The handler of eight suspected Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operatives arrested in a major anti-terror operation was allegedly in direct contact with the outfit’s top leadership, including 26/11 Mumbai attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed and senior commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, sources told India Today TV.
Sources identified the handler as Shabbir Ahmad Lone, a Kashmiri terrorist currently believed to be based in Bangladesh. Officials say Lone has been in touch with LeT’s top brass since at least 2007 and is suspected to have coordinated the recently unearthed module.
Investigators said Lone first came under the radar in 2007 when he was arrested by the Delhi Police Special Cell. At the time, agencies allegedly recovered evidence showing he was in regular communication with Saeed and Lakhvi.
ISI angle under probe
The investigation has also pointed towards the involvement of Pakistan’s intelligence agency, the ISI. According to sources, the ISI has been attempting to recruit Bangladeshi nationals who are illegally residing in India to carry out terror activities.
Following the latest arrests, Delhi Police suspect that financial backing for recruitment and planning may have come from across the border.
Eight suspects were arrested earlier in the day for allegedly plotting a major terror conspiracy in the national capital at the behest of the ISI and Bangladesh-based extremist outfits.
Six of the accused — Mizanur Rahman, Mohammad Shabat, Umar, Mohammad Litan, Mohammad Shahid and Mohammed Ujjal — were picked up from garment factories in Tamil Nadu’s Tiruppur district. The remaining two were arrested from West Bengal.
The crackdown followed specific intelligence inputs suggesting that a module was planning subversive activities in different parts of the country.
Red Fort alert and IED threat
Security agencies had earlier issued an alert about a possible explosion near the Red Fort after central intelligence inputs indicated that LeT may have put prominent religious sites on its target list.
During searches, police seized dozens of mobile phones and SIM cards from the accused. The devices are now being examined to trace the network and establish possible foreign links. Central agencies are assisting Delhi Police in the probe.
Preliminary findings suggest that the group was in contact with handlers linked to the ISI and certain Bangladesh-based organisations.
Intelligence agencies had also warned of a possible Improvised Explosive Device (IED) attack. Sources indicated that the alleged plot could be linked to attempts by the terror outfit to avenge the February 6 blast at a mosque in Islamabad.
The alert comes months after a deadly car explosion near the Red Fort in November last year, which left at least 13 people dead and more than 20 injured when an explosives-laden vehicle detonated near Gate No. 1 of the Red Fort Metro station, causing widespread panic.