JeM link confirmed as probe uncovers plot for 200 coordinated blasts in North India

New Delhi: The police have managed to establish a Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) link to the November 10 blast near the iconic Red Fort in Delhi. The police have learnt that it was a JeM operative who had instructed the accused persons on how to make the bombs.

Another major revelation that has come to light is that the accused were in the process of preparing 200 bombs, which were meant to go off simultaneously in Delhi and other parts of North India. The plan was to carry out bomb blasts across North Indian states, and for this, the ISI had handpicked a JeM operative to train the accused who were part of the Faridabad module.

The trainer, who goes by the name Hanzulla, was in touch with key accused Maulvi Iran Ahmed. He is the one who put Hanzulla in touch with the members of the Faridabad module, investigations have found.

An official said that Hanzulla is a big name in the Jaish-e-Mohammad. In fact, the JeM posters that came up in Jammu and Kashmir had the name of Commander Hanzulla Bhai written on them. It is these posters that prompted the investigations, which eventually led to the busting of the Faridabad module and seizures of 2,900 kilograms of ammonium nitrate.

Another official said that the module was in the process of making 200 bombs. The bombs that were being prepared were extremely lethal.

Hanzulla had, in fact, instructed the accused persons to mix Triacetone triperoxide (TATP) with ammonium nitrate. This makes the explosive extremely potent, officials say. Such an explosive needs very little expertise to make and can be triggered easily.

Owing to its potent nature, it can be placed in a vehicle and left in a crowded place. The explosive would go off automatically due to heat. This is, in fact, a preferred explosive of the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) since it can be used easily by lone actors.

While it is clear that the Jaish-e-Mohammad operative Hanzulla instructed the accused on how to make the bombs, it is, however, unclear where exactly he was operating from. He was in close contact with Ahmed, who, in turn, put him in touch with Shakeel. It was Hanzulla who instructed him on what material to procure.

Shakeel is the one who eventually transported the explosives. He also handed over the white i20 Hyundai car to the accused, which was finally used to carry out the explosion near the Red Fort.

Investigators say that the plan did not go as planned. What the probe has learnt so far is that the Faridabad module members had planned on carrying out the explosions simultaneously, the officer explained.

This explains the quantity of ammonium nitrate that had been procured by the accused persons.

The plan was to carry out a series of 200 blasts in Delhi, Gurugram and Faridabad. Had this plan gone through, then the consequences would have been unthinkable, another officer added.

The investigators are now on the trail of Hanzulla. So far, the probe has found that the module in Faridabad was being handled by Ahmed from Kashmir and another handler from Afghanistan.

The plan was kept under wraps for a long time as the accused persons used secure messaging applications and spoke in code language. The transcripts show that the accused persons had various code names, and one of them was ‘biriyani’, which meant explosives. Further, the accused persons managed to stay away from the radar due to their profession.

Most of them were doctors, and hence they did not come under the radar easily. Dr Shaheen, who was the key recruiter of the module, made several visits to Jammu and Kashmir and yet remained undetected due to her profession. During these trips, she met with Ahmed several times. He would then instruct her about the recruitment process and the need to find more professionals so that they can create a full-fledged white collar module.

IANS