Sayed Zabiuddin a.k.a. Abu Jundal a.k.a. Abu Hamza | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1980-11-30)30 November 1980 (age 44) |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Occupation | Islamic militant |
| Organization(s) | Lashkar-e-Taiba Indian Mujahideen |
Sayed Zabiuddin Ansaria.k.a.Abu Hamza orAbu Jundal (born 30 November 1980) is an IndianIslamic militant belonging toIndian Mujahideen andLashkar-e-Taiba. He is accused of being involved in2008 Mumbai attacks. Zabiuddin Ansari (Abu Hamza)'s name was listed in the list of "50 most wanted criminals sheltered in Pakistan" released by India on 21 May 2011.[1][2] He served as the handler of the 10 LeT terrorists during2008 Mumbai attacks.
He is a suspect in several cases such as theKalupur station blast case of 9 February 2006 and an accomplice in the2010 Pune bombing case.[3][4][5] He was deported from Saudi Arabia on 25 June 2012 and is currently in the custody of Indian security agencies.[6] On 2 August 2016, he was sentenced to life imprisonment in relation to the arms haul case by the specialMCOCA court.[7]
Zabiuddin was born on 30 November 1980[8] in a villageHathi Khana mohalla inGeorai area ofBeed district inMaharashtra in westernIndia.[9] His father Syed Zakiuddin had worked as an insurance agent.[10] Syed Zakiuddin's family consists of five sisters and one son, Zabiuddin.[9] Zabiuddin had studied inUrdu up to Class X in Georai and joined Industrial Training Institute (ITI), Beed.[8][11]
He was arrested by the Indian police in Maharashtra in 2003 for stabbing and attempting to immolate a woman, with whom his family was entrenched in a marital dispute. Subsequently, he was sent to jail but was bailed on conditions of appearing at the relevant court hearings. He never returned for the proceedings.[12]
Ansari moved to Pakistan after his college. He married in 2009 to a Pakistani woman and has a son in Pakistan.[13] The Pakistani passport he used, showed him as a resident ofSheikhpura in Pakistan'sPunjab province.[14]
Zabiuddin trained for terrorism in Pakistan in the 2000s and recruited forLashkar-e-Taiba, andIndian Mujahideen.[8][15]
Zabiuddin was introduced into LeT by a senior in college Fayaz Kagazi, who is suspected to be in Saudi Arabia. Fayaz also sent him for training to assemble bombs. He narrowly escaped an arrest in 2006 and reached Pakistan via Bangladesh.[13]
Zabiuddin had lived in Pakistan for sometime after which he moved to Saudi Arabia where he worked as a teacher. He had been missing since 2005 and is known to have used at least ten aliases.
The central security agencies of India interrogated many terrorists to find his location. From these interrogations it was known that he worked at terrorist camps nearKarachi andPakistan administered Kashmir.[15]
Zabiuddin was the Hindi tutor and handler of the 10 terrorists responsible for the2008 Mumbai attacks that claimed 166 lives. Zabiuddin is believed to be one of the four LeT men who had come to send offAjmal Kasab and nine other terrorists fromKarachi a week prior they went toMumbai.[11]
Investigators allege that Zabiuddin Ansari was present in Lashkar’s Karachi based control room during the Mumbai attack.[16]
Zabiuddin has claimed after his arrest that LeT chiefHafiz Saeed was also present in the LeT control room from where they had directed the Mumbai attack terrorist incident. Zabiuddin additionally claimed thatISI andPakistani army officials helped plan the Mumbai attacks.[17] According to him, those present at the control room later celebrated the terrorist attack. The control room was later destroyed by ISI in 2008.[18][19]
According to him, the coordinated attacks were previously scheduled for 2006, using Indian youth for the job. However, a huge cache of AK-47s andRDX, which were to be used for the attacks, was recovered fromAurangabad in 2006 thus leading to the dis mantling of the original plot. Subsequently, Abu Hamza fled toPakistan and along with Lashkar commanders, scouted for Pakistani youth for the attacks. In September 2007, ten people were selected for the mission. In September 2008, these ten terrorists tried sailing to Mumbai fromKarachi, but failed to complete their mission due to choppy waters. The LeT terrorists tried again in November 2008 and managed to execute the final attacks.[20][21]
