New Delhi, December 15
Scrutiny of the transcripts of the SIM cards of the five mobile telephones recovered from the bodies of the five terrorists who tried to storm Parliament on Thursday has revealed clues that could help expose the extensive network of terrorists in the city.
Police sources said a large number of raids were conducted on the basis of information gleaned from the conversations and at least 24 persons have been picked up for questioning. The help of the Jammu and Kashmir police has been sought to help identify and locate some names that have emerged during the investigations.
The police has also flown in several spotters from Kashmir who are said to be familiar with the cadres of both the Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, the two outfits which are alleged to have been involved in Thursday’s brazen attempt.
According to sources, these spotters, whose identities have been kept a closely guarded secret, were once active members of the terrorist network and had received their initial training at the camps in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK).
While the police was reluctant to comment on the progress of the investigations, sources claimed that among the detained were several students and a lecturer of a city college, Abdul Rehman Geelani.
The terrorists, who stormed Parliament House had allegedly contacted Mr Geelani from one of the mobile phones that was recovered from their bodies.
Mr Geelani has been teaching in the Arabic Department of a city college since the past two years and was also enrolled as a PhD scholar in Delhi University’s Arabic Department.
Sources in the department said he was researching on “Kashmiri Scholars” and also used to deliver lectures in regular master’s degree classes in the department. It is learnt that he stayed in an apartment in Pitampura in north-west Delhi.
It is also learnt that he was in close contact with Syed Nazir Geelani, who is believed to be a
London-based Kashmiri separatist, although no official confirmation was available in this regard.Meanwhile, the mystery over whether there was a sixth accomplice in the attack on Parliament continued with contradictory versions coming out from the police.
While Delhi Police Commissioner Ajay Raj Sharma had hinted at the possibility of the sixth terrorist, speculation about the sixth person gained strength because of the mystery of who drove the car inside Parliament.
The investigators believe that the terrorists wanted to take some VVIPs hostage to put pressure on the government to accede to their demands, including a possible release of some of their members lodged in various Indian jails.
The Pakistani national, believed to be in Delhi police custody, reportedly arrived in Delhi about three months back and resided in various places in South Delhi and the walled city.
The Delhi police is also looking for two women whose identity is being kept secret for the purpose of investigation. Officials said that these women are under close watch to track down their network.
Meanwhile, a joint team of sleuths of the Special Cell of the Delhi police and the Enforcement Department reinterrogated three Kashmir-based militants arrested from Adarsh Nagar and Jama Masjid areas in the first week of this month in connection with the Parliament attack.
A list of terrorist organisations recovered from their possession established their connection with the militants who attacked the Parliament on Thursday. The police suspected that both the groups have connection with each other as they stayed in the same area of Adarsh Nagar in North-West district, Enforcement Department sources said.
Mohammad Subhan Khan and Abdul Rehman were arrested on December 6 from Azadpur bus stand where they had gone allegedly to hand over RDX and lakhs of rupees while Jamal Nasir was arrested from Jama Masjid. At least 1.8 KG RDX and Rs 40 lakh were recovered from their possession.
Mohammad Subhan and Rehman belonged to Sopore while the militants who attacked Parliament also from Sopore which was another evidence to establish their link. These terrorists are basically members of the Hizbul Mujahideen and had coordination with Lashkar-e-Toiba.
They got finance through hawala from Dubai. Jamal Nasir, a school dropout from Delhi Public School, is a hawala operator and allegedly used to operate for these outfits, the sources said. The police seized Rs 14 lakh from his possession, the sources said.
During interrogation they disclosed that they financed Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad. They reportedly also disclosed that they had information about the militants’ attack at Parliament.
