India, the resolute jihadi created a website to lure youth from India. Sources close to the investigation said Jundal committed the mistake, fortunately so from the Indian viewpoint, of using the same site to interact with his accomplices in the Lashkarestablishment who have been under heightened global scrutiny since 26/11 and the disclosures of Pakistan-born American jihadi, David Headley.
The electronic trail is what is supposed to have led intelligence agencies to conclude that the man behind the active website could be "someone of interest" to them, and pointed to his new location in Riyadh, the Saudi capital.
The suspicion was strengthened by a Facebook account which Jundal had opened using his original identity—i.e. Zabihuddin Ansari.
The blunder not only led the FBI to him but also provided Indian investigators with a treasure trove of information, including four email accounts. The accounts, which were active before his arrest in May last year in Saudi Arabia, hold details of conversations between him and his accomplices, including those in India. "We have hit a jackpot," said an investigator to underline the value of information that has fallen in their lap.
Officials said they have also taken data from his mobile phones and have got some documents which were recovered from his accommodation when he was caught in Riyadh. The cops have also recovered an ID card of Pakistan from Jundal, sources said.
Apart from meeting Indian youths in Saudi Arabia and running a taxi hire business in the name of Riyasat Ali, Jundal was active on Facebook. He was running the taxi business as a mere cover. "He was not making much money out of it. For his activities, he used to get money from valid bank transfers in his accounts from Pakistan and also through hawala," sources said.
Investigators were tightlipped whether Jundal had any knowledge about the whereabouts of Fasih Mohammed, a terror suspect who recently went missing in Saudi Arabia, or if he was ever in touch with him. "We don't think he knows Fasih," an officer said.
Jundal was staying in Riyadh since early 2010 and his passport was issued in Shikarpur near Karachi. He was caught in Riyadh and kept there for several months. Indian agencies pursued the matter with Saudi agencies after which he was deported to Delhi on June 21.
