Three guilty in 2015 terror plot case: 'Kingpin was trained by Pakistan's ISI'

'Shaadi is approaching' referred to Obama's January 26, 2015 visit to India, when bomb blasts were planned nationwide.

Bengaluru: The prime accused convicted in a 2015 terror conspiracy case by a Bengaluru court had visited Pakistan multiple times, established links with the ISI and acquired expertise in bomb-making and encrypted communication, according to the investigators. 

On December 16, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) special court convicted three Bhatkal residents — Syed Ismail Afaaque, Abdul Sabur and Saddam Hussain — for plotting terror attacks ahead of then-US President Barack Obama’s visit to India in 2015. 

The men were charged under IPC sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 121A (conspiracy to commit criminal conspiracy), and various sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Explosives Act. 

The case was investigated by the Central Crime Branch (CCB) of the Bengaluru police. 

The court is expected to pronounce the quantum of punishment in the next few days.

The men were associated with the banned outfit Indian Mujahideen (IM), and were previously part of the Students’ Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and the Popular Front of India (PFI), investigators say.

Afaq’s air tickets from India to Dubai between 2005 and 2013 proved to be the clinching evidence. The CCB found that most of Afaq's tickets were booked online, and the IP address was from Rawalpindi, Pakistan, according to the Investigating Officer (IO). 

'Chance discovery'

The CCB uncovered the conspiracy while investigating the 2014 Church Street blast case, which left one woman dead, the officer said. 

"We had received a definite lead that the explosives used in the Church Street blast were collected from Bhatkal. We visited the coastal town on January 7, 2015, but learnt that the accused had left for Bengaluru the previous day," the officer told DH. 

On January 8, 2015, the CCB picked up Afaq, Sabur and Hussain from an apartment building in Frazer Town and booked them in a case at the Pulakeshinagar police station. Based on their confession, the CCB raided the ‘Darul Khair’ residence on Jamia Road in Bhatkal. 

The raid yielded detonators, gelatine sticks, pipe bombs, explosive substances, circuit boards, timers, gunpowder, printed circuit boards, resistors, diodes, electrolyte capacitors, transistors, regulators, LEDs, and mobile handsets. 

Investigators also found encrypted emails in the seized phones. Two emails stood out: "Dulhan chahiye" and "Shaadi is approaching". 

The CCB decoded the emails and discovered their actual meaning: carry out bomb blasts ahead of Obama’s India visit. "The motive was to send a message that IM was still active in India," the investigator said. 

'Shaadi' referred to January 26, 2015, the day Obama arrived in India. 'Dulhan' was the person who had to plant bombs. 

According to the officer, Afaq was an active member of the IM, managing logistics outfit between 2004 and 2008. Following blasts in Ahmedabad, Surat and Pune (German Bakery), the suspects in the case, popularly known as the 'Bhatkal Brothers' and linked to the IM, fled India. 

Afaq later emerged as a prime IM operative in India. Married to Arsala Abeer, a resident of Karachi, he visited Pakistan, ostensibly to meet his in-laws, and developed links with the ISI. He subsequently underwent training in encrypted communication and bomb preparation, the officer said. 

"The Bhatkal Brothers wanted to prove that the IM was still active in India. Afaq worked for them. He recruited more members in Bhatkal and plotted blasts ahead of Obama’s visit," the officer noted.