Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik on Sunday reiterated that Abu Jundal, who had been deported from Saudi Arabia and was reportedly present in the control room during the 26/11 attack, was a rogue agent of Indian intelligence agencies.
“He also worked as one of the sources of a very elite agency of India. Now, see, he has used agencies also and went rogue. Put it another way, you become a source, you become a double agent. While he is working, living in India, he might have gone rogue and then these three individuals go to Pakistan (sic),” Malik said.
Later, Home Secretary R K Singh termed Malik’s Jundal allegations as “ridiculous”.
Malik emphasised that the Pakistani side had taken the information provided by India seriously and had investigated from their end too.
“Headley talked about a Major. I particularly investigated that matter. We found the link. How it is happening. We arrested one Major Farooq. He is an ex-army man and used to work for LeT. We arrested him and that guy gave us lot of information,” he said.
Therefore, Malik said, warming up to his co-operation theme, there should be more interaction between Indian and Pakistani intelligence agencies.
“So, what I am emphasising, if we had interaction at intelligence level, at ministerial level at the government level, at diplomatic level, then we would have opportunity to share our information. May be, had we interacted (before 26/11), we would have found out Abu Jundal and Headley,” he said.
On the issue of Pakistan taking action against Jamaat-ud-Dawa supremo Hafiz Saeed, he parroted his previous remarks that “substantial evidence” was required for legal action.
He said Pakistan can act against Saeed only if India’s evidence can stand up in court.
Saeed had been arrested on three occasions, but released on court orders due to lack of sufficient information, he added.
He complimented the Indian government for making a key arrest in the Samjhauta Express bomb blasts.
“It is a good omen. I welcome it. I congratulate the Government of India that the main culprit of the Samjhauta Express was arrested. I am sure this will help in identifying the whole network and it is going to be beneficial for the whole country (sic),” he said. Referring to his meeting with BJP leader Sushma Swaraj, Malik said that he urged her to visit Pakistan to see that there was no mass migration of Hindus due to maltreatment.
Earlier, he had accused the media of twisting his words and stating that he had compared Mumbai attacks with the razing of the Babri mosque in 1992.
Before leaving for home, Malik prayed at the shrine of the 14th century Sufi saint Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya.
“I prayed to Allah for a harmonious and peaceful relationship between both countries,” he said.