Lashkar's Gulf link uncovered

Police from various states probing the blasts that rocked various parts the country have uncovered a link to the Gulf in these blasts.

Sources told rediff.com that during the course of investigation, the names of three persons belonging to the Lashkar-e-Tayiba, who managed this entire operation from the Gulf have been uncovered. They are Wali alias Shameem, Muslim Basheer and Haroon. All the three persons are believed to be of Pakistani origin and are believed to have been deputed in the Gulf to raise funds and monitor operations planned for India.

The 35-year-old Shameem is the main operator for the LeT in the Gulf. He is mainly in charge of raising funds and coordinating with the operatives from the Students Islamic Movement of India and Indian Mujahideen, who ultimately carried out the serial blasts in Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Delhi and Surat. Shameem hails from Pakistan and has handled the Gulf based operations for the last five years.

Muslim Basheer, 55, who also hails from Pakistan, is based in Ruwi, Muscat. An executive at a broadcasting company, this man was responsible for coordinating the attacks in India.

Haroon is was a travel agent operating out of Muscat. A hawala transactor, this man according to the investigation had helped terror operatives move money, from the Gulf region into India, so that the blasts could be carried out.

Sources in the Intelligence Bureau said that the Gulf link to terror in India has been increasing. This is probably the first time that these operatives were directly involved in attacks of this nature. All these years, the Gulf operatives of the Lashkar ensured that the money was raised and transferred to the area of operation. This Gulf module was intentionally asked to lie low all these years.

Apart from fund raising, this module was used mainly to ensure that operatives sent in from Pakistan into the Gulf had a safe passage into other countries where the terrorists had planned on undertaking horrific attacks.