2 hired by ISI for train blasts had change of heart
NEW DELHI: Two Indian "bombers", recruited by ISI conduit Shamshul Hoda to plant explosives in a pressure cooker on a railway track at Ghorasahan in Bihar in October last year, had a change of heart over killing hundreds of innocent passengers.
Arun Ram and Deepak Ram, who were later murdered after Hoda decided that there were unreliable, reached the railway track on the appointed day but turned their backs on what would be an "anti-India" act. The men who were reportedly associated with Maoists in Bihar previously, realised they didn't want to be foot soldiers of an "ideology" plotting the terrorist attacks against India. The National Investigation Agency was able to piece together the details of the dead men's motives after questioning Hoda and his deputy Brij Kishore Giri who are being held in Nepal as well as other accused such as Uma Shankar Patel, Rakesh Yadav and Motilal Paswan in Bihar. NIA is also probing the possibility that the ISI wanted to pass off the attack as the work of Hindu radicals.
"A run Ram (27) and Deepak Ram (18), who had already taken the money from Hoda, felt they may have committed small crimes but baulked at killing train passengers for Pakistan's agencies. They also seemed to have become conscious of their religious identity and demurred, backing out of the plot," said a senior NIA officer. Soon after they were called to Nepal and bumped off.
Officials said this didn't stop ISI from carrying out its plans to attack Indian railways. The main ISI player in the ring - Safi Shaikh alias Chacha - an important handler of ISI's fake Indian currency supply from Dubai, stayed in touch with Hoda and Giri. These two in turn contacted Bihar based Uma Shankar Patel, Gajender Sharma, Rakesh Yadav and Motilal Paswan.
Sources said the chain of events showed that ISI remained keen on carrying out train blasts and even trigger a larger unrest. "The ISI wanted to make it out that the attack was staged by "Hindus". It is not the first time ISI has done that. In 26/11 Mumbai attacks, 10 Lashkar-e-Toiba fidayeens including Ajmal Kasab were made to wear saffron wristbands, to make the attack appear as the handiwork of Hindu radicals," said an intelligence bureau official.
NIA is now exploring the possibility of use of different modules for each blast on the trains/tracks since last year.
Arun Ram and Deepak Ram, who were later murdered after Hoda decided that there were unreliable, reached the railway track on the appointed day but turned their backs on what would be an "anti-India" act. The men who were reportedly associated with Maoists in Bihar previously, realised they didn't want to be foot soldiers of an "ideology" plotting the terrorist attacks against India. The National Investigation Agency was able to piece together the details of the dead men's motives after questioning Hoda and his deputy Brij Kishore Giri who are being held in Nepal as well as other accused such as Uma Shankar Patel, Rakesh Yadav and Motilal Paswan in Bihar. NIA is also probing the possibility that the ISI wanted to pass off the attack as the work of Hindu radicals.
"A run Ram (27) and Deepak Ram (18), who had already taken the money from Hoda, felt they may have committed small crimes but baulked at killing train passengers for Pakistan's agencies. They also seemed to have become conscious of their religious identity and demurred, backing out of the plot," said a senior NIA officer. Soon after they were called to Nepal and bumped off.
Officials said this didn't stop ISI from carrying out its plans to attack Indian railways. The main ISI player in the ring - Safi Shaikh alias Chacha - an important handler of ISI's fake Indian currency supply from Dubai, stayed in touch with Hoda and Giri. These two in turn contacted Bihar based Uma Shankar Patel, Gajender Sharma, Rakesh Yadav and Motilal Paswan.
Sources said the chain of events showed that ISI remained keen on carrying out train blasts and even trigger a larger unrest. "The ISI wanted to make it out that the attack was staged by "Hindus". It is not the first time ISI has done that. In 26/11 Mumbai attacks, 10 Lashkar-e-Toiba fidayeens including Ajmal Kasab were made to wear saffron wristbands, to make the attack appear as the handiwork of Hindu radicals," said an intelligence bureau official.
NIA is now exploring the possibility of use of different modules for each blast on the trains/tracks since last year.
