LeT key operator in Nepal asked to recruit youth from India

New Delhi, Jun 5 (PTI) Mohd Omar Madni, a top aide of
Lashkar-e-Toiba founder Hafiz Saeed, who was arrested in the
capital Thursday, had been asked by leaders of the terror
outfit to recruit young people from Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and
Kolkata for training in Pakistan.

Madni, who too visited Pakistan for training to
carryout terror attacks, is a Nepalese citizen and was a key
operator for LeT there, Joint Commissioner of Police (Special
Cell) P N Aggarwal told reporters here Friday.

A Special Cell team arrested 50-year-old Madni from Qutub
Minar area when he arrived to hand-over money to a contact for
recruiting people for terror activities.

The police claimed that Madni was working on "talent
spotting for terrorist activities, sending then for training
in Lashkar camps in Pakistan and launching them in India."

Besides Hafiz, Madni was also in touch with other LeT key
functionaries Zaki-ur-Rehman and Mohd Yakub who asked him to
recruit two educated youngsters each from the four main metros
for terror training.

Aggarwal said Madni was also asked to select people from
coastal areas who were good sailors and were interested in
shipping, young men who have worked in fireworks
factory to be trained in IED manufacturing and a person in
Jammu to carry money to Srinagar.

Home Minister P Chidambaram said Madni "does have" links
with Saeed. "It (the arrest) is a measure of the good
intelligence and good investigative work done by our
intelligence agencies and police."

Saeed, a prime accused in the Mumbai attacks case, was
set free on Wednesday by the Lahore High Court after a
six-month detention while Rehman is one of the key
conspirators of the Mumbai attacks.

Madni was today produced before a Delhi court which
remanded him to 14-days police custody.

Aggarwal said Madni was specifically asked by his
handler to recruit youths from the metros who are graduates
with expertise in computer technology.

"He was also assigned the task to recruit fishermen in
Konkan and coastal states like Kerala. Jharkhand was another
state where he was asked to do talent hunting," he said.

Madni's brother Hafiz Mohd Zubair (40), also linked to
LeT, operates from Qatar.

It was in 1996 that Madni, who can speak Hindi, Urdu,
Arabic, English, Bengali and Nepali, was initiated into
"jehadi activities" after he was motivated by Markaz-Dawa-
Wal-Irshad members.

"On their instructions, he visited Lahore in 1997. The
next year he took Daura-e-Aam and Daura-e-Khas training in LeT
camps. During this visit, he was called by top leaders of JuD
and LeT and assigned the task to make a strong base in Nepal
for easy infiltration to India," Aggarwal said.

"He was also assigned the task to recruit youths from
India and Nepal for terror activities. He sent more than 30
people to Pakistan," he said. In 2000, when he visited
Pakistan for another time, he was asked to pump in terror
funding into India through Nepal, Aggarwal said.

Madni then came in contact with one Saifulla in Nepal
and opened several bank accounts to facilitate flow of money
from Pakistan.

"He was also asked to provide logistical support to
terrorists staying in Nepal before they were sent to India to
carry out terror strikes," said Aggarwal.

While Madni opened Nice Travels and Tours in Kathmandu
as a cover to his activities, Saifullah opened a surgical
equipment shop. "Madni used to receive terror funding through
a well-known money transfer agency," he said.

Three of the recruits were arrested in Delhi in 2004
which prompted Madni to stop visiting India and Saifullah to
go back to Pakistan. Saifulla was replaced by one Mohd Usman.

According to Aggarwal, the accused has recruited more
than 30 people including one Kamal Ansari, who was arrested in
connection with the Mumbai train blast case.

Madni, who was born in Bihar's Madhubhani, was
carrying USD 8,000, Rs (Nepalese) 4,068, fake Indian currency
with a face value of Rs 15,000 and a Nepalese citizenship card
was also allegedly recovered from him.

"Police also seized a matrix and other documents from
him. There are many coded statements in the diary we recovered
from him. Most of the codes were written in Urdu," he said.

When pointed out that JuD has denied any links with
Madni, Aggarwal said he was telling what the accused have told
his interrogators.

According to the police, Madni's father was a madrassa
teacher who shifted to Nepal in 1983.

In 1995, Madni himself started a madrassa in Saptari
in Nepal to be followed by another one in Kathmandu next year.

From Nepal, Aggarwal said, Madni reached Patna from
where he headed towards Aligarh. "It was from Aligarh that
Madni reached the capital," he said.

A case under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and
relevant sections of Indian Penal Code has been lodged against
him.

"We have charged him under various sections including
being a member of a banned organisation and waging war against
the country," Aggarwal said. PTI SJY
PMR
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