Fahim Ansari, the prime accused in the attack on the Central Reserve Police Force camp in Rampur, has told officials of the Mumbai Anti-Terrorist Squad that he had been trained in Pakistan and the deadly 26/11 attacks had been planned by the Lashkar-e-Tayiba.Ansari revealed that apart from the Taj and Trident hotels, the terrorists had also planned to attack the airport. He said that the fidayeens had planned to seize partial control of the airport.
Sabahudin, a LeT operative arrested for the CRPF camp attack in UP, reveals how the ISI helps the Lashkar train terrorists.
The Nagpur violence may have been prevented had the police considered the dangerous potential of the VHP/Bajrang Dal's demonstration; had they immediately stopped the burning of the chaddar and arrested the demonstrators; and had they fanned out to counter the rumours that spread among Muslims, observes Jyoti Punwani.
An anti-terrorism court in Pakistan on Saturday put off its ruling on a plea by prosecutors to declare Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving attacker involved in the 2008 Mumbai attack, and terror suspect Fahim Ansari as "proclaimed offenders" or fugitives till March 26.
The Maharashtra government on Monday decided to appeal against the Bombay high court's decision to acquit Sabahuddin and Fahim Ansari, who, according to the police, were the men who conducted a survey for the 26/11 Mumbai attacks
The 60-page charge sheet, filed by the NIA on Saturday before a special court in New Delhi, details reconnaissance activities carried out by 50-year-old Headley of the targets attacked by Lashker-e-Tayiba terrorists on November 26, 2008 that left 166 people dead.
The most important factor is commitment to the Lashkar's ideology. When the Lashkar recruits youth the latter are told they will undertake a military operation and there is absolute need to be committed to the organisation's ideology in order to succeed.
A course in accent training is something usually associated with Business Processing Outsourcing. However, investigations have now revealed that the Lashkar-e-Tayiba has been imparting accent training too to potential terrorists.
A Pakistani anti-terror court conducting the trial of Lashkar-e-Tayiba's Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and six others accused of involvement in the Mumbai attacks dismissed the prosecution's application for naming Ajmal Kasab and Fahim Ansari as "proclaimed offenders" or fugitives on Saturday.
Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam handed over a sealed envelope to Judge M L Tahiliani during the ongoing trial into the Mumbai terror attacks. He sought the judge's permission to keep the identities of six FBI agents, who are likely to depose during the trial, a secret.
A Pakistani anti-terrorism court conducting the trial of the seven Mumbai terror attack suspects on Saturday issued fresh arrest warrants for Ajmal Kasab and Fahim Ansari. Judge Malik Muhammad Akram Awan, who is conducting the trial behind closed doors at the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi for security reasons, heard arguments by the prosecution and the defence.
The Maharashtra government, in its appeal againgst the acquittal of Fahim Ansari and Sabahuddin, spells out various points but does not make a single mention about the role of David Headley in the case. It is extremely clear today that he had a big part to play in this horrific attack.
Following the clarification from Maria, Gaffoor sang a different tune, and said that what he had meant was that 16 persons were involved in the terror attacks. Nine of them were killed, one is in custody with us, two others have been arrested, and four handlers are based in Pakistan, he said
The Mumbai police's crime branch says that Imran Shehzad also helped Fahim Ansari and Sabahuddin Ahmed conduct a survey of likely targets in Mumbai.
The Lashkar-e-Tayiba runs a dedicated technology laboratory in Muzzafarabad, Pakistan occupied Kashmir. The lab has been operational for the past six years. It has a dedicated team, which imparts training to men chosen for terrorist operations.
In the initial stages of the operation, the IB suspects the Lashkar relied heavily on Pakistan-based gangster Dawood Ibrahim for logistics.
Special public prosecutor Ujwal Nikam remains calm just a day before the special court trying 26/11 accused Ajmal Kasab, Fahim Ansari and Sabauddin Shaikh will deliver his judgment.
Lawyers for Lashkar-e-Tayiba's operations commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and six more accused in the Mumbai attacks case on Saturday demanded at an anti-terror court that Ajmal Kasab be brought from India to Pakistan to face trial with the other suspects.
This is the second part of an anlysis of the chargesheet filed by the Mumbai police in the 26/11 terrorist attacks.
The mammoth chargesheet has been filed and the Mumbai police can proceed and try three people with immediate effect -- Ajmal Kasab, Fahim Ansari and Sabahuddin Ahmed. However, what would happen to the likes of Yusuf Muzzamil and Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhwi who find a mention in the chargesheet as the key conspirators? The satellite phone transcripts and various confessional statements prove their role in the case.
