Author: Jaidev Hemmady
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: October 17, 2008
URL: http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/im-kingpin-misled-recruits-on-his-financial-status/374551/
Introduction: Those arrested were shocked
to know about Riyaz Bhatkal's assets, says Crime Branch
Indian Mujahideen kingpin Riyaz Bhatkal, now
on the run, may have miscalculated when he misled his young terror recruits
into believing that his insufficient means meant the group would have to use
methods including kidnapping to raise funds for their operations.
"The others being interrogated were shocked
when we told them the truth," said Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime)
Rakesh Maria. "We even took one of the arrested men all the way to Mangalore
to show him the posh flat belonging to Bhatkal." Maria said the arrested
IM members were "cooperating" with the investigations.
During interrogation, it has emerged that
the conspiracy to kidnap a jeweller and a builder from Pune was hatched by
Bhatkal to raise terror funds. He had told the others that his means were
meagre and that he even spent nights at local mosques.
Maria said investigations showed the group
had an amount of Rs 26 lakh in bank accounts, apart from the Rs 11 lakh seized
from Mangalore, where Bhatkal had operated as a civil contractor. "Bhatkal
also has a posh house at Mangalore and his followers were absolutely unaware
of this."
According to Maria, almost all the arrested
professionals donated a part of their salaries to Bhatkal in the belief that
it would contribute to their cause. "All this while, Bhatkal had plans
to use his own money to buy and develop properties in Mangalore," said
Maria. "Bhatkal seems very committed to his cause but at the same time,
is also very worldly wise and had his own agenda to develop properties while
duping his men about his 'poverty' and instructing them to conduct kidnappings
to raise money for their operations," he said.
On the men arrested for the conspiracy to
kidnapping, Maria said, "They had carried out their surveillance in a
Santro car and were supposed to steal a car for the actual kidnapping. Anik,
who had been given the injections and the sedatives for subduing the kidnap
victims, had tried the injections on Majeed and Akbar, rendering them unconscious
for a period of 3-4 hours."
Prominent among those arrested are Mohammed
Mansoor Asghar Peerbhoy (31), a computer engineer who worked for a multinational
at an annual salary of Rs 19 lakh, and Mubin alias Salman Kadar Shaikh (24),
a computer science graduate. Peerbhoy and Mubin took briefs on the content
of the terror emails from Riyaz Bhatkal and his brother Iqbal before they
drafted and converted them into PDF formats.
The idea of sending the e-mails was also to
claim credit for the terror blasts, which those arrested have allegedly told
investigators was Bhatkal's way of getting more attention and thus more funds
from people with similar intentions.
