Abu Jundal, arrested on arrival in India on Monday after being deported from Saudi Arabia, was in constant touch with the terror module that attacked the Chabad House in Mumbai during the 26/11 terror attack, giving them instructions on a cell phone from Lashkar’s control room.
What helped intelligence agencies identify Jundal from the voice samples was that his Hindi was very accented. “The language was similar to the one people speak in Mumbai so we knew it had to be Jundal,” an official said.
A test to match his voice with the samples is being carried as a Mumbai crime branch team is already in New Delhi. Jundal’s arrest is crucial as he is likely to reveal information on the entire conspiracy and execution of the 26/11 attacks.
During sustained interrogation by multiple agencies, Jundal, sources added, has given some vital inputs on the involvement of the likes of Hafiz Mohammed Saeed and Illyas Kashmiri, and key ISI officials like Major Iqbal and Major Samir Ali.
He is also said to be named in an FIR lodged in Pakistan in connection with the Mumbai attack case.
The leads provided by Jundal, sources added, can help India put Pakistan in an extremely embarrassing spot in global forums for sponsoring terrorism in India.
Jundal has confirmed, according to sources, that the 26/11 terror attack was the brainchild of the ISI top brass to economically destabilise India.
Jundal gradually went on to become a key link between the Indian Mujahideen and Lashkar. He is said to be close to both Saeed and IM founders Riaz and Iqbal Bhatkal.
He has disclosed that over the years he had sent more than 250 Indian youth to a Lashkar training camp close to the Pakistan-Iran border. He himself was also trained at the same camp.
In Saudi Arabia, Jundal looked after both recruitment and fund-raising. While there, he was in constant touch with Yasin Bhatkal, the IM chief in India, helping them plan the Mumbai triple bombings of July 2011 and the attack on foreign tourists at Jama Masjid.
Union home minister P. Chidambaram on Monday confirmed Jundal’s arrest. “The person who goes by the pseudonym of Abu Jundal has been apprehended and has been remanded to the custody of law-enforcement agencies,” he said.
Originally a resident of Hatti Khana in Dhangar galli of Gavrai town (Beed district), Maharashtra, 32- year old Jundal was studying to be an electrician at the ITI in Beed.