Jundal carried out 26/11 with Pak support: Chidambaram
NEW DELHI: 26/11 plotter Zabiuddin Ansari aka Abu Jundal has said that LeT chief Hafiz Saeed, one of world's most serious terror threats, is guarded round the clock by Pakistan's security forces and its spy agency, the ISI....
He has also admitted to have met Saeed, and has said that the LeT founder motivated him to help the outfit carry out more terrorist acts against India. The man, who taught 26/11 attackers how to masquerade as Indians, also said that his LeT bosses set him up as a businessperson dealing in used cars right under the nose of the Pakistani army in the garrison town of Rawalpindi.
Jundal's disclosure to Indian police officials, who are interrogating him, confirms Pakistan's continuing patronage to LeT that aspires to replace al-Qaeda as the most dangerous jehadi terrorist outfit, and may ensure that the efforts at rapprochement with Pakistan don't go far.
Union home minister P Chidambaram confirmed on Friday, as first reported by TOI, that Saeed was present in the control room from where Jundal and other 26/11 masterminds directed the killer squad who ravaged Mumbai. Asked whether Saeed was present in the control room, Chidambaram said "Yes, others were present and we think one of them was Hafiz Saeed."
The minister repeated his charge that the 26/11 conspiracy had the support of Pakistani state actors. Referring to the control room equipped with modern communication facilities, Chidambaram said, "Such a control room could not have been set up without some kind of state support."
He said that security forces had found out that while Ajmal Kasab and his fellow killers were trained at one place, the control room was set up at another and was provided with the infrastructure. "All this indicated that these activities could not have been carried out without some kind of state support. This is logical inference we have to make. It is only when investigation is complete, and Jundal's interrogation is completed, we will come to know who gave what support. At the moment, he is still being interrogated," Chidambaram stressed.
The minister also reacted to Pakistan's interior ministry advisor Rehman Malik's attempt to deflect attention away from the growing evidence of the complicity of Pakistani state in 26/11, by highlighting Jundal's Indian nationality. "I agree with Rehman Malik that Abu Jundal is an Indian and perhaps he was radicalized also in India. I admit that. Equally, Pakistan should admit that Abu Jundal did go to Pakistan, that he was part of the group which trained and prepared Kasab and nine others and that he was in the control room and one of the masterminds and handlers of the attack", he said.
Jundal's disclosure about the 24x7 security extended to Saeed by Pakistan's security forces and the ISI only underlines what has always been known: the security establishment in that country treats LeT as a strategic asset and would protect it at cost of global community's annoyance.
The terrorist also told Indian agencies that LeT, faced with heightened pressure on Pakistan post-26/11, has shifted is operational command, Beit-ul-Mujahidin — in jehadi parlance — from Muzaffarabad in PoK to Dulai, closer to J&K.
The 26/11 mastermind, who has admitted to have met Zakiurr Rahman Lakhvi in Pakistan's Adiala Jail, has also said that the LeT commander has all the facilities in the prison. He has revealed that despite their growing notoriety as a terrorist outfit, funds are not in short supply for LeT. He also disclosed that Muzammil has taken over the command of LeT after Lakhvi's arrest.
Jundal, who fled to India in 2006, said that although he made good money from the automobile business, LeT paid him Rs 12,000 every month for his upkeep.
Jundal was taken to Safdarjung Hospital for medical check up again on Friday afternoon. Earlier in the day, he was questioned by IB officials about several LeT members, who are still in India, and about his partner Fayyaz Kagzi.
Out of Jundal's four email accounts, sources say, the agencies have not been able to open one perhaps because he has not given them the correct password. "From the emails we have opened, we have got several conversations and numbers and email IDs of suspected people," said a source.
Jundal was using the name Kaasif on his website, where he lured young boys to join LeT. Kaasif was even mentioned in his dossier that was shared with Islamabad.
