The calls, according to the police, were made from the US using sim cards registered in Iran. “They were made from sim cards issued from Iran,” police officials here said. “They appeared to be handiwork of some pranksters.”
Trader Hashim Elahi, who claimed that he received the calls on the night of July 13, the day serial blasts had rocked Mumbai, met the police officials and apprised them of the offer made by the caller. The caller, according to Elahi, had introduced himself as a member of the dreaded terrorist outfit al-Qaeda and offered him Rs 2 crore for the carrying out the “job”.
He said the caller told him that he had been selected for the “job” as he was a Muslim as was reflected by his telephone number that ended with “786”, which is considered to be an auspicious number by Muslims.
A similar call was made to Vikas, a farmer in Baghpat district, which is very close to Meerut on July 15. He was also offered a huge reward for planting bombs in Meerut city, sources said.
Special Director General of Police, Brijlal said they appeared to be “prank calls” and added that in both cases the callers spoke in Hindi and called from numbers which could easily be identified.
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