Key IM man arrested from west UP
8 Sept 2014 4:55 AM IST
Ajaz Shaikh (27) had allegedly sent e-mails to media houses after the bomb blasts at Jama Masjid in old Delhi and Sheetla Ghat in Varanasi, in 2010, claiming responsibility of the blasts being executed by IM and warning of many more to follow. The mails were sent under the signature of ‘Al Arabi’, said a senior police official.
‘Ajaz worked as the logistics man and hawala router for key IM operatives like Yasin Bhatkal, Tehsin Akhtar, Assadullah Akhtar and Zia-ur-Rehman,’ said SN Shrivastava, Special Commissioner of Police (special cell). He further said even after the arrest of so many IM operatives, the identity of the man behind the ‘blood-curdling’ e-mails sent immediately after the Jama Masjid and Sheetla Ghat bomb blasts remained a mystery. ‘Besides sending e-mails, Ajaz used to provide logistics to the IM operatives in India and prepared fake identity cards required by the IM operatives in procuring SIM Cards, collecting money received through the Western Union Money Transfer, obtaining rooms on rent and even in getting enrolled in professional educational institutions as under covers,’ said SN Shrivastava.
He added that based on a tip off received on Friday, Ajaz Shaikh was apprehended from the railway station at Saharanpur soon after he de-boarded a train coming from Moradabad.
After interrogations, Ajaz revealed he was the brother-in-law of absconding terrorist Mohsin Chaudhary. He also said the first assignment was entrusted to him during the German Bakery blasts at Pune in February 2010, said a senior police official. He added in the German bakery case he played the role of a facilitator.
He arranged for the mobile handset, SIM card and the rented accommodation near Bharti Vidyapeeth in Pune, which were used by Yasin Bhatkal. After the German Bakery blasts, he played the role of ‘devil’s messenger’ in the Jama Masjid strikes of September 2010. ‘In fact, the draft of the mail, which had been prepared by Riyaz Bhatkal and his associates in Pakistan, was received by Ajaz in advance,’ a source said. The same process was repeated after the Varanasi blasts.
‘Ajaz worked as the logistics man and hawala router for key IM operatives like Yasin Bhatkal, Tehsin Akhtar, Assadullah Akhtar and Zia-ur-Rehman,’ said SN Shrivastava, Special Commissioner of Police (special cell). He further said even after the arrest of so many IM operatives, the identity of the man behind the ‘blood-curdling’ e-mails sent immediately after the Jama Masjid and Sheetla Ghat bomb blasts remained a mystery. ‘Besides sending e-mails, Ajaz used to provide logistics to the IM operatives in India and prepared fake identity cards required by the IM operatives in procuring SIM Cards, collecting money received through the Western Union Money Transfer, obtaining rooms on rent and even in getting enrolled in professional educational institutions as under covers,’ said SN Shrivastava.
He added that based on a tip off received on Friday, Ajaz Shaikh was apprehended from the railway station at Saharanpur soon after he de-boarded a train coming from Moradabad.
After interrogations, Ajaz revealed he was the brother-in-law of absconding terrorist Mohsin Chaudhary. He also said the first assignment was entrusted to him during the German Bakery blasts at Pune in February 2010, said a senior police official. He added in the German bakery case he played the role of a facilitator.
He arranged for the mobile handset, SIM card and the rented accommodation near Bharti Vidyapeeth in Pune, which were used by Yasin Bhatkal. After the German Bakery blasts, he played the role of ‘devil’s messenger’ in the Jama Masjid strikes of September 2010. ‘In fact, the draft of the mail, which had been prepared by Riyaz Bhatkal and his associates in Pakistan, was received by Ajaz in advance,’ a source said. The same process was repeated after the Varanasi blasts.
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