Abdul Subhan Qureshi met IM founder in Saudi, planned for group’s revival in India

Mumbai Indian Mujahideen (IM) – the home-grown terrorist outfit of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) – was in the process of regrouping and reviving their activities across India. Abdul Subhan Qureshi alias Tauqeer, an IM operative who was arrested last week for his role in the Batla House encounter in Delhi and other blasts across the country, revealed this to the Delhi special cell, which is interrogating him.

Tauqeer, a critical link between the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and IM, revealed meetings were held with Indian Mujahideen’s co-founder Riyaz Bhatkal in Saudi Arabia to revive the proscribed terror group.

Tauqeer also planned to target police officers who had dismantled their terror network in 2008. The Mumbai crime branch, in a countrywide operation, had arrested 22 IM members, bringing down its network that had executed blasts in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Andhra Pradesh.

The plan to revive the terror outfit was being coordinated by Tauqeer, who had travelled to meet Bhatkal and his associate, Khaled Kodi, in Saudi Arabia, said sources in the Delhi special cell. Tauqeer operated in Riyadh and would meet Bhatkal and others working as a salesman. Tauqeer was also in touch with Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in Saudi Arabia, sources said.

“The primary goal was to arrange finances, after which they wanted to make Nepal the IM base. They wanted to conduct operations out of Nepal particularly because it has become a safe haven for terrorists,” said a senior police officer, who did not wish to be named.

Tauqeer had told Bhatkal to shift his base to Nepal and handle operations from there. And Tauqeer had offered to move across India, and motivate youngsters to join IM, said the officer. “He had already started his work after he came back from Saudi Arabia in June 2017, and he was in touch with many youths from various states,” said the officer.

Tauqeer’s base at Nepal was well-oiled after he befriended a SIMI member, Nizam Khan. Through Khan, he had managed to procure a fake local voter identity card and later a Nepali passport in the name of Abdul Rehman, who was shown as the son of Abdul Karim, a resident of Birat Nagar in Nepal. He had visited Saudi Arabia on this passport, sources said.