The National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe into IM operations has revealed that key members of the banned terror outfit have established contact with the al-Qaeda to carry out terror attacks in India.
Mirza Shadab Beg (another accused from Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh) and Riyaz Bhatkal, founder of IM, were both in Karachi. “They were in touch with the ISI of Pakistan and with the al-Qaeda members for obtaining monetary and material support...for terrorist attacks at different places in India,” says the NIA charge sheet.
Claiming that some al-Qaeda operatives were active in India, Riyaz told his counterparts in India that he had been trying to arrange al-Qaeda ‘fidayeens’ for operations and attacks in India. The accused used coded language on the Internet, such as “tech” for Taliban, “micro” or Qaqa for the al-Qaeda.
“Riyaz was sternly warned by the ISI (Pakistani spy agency) to desist from any attempt to contact the al-Qaeda fighting in the Afghan-Pakistan region. It is established from the (Internet) chats that Riyaz travelled to the tribal belts of the Af-Pak border for establishing contact with the al-Qaeda,” says the charge sheet, adding that after the meeting, the international terror outfit gave specific tasks to the IM for execution and also agreed to train their cadres. The outfit was not keen on establishing links with the Taliban (Afghanistan) as it only talked about Afghanistan.
During one conversation with Yasin Bhatkal on May 16 last year, Riyaz explained to him the modalities of joining hands with the al-Qaeda: one system of working together was “tawun” (assistance), which was like in Yemen and other places...The other was of “Bayat” which is a pledge of obedience. The IM was planning to opt for the first one and then, after gaining experience, merge with the al-Qaeda.