Security agencies had been chasing him for 3 years in Delhi.[15] A terrorist who was arrested by Indian security agencies in connection with the2010 Jama Masjid attack gave a tip about him being in Saudi Arabia.[22] Intelligence agencies, including western agencies, zoomed in on Ansari's location after he set up a website for recruiting youth for Lashkar under an aliasKaasif. This alias was known as one used by Ansari to the Indian intelligence agencies. Also, the US agencies noticed a high traffic between Ansari's website and other jihadi websites they were monitoring, and they asked Saudi intelligence to detain Ansari.[23][24]
The arrest of Abu Jundal could be more significant than that ofAjmal Kasab as Jundal was amongst six main planners of the attacks. His evidence could have more credibility because of his presence inPakistan. Investigation has confirmed some state support during the attacks when Abu Jundal and others from a control room in Karachi gave orders to 10 attackers.[25][26][27][28]
Initial attempts to get Zabiuddin into custody had failed because, although a native of Beed in Maharashtra, he used a Pakistani passport to travel to Saudi Arabia, under the alias Riyasat Ali. The passport also showed his father's name as Mohammed Khushi and residence as to Sheikhupura in Punjab, Pakistan.[29] According to the Indian home ministry, Pakistan’s ISI pressured Saudi Arabia for months to prevent Jundal being handed over to India.[30][31]
According to Indian Government sources, his arrest came after months of diplomatic negotiations involving authorities in Riyadh, Washington DC, and New Delhi.[16]Intelligence Bureau director Nehchal Sandhu worked with PrinceMuqrin bin Abdulaziz, then director General of Saudi Intelligence agencyAl Mukhabarat Al A'amah during the investigations.[16] Indian and Saudi Intelligence services identified Ansari off of tapped phone calls.[16]
DNA test was also used to establish his identity. The DNA test had matched and Saudi authorities were persuaded for handing him to India.[29][30][32]
On 21 June 2012, the Intelligence Branch took custody of Abu Hamza alias Sayed Zabiuddin on his deportation fromSaudi Arabia at theIndira Gandhi International Airport inNew Delhi, and on 25 June 2012, formally handed him over to Delhi Police, that announced the arrest, for him to be produced at the New Delhi Court for trial. The arrest of Sayed Zabiuddin was touted as the most significant development in the2008 Mumbai attacks case after Kasab's arrest.[33]
In July 2012, he was interrogated by several Indian security agencies for several cases of which he is accused.[34]
Zabiuddin although being an Indian, held a Pakistani passport and two Pakistani identity cards, which pointed towards Pakistan's involvement.[35] One of the two Pakistani identity cards provided to him was for internal use in Pakistan while the other was to be used outside Pakistan.[36] His Pakistani passport was issued under the nameRiyasat Ali.[36]
The documents had mentioned his address at a place close toMuridke, where the Lashkar-e-Taiba headquarters is situated.[34] However, Pakistan has strongly rejected any insinuation of involvement by state actors in any acts of militancy in India.[37] Pakistani Foreign Secretary Jalil Abbas Jilani while on a visit to India offered a joint investigation into Mumbai attacks.[38]
According to Indian government, the Karachi control room was created by Pakistani intelligence agencyI.S.I. along withLashkar-e-Taiba in Pakistan to monitor a Mumbai attack. Accordingly, theDelhi Police has registered a criminal case of conspiracy to launch another terror attack on India.[39][40][41]
| External audio | |
|---|---|
 26/11 tape: Zabiuddin Ansari briefing the terrorists at Chabad House, Nariman Point, Mumbai fromThe Hindu retrieved on 25 June 2012 |
People listed initalics have died. | |
| Al-Qaeda members | |
| Held inGuantanamo Bay | |
| 2008 Mumbai attacks | |
| Others | |
| Wrongly accused | |
1 Currently imprisoned. 2 Released after serving sentence. | |