Jundal has also disclosed the name of one Shaukat, who took him to Bangladesh in 2006 to escape Indian police who were looking for him for the Aurangabad arms haul and Ahmedabad train blast cases. Now, IB officials are trying to locate Shaukat.
He has also admitted to have met Saeed, and has said that the LeT founder motivated him to help the outfit carry out more terrorist acts against India. The man, who taught 26/11 attackers how to masquerade as Indians, also said that his LeT bosses set him up as a businessperson dealing in used cars right under the nose of the Pakistani army in the garrison town of Rawalpindi.
Jundal's disclosure to Indian police officials, who are interrogating him, confirms Pakistan's continuing patronage to LeT that aspires to replace al-Qaeda as the most dangerous jehadi terrorist outfit, and may ensure that the efforts at rapprochement with Pakistan don't go far.
Union home minister P Chidambaram confirmed on Friday, as first reported by TOI, that Saeed was present in the control room from where Jundal and other 26/11 masterminds directed the killer squad who ravaged Mumbai. Asked whether Saeed was present in the control room, Chidambaram said "Yes, others were present and we think one of them was Hafiz Saeed."
The minister repeated his charge that the 26/11 conspiracy had the support of Pakistani state actors. Referring to the control room equipped with modern communication facilities, Chidambaram said, "Such a control room could not have been set up without some kind of state support."
He said that security forces had found out that while Ajmal Kasab and his fellow killers were trained at one place, the control room was set up at another and was provided with the infrastructure. "All this indicated that these activities could not have been carried out without some kind of state support. This is logical inference we have to make. It is only when investigation is complete, and Jundal's interrogation is completed, we will come to know who gave what support. At the moment, he is still being interrogated," Chidambaram stressed.
The minister also reacted to Pakistan's interior ministry advisor Rehman Malik's attempt to deflect attention away from the growing evidence of the complicity of Pakistani state in 26/11, by highlighting Jundal's Indian nationality. "I agree with Rehman Malik that Abu Jundal is an Indian and perhaps he was radicalized also in India. I admit that. Equally, Pakistan should admit that Abu Jundal did go to Pakistan, that he was part of the group which trained and prepared Kasab and nine others and that he was in the control room and one of the masterminds and handlers of the attack", he said.
Jundal's disclosure about the 24x7 security extended to Saeed by Pakistan's security forces and the ISI only underlines what has always been known: the security establishment in that country treats LeT as a strategic asset and would protect it at cost of global community's annoyance.
The terrorist also told Indian agencies that LeT, faced with heightened pressure on Pakistan post-26/11, has shifted is operational command, Beit-ul-Mujahidin — in jehadi parlance — from Muzaffarabad in PoK to Dulai, closer to J&K.
The 26/11 mastermind, who has admitted to have met Zakiurr Rahman Lakhvi in Pakistan's Adiala Jail, has also said that the LeT commander has all the facilities in the prison. He has revealed that despite their growing notoriety as a terrorist outfit, funds are not in short supply for LeT. He also disclosed that Muzammil has taken over the command of LeT after Lakhvi's arrest.
Jundal, who fled to India in 2006, said that although he made good money from the automobile business, LeT paid him Rs 12,000 every month for his upkeep.
Jundal was taken to Safdarjung Hospital for medical check up again on Friday afternoon. Earlier in the day, he was questioned by IB officials about several LeT members, who are still in India, and about his partner Fayyaz Kagzi.
Out of Jundal's four email accounts, sources say, the agencies have not been able to open one perhaps because he has not given them the correct password. "From the emails we have opened, we have got several conversations and numbers and email IDs of suspected people," said a source.
Jundal was using the name Kaasif on his website, where he lured young boys to join LeT. Kaasif was even mentioned in his dossier that was shared with Islamabad.
Jundal has also disclosed the name of one Shaukat, who took him to Bangladesh in 2006 to escape Indian police who were looking for him for the Aurangabad arms haul and Ahmedabad train blast cases. Now, IB officials are trying to locate Shaukat.
