By IANS,
New Delhi : Mohammed Umer Madni, the key Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operative arrested here Thursday, had been tasked with recruiting educated and computer-savvy youngsters from the metros for terrorist training in Pakistan, Delhi Police said Friday.
“In the summer of 2008 when he visited Pakistan, he interacted with the leadership of Jamaat-ul-Daawa (JuD) and LeT and a key functionary of LeT, Mohammad Yakoob, along with LeT militants Mohammad Usman, Saifullah and Abdul Nasir,” Joint Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) P.N. Aggarwal told reporters.
Madni, 50, the Nepal chief of the Pakistan-based terror group LeT, was arrested by the Special Cell of Delhi Police from near the historic Qutab Minar in south Delhi.
“The JuD and LeT leadership gave him the task of recruiting at least two educated persons, one a computer expert and other at least a graduate from (each of) four metropolitan cities of India – Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai,” Aggarwal said.
The official said Madni was also assigned the task of selecting fishermen from Konkan and Malabar coastal regions for training. “He was asked to identify people from coastal areas who are interested in shipping and sailing,” Aggarwal said.
The official revealed that during interrogations the accused told them that he had, over the years, already recruited over 30 militants for LeT who were sent to Pakistan for training and distributed hundreds of thousands of rupees to various LeT modules in India, Nepal and Bangladesh.
The militants he recruited included Kamal Ansari, arrested in the 2006 Mumbai train blast cases, and three other militants arrested by the Special Cell and convicted by Delhi courts.
Madni was also assigned the task of liaisoning with outfit members based in Bangladesh and for this purpose he visited that country thrice.
“All these revelations are pointing towards how dangerous the designs of these terrorists are. The 26/11 Mumbai attack was carried out by LeT terrorists who came to India through the sea route and that is why the work of identifying people from coastal region is alarming,” said a senior police officer who requested anonymity.
“We have also seen how young computer experts have been found involved in terrorism related activities. All these angles will be probed,” the senior police officer added.
Aggarwal said: “Jharkhand was another area where Madni was asked to do talent-hunting for militant activities. He was also assigned the task of motivating people working in fireworks factories in India in order to train them for IED handling.
“He was also asked to cultivate a person who could carry terrorist funds from Jammu to Srinagar and also to open a madrassa on the outskirts of a jungle of Nepal.
“He used to receive terrorist funding through a well known money transfer agency in Kathmandu,” Aggarwal added.
Intensive interrogation of the arrested militant was continuing, he added.
Madni admitted to police that he had recently received over $30,000 apart from fake currency nominally worth Rs.1 million for distribution among LeT modules in India.
Out of this amount, he gave $12,000 and Rs.500,000 of fake currency to an operative identified as Ahmad in Patna and $10,000 and Rs.450,000 of fake currency to an operative, Saleem, in Aligarh.