The confessions of the suspects arrested in the Karntaka terror plot and as well as sources in the Intelligence Bureau point out that two ultras visited Pakistan via Iran and met Inter-Services Intelligence in Karachi. The statements of two suspects, Abdul Hakim Jamdar and Shoib Ahmed Mirza alias Chotu, which is possession of rediff.com reveal how the terror network functions.
The confession of Abdul Hakim Jamdar:
It was Zakir Ustaad who was the mastermind of the Karnataka operation. He runs a module in Bangalore and is well connected with modules in Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, which were also part of this plot.
Along with Dr Jaffar Iqbal Sholapur (another accused in the same case), I visited Pakistan last year and met some operatives, who claimed to work for some ISI officials. We were directed by Ustaad to do so.
Ustaad, who masterminded this operation, instructed us to kill anti-Muslim journalists and politicians. He gave us weapons and also money for the operation.
The entire journey to Pakistan was planned out by Ustaad. He told both of us to go Iran on the pretext of visiting a religious place. We filed our visa application in which we said that we wanted to visit the Imam Fatima shrine.
On December 11, 2011, we boarded the Air Arabia flight from the Bangalore airport and landed in Iran where we stayed for a week.
In Iran, we had to bribe the driver of a tanker to sneak us into Pakistan. We were taken to Godhavar in Pakistan where we were received by two men, who claimed they worked for the ISI. They took us in a bus to Karachi. Once we were in Karachi we were asked to meet a person by the name of Zameer. We stayed with him for two days.
Two days later, we met another man called Abdul Wahab at his residence in Karachi. We were told that he was the deputy director of the ISI, who worked in Karachi. He was accompanied by two others, who identified themselves as Hamid and Mustafa.
The journey from there was not an easy one. There was a sudden turn of events and we were both locked up in a house and tortured. It was alleged that we were agents of the Indian intelligence. We tried telling them it was Ustaad who sent us. However, the torture continued for 15 days. After a fortnight, they were convinced that we were not Indian agents and were here on a mission.
They told us to work as moles in India and feed them with information. We were lured with money and were told that we would be paid very well. We agreed and then our return journey was arranged. We were taken to Jemini village, which borders Iran and Pakistan. We were put into a bus to Tehran. From there we took a flight back to India and our next stop was Hubli in Karnataka.
After I returned I got a job and moved to Bangalore where I lived with my friends Shoib Ahmed Mirza alias Chotu and Khaleed.
Just before Ramazan I got a call from Ustaad and was told that three of us were part of a plan. We were asked to kill a journalist in a newspaper and also a leader of a Hindu outfit.
Along with Chotu I had to keep a tab on the journalist and also the Hindu leader. We followed the journalist on a motorcycle, which was stolen from Hubli. The registration of the motorcycle was changed. Ustaad even supplied us with weapons.
A few days later, Akram was brought down from Nanded and was told to help us with the plot. While Akram helped us with the plot in Bangalore, at Hubli the job was assigned to Obaidullah, Waheed, Sholapur, Sadiq, Nayeem and Muthu ur Rehman.
However, the plan went haywire on August 29 when all of us were set to carry out the operation. Chotu and me left the house at 6 am on the motorcycle. I was riding the bike while Chotu had the pistol with him. While we were waiting for the journalist we were nabbed by the police.
The confession of Chotu, 23, a MCA student:
I met Ustaad at a mosque in Bangalore. He brainwashed me to carry out this plot; he constantly told me that I needed to do something for the community.
We often discussed various problems that were being faced by the community. After a few days, Ustaad told me that he had links with the HuJI. He even told me to look up the Internet for material on jihad and read it thoroughly.
He said that he would make me a hero in the community and also asked me to get some more boys who thought like me into the fold. I was impressed with what Ustaad was saying and I discussed it with my friends and also my brother who readily agreed to be part of this plot.
