Delhi Police hunt for pimps, call girls Iranian used

It is a task that the elite special unit of the Delhi Police, engaged in countering terrorism, would have never thought of handling during the course of its sensitive duties.

The police is looking for a pimp and two to three call girls who were allegedly engaged by Houshand Afshar Irani during his two visits to the Capital this year and in 2011, officials privy to the case said on Sunday. Irani is the suspected bomber in the attack on a Israeli diplomat here on February 13.

The 39-year-old Irani had met a person at central Delhi after obtaining his telephone number from the classifieds section of a newspaper which claimed to provide “female escorts”, they said.

Later, during his fortnight-long stay each time in 2011 and in February this year, Irani had engaged two to three female escorts, a lead in the probe which had been provided by hotel staff in Delhi. This has been further corroborated by the telephone number used by the alleged bomber, against whom an Interpol Red Corner Notice has been issued.

Besides Irani, Delhi Police secured Interpol Warrant of arrest against 50-year-old Seyed Ali Mahdiansar, 47-year-old Mohammareza Abol Ghashemi (both alleged conspirators) and 31-year-old Masoud Sedag-hatzadeh (alleged mastermind and at present in custody in Malaysia).

Police have already arrested Seyed Mohammed Ahmed Kazmi, a journalist working for Iranian publications, for his alleged role in providing logistics in carrying out the car bombing of Israeli diplomat Tal Yeshua.

The sources said the statement of the “female escorts” would help in understanding the Iranian bomber more and may help in providing additional details about the people and places he visited.

The other bombers caught in Bangkok had also engaged the services of female escorts and the probe reports shared by Bangkok included pictures of Sedaghatzadeh and two other bombers—Saeid Moradi and Mohammad Kharzei (both part of botched up plan in Bangkok) with some women escorts in Pattaya.

The photo taken by one of the women from her mobile phone purportedly showed the three Iranians at a Middle Eastern bar surrounded by hookah water-pipes, and enjoying the company of the females.

According to the sources privy to the probe conducted in India, Malaysia and Thailand and also on the basis of the statement of Kazmi to Delhi Police, the spate of attacks planned in New Delhi, Bangkok and Georgia was to take revenge on attacks on the Iranian scientists since 2009. Four Iranian nuclear scientists have been killed in attacks since 2009.