Imam had received 3 consignments last year

Imam Gulam Yahya is being escorted to the Esplanade court

The Packets May Have Contained Explosives, Say Sources

By Somit Sen & Mateen Hafeez/TNN

Mumbai: Maulana Ghulam Elahi Baksh Yahya, the imam arrested recently for links with the Lashkar-e-Taiba had received three consignments in 2005, some of which are suspected to have been explosives, sources said.

Officers of the anti-terrorist squad (ATS) are now grilling the imam to find out where he kept the packets or whom he gave them to. “We suspect that the consignments were to be part of the mission which the terrorists were planning to carry out in Mumbai,’’ an officer said.

The ATS suspects that at least four modules were to arrive in the city from Kashmir to carry out a series of blasts planned in July-August. The first module, comprising three LeT members, was arrested in Nagpada on January 6 and the cops recovered detonators, timer switches, electronic circuits and pistols from them.

TOI had reported on Sunday that the second module, which was assigned the task of smuggling explosives, was believed to have entered Mumbai. “The imam is now been grilled about the whereabouts of the second module as he was the key contact person for the various modules in the city,’’ an officer said. One more person, suspected to be a close aide of the imam, has been detained and he will be shown as arrested in the next few days.

The ATS has evidence to show that the imam was in regular touch with LeT’s northern commander Salauddin over the phone for about a month. Said an officer, “We have found Salauddin’s contact number stored in the cellphone seized from the imam. Besides, Salauddin’s phones have been tapped last year and there is evidence of him talking to the imam on various occasions—three to eight times a day and for thrice a week,’’ a police source said.

Sources said one of the three terrorists, Mohammed Ramzan (now in police custody), had come to Mumbai on at least two earlier occasions accompanied by a few LeT members. The terrorists had taken shelter in Haj House, where the imam allegedly arranged for their stay for three days. “The imam had also provided shelter to LeT members in the nearby Musafirkhana for four days during Ramzan last year,’’ an officer stated. Ramzan and his accomplices Arshad Hussain Badru and Khursid Ghani Lone were produced in the Mazgaon court on Monday, and were remanded to further police custody till January 20. A team from the Jammu and Kashmir police will now seek their transfer to Kashmir for further investigations.

It is learnt that the imam, who was attached to the Haj House masjid, had been receiving finances from a few “influential’’ persons in Mumbai and the money was allegedly siphoned off to Kashmir for terrorist activities. One of these persons is believed to be a local politician, although the police said they were still gathering evidence in this connection. The police have also summoned two hawala operators through whom the imam is suspected to have sent money to Kashmir.

The police are also looking into the background of Badru, who has been a corporator representing the National Conference Party in J&K. “He comes from a respectable family in his village,’’ an officer said. The other terrorist, Lone’s brother-inlaw was shot dead in an encounter by J&K police four days before the LeT members were arrested in Mumbai.

The police have also come across coded language used by the LeT. “They refer to each other with codes and we are trying to break these codes,’’ an officer added.

The Times of India, January 17, 2006