NEW DELHI: The National Investigation Agency ( NIA) on Friday chargesheeted Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist and Pakistani national Bahadur Ali alias Saifulla Mansoor for alleged criminal conspiracy to carry out terrorist attacks in India including in Jammu and Kashmir and the national capital.
In the chargesheet, the NIA has accused the Pakistan Army for facilitating the LeT in maintaining the launching pad in PoK through which Ali and other cohorts were infiltrated into Jammu and Kashmir.
The chargesheet also details the presence of the names of several towns of Jammu and Kashmir on the map sheet recovered from Ali and the LeT was behind fuelling the massive unrest in the Valley post-Burhan Wani’s liquidation by the security forces. Wani was a Hizbul Mujahieen terrorist. It further detailed the modus operandi of the LeT in recruiting Pak youths, imparting arms training and pushing them inside Indian territory.
The chargsheet was filed at the NIA Special Court here against Ali, resident of Jia Bagga village under Raiwind tehsil of Lahore in Pakistan Indian Penal Code section relating criminal conspiracy besides provisions of the Explosives Act , Explosives Substances Act , Arms Act, Foreigners Act, Indian and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
This case relates to a conspiracy hatched by the LeT, a proscribed terrorist organization, based in Pakistan, to commit terror attacks in India.
Pakistan-based mastermind of Ali, Alfa-3 communicated to him that the LeT cadres had been successful in fuelling large scale agitation in Kashmir after EID subsequent to the death of Burhan Wani in Kashmir. He instructed Bahadur Ali to mix with the protestors and throw grenades at the security forces in order to further fuel the agitation in the Kashmir valley. Ali was also directed by Alpha 3 to receive a group of freshly infiltrated terrorists of the LeT but he was nabbed by the security agencies on July 25 at Yahama village.
The data retrieved from GPS device recovered from Ali contained the coordinates of the Mandakuli ‘launching pad’ of the LeT. The pocket diary recovered from Ali contains the name of several towns in J&K, including Rafiabad, Kunzar, Tangmarg, Budgam, Poonch, Jammu, Udhampur besides Delhi.
“Given the fact that Bahadur Ali is a trained cadre of the LeT, the inclusion of the names of these towns/ cities in the diary indicates that Bahadur Ali was tasked to carry out terror attacks at several places, including Delhi,” the statement further said.
“Investigation conducted by the NIA revealed that the LeT has set up a well-organized machinery for the recruitment of vulnerable young men from different provinces of Pakistan, as part of a conspiracy to wage war against the Government of India by the commission of terrorist acts in various parts of India,” the NIA said in a statement.
On Ali’s disclosure and identification of the spot, several articles were recovered and seized including one AK-47 rifle along with five AK-47 magazines loaded with ammunition, one UBGL, five live UBGL shells, two live hand grenades (Chinese) and a wireless set.
Investigation has also established that Bahadur Ali was also provided a map sheet depicting parts of PoK and J&K. He was provided with the Grid References that had been recovered from his possession. Bahadur Ali plotted these Grid References on the map sheet. Further, it has been affirmed by the Surveyor General of India, Dehradun that Bahadur Ali, had indeed plotted the Grid References correctly. This clearly establishes that Bahadur Ali is well conversant with the use of the map sheet and that he has received training in the subject, said the chargesheet.
Once recruited, these impressionable young men are put through various training regimes with the twin objectives of radicalizing their worldview and providing them with ‘military’ skills. Subsequent to their training, these trained cadres of LeT are illegally pushed into Indian Territory where they commit terrorist acts with the help of network of their supporters and facilitators, the agency said in its chargesheet.
As a part of the conspiracy of LeT, Ali along with his two associates Abu Saad and Abu Darda, all trained terrorists of the Pakistan based LeT, illegally infiltrated into Indian territory (J&K) by crossing the LoC. At the time of crossing into Indian territory, on or around the intervening night of June 6/7 last year, these terrorists were equipped with Arms and ammunition, navigation equipment, combat material and other articles.
“These terrorists entered into Indian Territory with an intention to carry out terrorist attacks in Jammu and Kashmir and at different places of the country including Delhi, as per instructions given to them by their handlers of the LeT based in Pakistan/ POK, the statement further said.
After crossing the LoC fence, the three terrorists, Ali Saad and Darda, walked for about seven days following the Grid References with the aid of the GPS devices that had been provided to them by Abu Haider at the Mandakuli ‘launching pad’. The infiltrating terrorists had been provided with eight Grid References, the eighth denoting their final destination.
On June 20, the three infiltrating terrorists reached a hilltop near village Wadar, Handwara (J&K), which was the sixth of the eight Grid References. At Wadar, Abu Saad had sent a message to one of his handlers, ‘Walid Bhai’ by pairing his mobile phone with his wireless set, a communication technique especially designed by the LeT to avoid interception.
On June 22, Darda and Saad went to the village Wadar for arranging food, leaving Bahadur Ali on a nearby hill. After a short while Bahadur Ali heard the sound of gunfire. On hearing the gunfire, Bahadur Ali was confused and he rushed towards a nearby hilltop as a precautionary measure and waited for the return of Darda and Saad. However, the duo did not return. The following morning, Ali contacted Alfa-3, the LeT control station based in PoK, through his wireless set and apprised the his mastermind in Pakistan under the name Alfa-3 who directed directed Ali to continue his journey and reach the final destination at the eighth Grid Reference.
“It was found during investigation that after getting directions from Alfa-3, Bahadur Ali reached the location of the 8th Grid Reference. This point was located on a hill near village Mukam, Yahama. After reaching this point, Bahadur Ali contacted Alfa-3 who provided him with an additional Grid Reference, where he was told to contact a local person who would provide him food and other support,” the chargesheet said.