Suspected Lashkar-e-Tayyaba (LeT) operative Mohammad Zia Ul Haq, recently nabbed by Hyderabad police, had received emails originating from Pakistan asking him to carry out “subversive” activities in India and had lakhs of rupees deposited against his name in various banks.
Officials of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) said they are trying to verify the statements made by Haq, who is accused of plotting terror attacks in the city. He was held from Edibazar area here on May 3 along with two hand-grenades, firearm ammunition and some incriminating documents.
Haq, now under police custody, reportedly confessed to having received emails from one Abdul Aziz of Pakistan, who instigated him to carry out subversive activities in India, they said.
For receiving and sending the mails, Haq had visited cyber cafes in Rein Bazar and Mehdipatnam areas among others last month, the officials said, adding they have seized four computer hard disks from the shops and sent them to Forensic Science Laboratory for analysis. The accused have also told the SIT officials that he had many bank accounts in various parts of the city with deposits running to lakhs.
The investigators are trying to find out the source of the money and suspect that Haq, a private car driver, received huge amounts through hawala or other illegal means to carry out “subversive” attacks.
“We are collecting details of his cash transactions from some of the banks,” the SIT officials said.
According to the investigating officials, Haq, who had at least four SIM cards in his possession, made several calls to foreign countries, particularly Saudi Arabia.
Haq first came in contact with LeT when he went to Saudi Arabia in 1995. There he met a terrorist Abu Ali at Al Ghassim and later sent to Pakistan and got training in handling of weapons and explosives, they said.
“We are collecting details of his telephonic conversations and have approached authorities concerned to seek the phone call details among others,” the SIT officials said. Haq, who was nabbed following a tip off by the National Investigation Agency, also reportedly confessed that he managed to obtain two passports by submitting fake documents.
He was directed by his LeT handlers to bomb the Hyderabad office of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, one of the four largest auditors in the world, and was in the process of carrying out the plan, government sources had said earlier. In 2002, following the Gujarat riots, Haq went to Pakistan and attended militant camps in Karachi and Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir.