British police suspects India-born Briton Dhiren Barot, currently serving a 30-year jail term for conspiring car bomb attacks in UK in 2004, to have passed terror plans to other militants from prison.
Barot wielded huge influence over other imprisoned terror suspects and tried to convert non-Muslim inmates to his brand of radical Islam. A growing number of prisoners were attending Friday prayers in southeast London's Belmarsh jail where he is housed, The Times reported quoting a security source.
It was believed that terrorists from different wings were using the facility to exchange messages and indoctrinate other inmates.
The authorities were so concerned about his ability to radicalize other prisoners that he was moved out of the high-security prison and was transferred to Frankland jail, Durham, where he demanded to be given the right to lead Friday prayers, the report said, adding that his demands were rejected.
Barot was the author of the Gas Limos Project, a plan to blow up hotels and London landmarks with stretch limousines packed with gas cylinders, petrol and nails. It was thwarted by a series of raids in August 2004.
A British Hindu who converted to Islam, Barot had trained in Afghanistan under Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the architect of 9/11. He wrote a book about the need for Muslims to wage a terrorist campaign against the West. It was published in Britain under his nom de guerre, Essa al-Hindi.
Barot pleaded guilty to planning a bombing campaign in November last year. As his defence team attempted to mitigate for him, he insisted that his plans could and would have worked.
"Nothing would delight him more than to see his plans reach fruition, even if he is behind bars," the source added.
