Mumbai: Indian security establishment is in hunt for almost a dozens of suspected militants residing in Saudi Arabia, allegedly involved in masterminding, planning or financing the Mumbai terror attack and other terror activities across the country, Times of India reported on Friday.
According to reports, sources said that Indian agencies could approach their Saudi Arabian counterparts in the near future for assistance in apprehending these terror suspects. While most of them may be contacts of Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal, the key 26/11 terror suspect who was deported from Saudi Arabia recently, some of them are Indians who may have been part of the former Student Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) network.
A source said among the key Indian terror suspects they believe to be hiding in Saudi Arabia is C A M Basheer, the former SIMI leader, who is an accused in the blast at Mumbai’s Mulund railway station on March 13, 2003. Basheer was among the first Indians to go to a Pakistan terror training camp in the 1090s, angered by the demolition of Babri Masjid and atttendant issues of alleged discrimination.
Sarfaraz Nawaz, who financed the July 25, 2008, Bangalore blasts and was later deported from Oman in 2009, had told Indian investigators that Basheer was based in Sharjah. However, sources say the latest input show that Basheer may have moved to Saudi Arabia. Basheer has also provided financial assistance to some Indian terror suspects, agencies believe.
Sources indicate that Jundal has spoken about four-five of his close Indian associates in Saudia Arabia. It is not clear if all of them are members of Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT).
India is likely to carry out elaborate assessment of the interrogation details of Jundal and cross-check the names of his associates in Saudia Arabia and other Gulf countries, following which New Delhi would seek deportation of other suspects.
Sources in the security establishment say, India has been finding authorities in Saudia Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Dubai etc; in the Gulf region to be very cooperative towards New Delhi’s requests on terror-related cases. New Delhi is hoping that these countries would continue with the cooperation in taking the Jundal’s case to its logical end.
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