Police suspect Tauqeer, who hacked US man's IP address to send Ahmedabad blasts mail, assisted terror suspect
Police suspect Tauqeer, who hacked US man's IP address to send Ahmedabad blasts mail, assisted terror suspectThe police are tightening the noose around David Coleman Headley (49), arrested by the FBI for conspiring to plot terror attacks in India, and probing his links with terror outfit Indian Mujahideen (IM).
Massive hunt"Yesterday, National Investigation Agency (NIA) detectives launched a massive hunt for techie and IM mastermind Tauqeer Bilal alias Abdus Subhan Qureshi, who hacked the IP address of US national Kenneth Haywood.
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He had used the ID to send terror mails before the bomb blasts in Ahmedabad last year.
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Remember Him? US national Kenneth Haywood's IP address was hacked to send out a terror e-mail before the Ahmedabad blasts last year. |
For almost nine hours, a team headed by IPS officer Loknath Behera questioned a dozen people near Tauqeer's home in Mira Road and ran background checks on other terror suspects," said a police officer.
They also raided the Matunga Prachar Kendra. Tauqeer reportedly fled to Pakistan after the blasts, which were carried out by the IM.
Police records indicate Tauqeer and Headley are members of the Harkat-ul-Jehadi Islami, an affiliate of the al-Qaeda, and have a common ally in Ilyas Kashmiri, operational chief of the Azad Kashmir Front.
Crime Branch sources said, "Tauqeer hacked into the IP addresses of unknown users in Mumbai after the blasts."
SIMI activists Usman Agarbattiwala and Imran Sheikh, arrested after the Ahmedabad blasts, told investigators Tauqeer carried a laptop on which he demonstrated the working of guns during a terror training camp at Vagamon in Kerala in 2007.
Headley and his key associate Tahawwur Rana (48) are known for their expertise in networking with Internet groups and trained militants in Hasan Abdal, Pakistan.
IG of Police (Konkan region) Param Bir Singh was not available for comment.
American's ad before 26/11Last year, Headley placed an ad for vendors, technicians and security men with military experience in this paper.
He paid Rs 18,000 for the ads, which mentioned 9820XXXXXX, 9867XXXXXX as his numbers in Mumbai and 0017733 XXXXXX in Chicago.
Headley's ad also said world famous immigration expert Tahawwur Rana would be in Mumbai on Nov 20, 2008. Six days later, the 26/11 terror attacks rocked Mumbai.
Did you know?Tauqeer's resignation letter to his last employer, a data firm in Mumbai, said he wanted to concentrate on religious activities