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| India-Pakistan |
| One careless call led police to Batla House terrorists |
| 2013-07-26 |
| Interesting, because PRISM like surveillance led to the capture of the terrorists. NEW DELHI: The bombers from Indian Mujahideen's Azamgarh cell who were tracked down to Batla House in Delhi would have carried on with their murderous campaign had it not been for a blunder by a key member of what is essentially a Lashkar-sponsored gang. Sources familiar with one the most successful counter-terror operations said the hunt for the terrorists responsible for slaughtering hundreds of innocents appeared to be heading nowhere until Dr Shahnawaz, a leading member of the Azamgarh cell of IM, broke the standard operating procedure to contact the chief bomber of the module, Atif Amin, on the mobile that the latter had acquired for carrying out serial bomb attacks in Gujarat in 2008. The number, 9714552899, was one of four that Atif and other IM members involved in the Gujarat operation had acquired. The four numbers would take calls only from each other and from PCOs. The protocol, put in place to dodge surveillance, was strictly followed, except on one occasion when Dr Shahnawaz let his guard down. Breaking from the agreed operational code, he used his mobile phone — 9415835381 — to contact Amin who had assumed the alias of Bashir Bhai for engineering the attacks in Gujarat. The solitary deviation would by itself have not led to a breakthrough if the Intelligence Bureau, working with counter-terror agencies in Gujarat and Mumbai, had not chanced upon Afzal Mutaliq Usmani. A car thief from Navi Mumbai, Usmani was arrested after being identified as the person who had delivered two cars to be used in the Gujarat bombings. Usmani provided a chest of information about the operation, including that Bashir Bhai, "a bucktoothed man with his hair slicked back" and the team leader of the Gujarat bombers, used the mobile number 9714552899. Luckily for the investigators, Usmani had traveled with Atif alias Bashir and the other alleged bombers when they returned to their base. He also disclosed that he accompanied the bombers to Batla House before catching a train for Pune. Although Atif did not take them to L-18, their hideout, the information about Batla House emerged as the probe progressed. Especially because an analysis of the details of mobile towers showed up the location of the phone number 9714552899 in the Batla House locality between July 16-23. The analysis also showed that the phone, which had become inactive on July 27, a day after the Ahmedabad serial blast, was active for a long time around New Delhi's Nizamuddin railway station on July 21: the day, as subsequent investigations showed, Atif and other members booked return ticket for Ahmedabad. This presence in Delhi of a mobile registered in Gujarat struck the counter-terror wing of the IB and other agencies. A trawl through its call details threw up Shahnawaz's number -- 9415835381. Soon, the investigators mining the data of this BSNL number from UP came across the fact that the leading member of IM would regularly call 9811004309. A quick investigation showed that the Vodafone number was registered in the name of Atif Amin. On the face of it, nothing seemed to be amiss. It was a post-paid number and the address given, L-18, Batla House had even been verified. However, noting the coincidence of the presence of Gujarat number 9714552899 in the immediate vicinity of 9811004309 around Batla House, IB advised Delhi Police to check the address. "We had a suspicion of sorts that either the gang itself had hired the premises or the occupant was providing shelter to the bombers. But we were far from sure," said a senior police officer who monitored the operation and coordinated with counter-terror units of different states. The suspicion was the reason why a Delhi Police special cell personnel visited L-18 posing as a customer care representative of Vodafone. While he heard many voices coming from inside, the cop was intrigued when his knocks received no response. He alerted Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma, waiting downstairs, who walked in, least suspecting that he would soon be faced with one of the deadliest bunch of terrorists. |
| Posted by:phil_b |
| #5 At least he wasn't sexting... |
| Posted by: Pappy 2013-07-26 22:16 |
| #4 VOD's PEG |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2013-07-26 10:00 |
| #3 but what is the profit to earnings ratio? Obama would lie to know |
| Posted by: Frank G 2013-07-26 09:57 |
| #2 Unrelated: VOD is a pretty good growth and dividend pick at a Div/yield 1.05/5.26. Closed yesterday at $29.76. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2013-07-26 02:14 |
| #1 Does this mean it wasn't a call for Pizza Home Delivery??? D *** ng, I knew it! |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2013-07-26 02:04 |