Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao handed over the dossiers to her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir on Thursday. India also called upon Pakistan to investigate the claims made by the hitherto unknown organisation, Lashkar-e-Toiba Al Alimi, and Iliyas Kahmiri owning responsibility for the recent blast in Pune.
The Pakistan-based terrorists whom New Delhi wants Islamabad to arrest and hand over to India include Indian Mujahideen leader Riyaz Bhatkal – one of the most wanted, belonging to Karnataka.
New Delhi had earlier given seven dossiers to Islamabad detailing the evidences collated by the Indian agencies indicating involvement of Pakistani elements in the November 26, 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai.
Pak handlers
The new 26/11 dossier highlighted the role of two ‘Majors’ of the Pakistani Army – one of them serving, the other retired – in the carnage in Mumbai.
The role of ‘Major Iqbal’ and ‘Major Samir Ali’ in the terrorist attacks in Mumbai is believed to have come up from the interrogation of Pakistan-born American David Coleman Headley and his associate Tahawwur Hussain Rana, who were arrested in Chicago by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation last year.
Rao said that she had “stressed the importance of expeditious action by Pakistan” on the leads emerged following the arrest of Headley and Rana.
One of the dossiers was about the terrorist leader Iliyas Kashmiri, who recently threatened to trigger attacks across India during the sports events like Hockey World Cup, Indian Premier League and Commonwealth Games.
Kashmiri heads the HuJI’s unit in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and his infamous ‘313 Brigade’ is linked with the Al Qaeda. Kashmiri is believed to have been in touch with Headley, when the latter was scouting for possible terror-targets in India.
His organisation had also claimed responsibility for the February 13 blast in Pune, in addition to similar claim by Lashkar-e-Toiba Al Alimi.
Pune blast
Rao took up with her counterpart Bashir the issue of the blast in Pune, which had taken place soon after India’s offer for Foreign Secretary level talks with Pakistan had reached public domain. She later told media-persons that the incident was yet another reminder that Indian citizens remain vulnerable to terrorist violence.
She also handed over to Bashir a dossier containing details of around 34 fugitives of Indian law believed to be staying in Pakistan. The fugitives include 17 Indian Mujahideen (IM) operatives like its chief Asif Raza Khan and its top leaders Riyaz Bhatkal and Mohsin Chaudhary.
Investigating agencies suspect that Bhatkal, who hails from a village near Mangalore, Chaudhary and other IM leaders had key roles in the Pune blast in Pune.