Intelligence Bureau officials said barring Fahim Ansari and Sabahuddin Ahmed, they have not found a direct local link to the Mumbai terror attacks. IB sources added that although not directly involved, there are several people who had information about the attacks.
Lashkar operatives have disclosed to interrogators that Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence arranged their fake passports. IB officials have listed the guidelines that terrorists follow while dealing with passports, record books and identification cards.
An investigating officer told rediff.com that Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorists Sabahuddin and Fahim Ansari -- whose names are likely to figure in the 26/11 attack chargesheet -- confessed before interrogators in Mumbai that the Rampur attack was aimed at distracting security agencies to enable the smuggling of arms into Mumbai for the big attack.
The Jamaat-ud-Dawah on Monday claimed the acquittal by an Indian court of two suspects linked to the Mumbai attacks had shown that Indian authorities had 'no proof of Pakistan's involvement' in the 26/11 terrorist carnage.
The induction of David Coleman Headley, the arrested American national and a Lashkar-e-Tayiba operative, in the 26/11 case has given a whole new dimension to its ongoing trial. Legal experts say that there will be no delay in the ongoing trial against lone surviving gunmen Ajmal Kasab, and other terror accused Sabahuddin and Fahim Ansari.
Ejaz Naqvi, counsel for Sabahuddin, told rediff.com that he would be filing a petition before the Supreme Court to make Headley a party to the proceedings before the Bombay high court, which is hearing a set of three appeals in connection with the 26/11 case.
Mohammad Omar Madani's links to the 26/11 Mumbai attack and also other terror strikes in the country are getting more and more evident. The Delhi police and the Intelligence Bureau have been grilling Madani after he revealed that he had links with Hafiz Saeed, Abu Hamza, Sabahuddin and Fahim Ansari all of whom have were involved in the Mumbai terror attack.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has decided to question Sabahuddin and Fahim Ansari -- the prime accused in the attack on the Central Reserve Police Force camp in Rampur in January last year-- who are currently being probed for their links with the terror attack on Mumbai in November last year.The FBI will try to glean out crucial information about the working of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba in South Asia by interrogating the duo.
The Lashkar-e-Tayiba, which was responsible for the Mumbai terror attacks, goes to extreme lengths to conceal the identity of terrorists while carrying out an attack in India, according to Intelligence Bureau sources.
The chargesheet will have murder, waging war against the State and conspiracy as the main charges.
Before the weapons could be retrieved, investigators say Shehzad was arrested. As a result, the attack on the Bombay Stock Exchange was averted, but the Mumbai attacks were moved from September to November.
A suspected Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorist, who was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force with road maps of major Mumbai landmarks in February last, was returned by the Maharashtra police to Uttar Pradesh, where he continues to be lodged in jail. Mumbai cops, who then saw nothing incriminating about 26-year-old Fahim Ansari possessing road maps leading to key landmarks in India's financial capital, and a fake identity, are now on their way to UP to interrogate him.
Azmi was a hero in Malegaon where he took up the cases of several persons accused in the Malegaon blasts. He was a defence counsel for the Jamiat-Ulema and along with this organisation he had filed a case in the Supreme Court challenging the imposition of Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act against the Malegaon blasts accused. The case is still pending.
Azmi (31), a former member of Student Islamic Movement of India, spent six years in Tihar when he was in his teens. He hailed from a very lower middle class background and had often attributed his success in life to SIMI.
Intelligence agencies believe Jundal -- it is not known if that is his original name -- hails from Hyderabad and has played a key role in training Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorists.
Since the reporter arrived at their chawl, Fahim's family have met him twice. His eldest brother Abu Bakr Ansari says, "There were two cops with him when we met. He couldn't talk to us freely. He looks OK. There are so many questions I wanted to ask, but could not. The police have not harassed us," he adds. "It seems that they had kept us under observation for two months and realised that we were just doing our work. Knowing that we are innocent, they let us alone."
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The city police probing the assassination attempt on Abu Salem claimed on Thursday that arrested gunman Devendra Jagtap was ordered to kill the extradited gangster in the last week of April by Chhota Shakeel, a close aide of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim.
Saroj Kumar Rath, author of the newly-published book Fragile Frontiers: The Secret History of Mumbai Terror Attacks, speaks to Rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa.
Criminal jurisprudence is based on an interesting saying, "It is better that ten guilty persons escape than one innocent suffer." However, that does not seem to apply to the Maharashtra Anti Terrorist Squad. There are several instances to show that the agency has botched up its investigation, the latest being Pune Bakery blast main accused Himayat Baig.