As the National Investigation Agency (NIA) readies a chargesheet against Yasin Bhatkal and Asadullah Akhtar, fresh details have emerged from questioning of the Indian Mujahideen (IM) operatives by the Delhi police special cell. Yasin had reportedly planned to set up a module in Nepal, where he claimed to have recruited around a dozen men and got support of the “like-minded” to finance terror. He had also planned to get the recruits trained by Gorkha Task Force.
The details will be included in the NIA chargesheet. The agency probing the larger conspiracy by IM is also likely to mention the role of Yasin in the 2010 German Bakery blast in Pune.
Yasin, Qateel Siddiqui and Mirza Himayat Baig have been named in an ATS chargesheet in the case. While Qateel was murdered in a Pune jail, Baig was convicted last year. However, after the arrest of Yasin, his counsel moved a higher court demanding a re-investigation by the NIA. He said Yasin had not named Baig during interrogation.
According to details of his interrogation accessed by The Indian Express, Yasin radicalised a few “neo-convert Muslims” in Nepal for jihad. He also claimed to have asked Riyaz about private firms such as Gorkha Task Force, which give similar military training to the “British Army” and “Singapore Police” as in Pakistan, to train the recruits. However, Riyaz cautioned him that if a trained recruit was arrested in India, their purpose would be defeated.
The details also suggest that the IM planned to bring arms and ammunition to Nepal with the help of the ISI. Yasin also told his interrogators that he was trying to obtain citizenship of Nepal and was in the process of procuring a passport with fake documents.
He and Asadullah are in the custody of the Delhi police special cell in connection with the 2010 Jama Masjid terror attack.