IM operative learnt tech skills in Banjara Hills - Times of India

HYDERABAD: Alleged Indian Mujahideen (IM) operative Ajaz Shaikh reportedly learnt the art of using various information technology tools at an institute in Banjara Hills. After the arrest of Mansoor Peerboy, an accused in the 2008 Lumbini blast, the terror outfit hand-picked Shaikh and groomed him to be his successor, IM's head of information technology and communication wing. Incidentally, both the tech-savvy terror suspects honed their technological skills at various institutes in the city, sources said.

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Ajaz Shaikh was arrested by the Delhi police's Special Cell sleuths near the Saharanpur railway station in Uttar Pradesh on Friday.

"Ajaz did a diploma course at an institute in Banjara Hills several years ago. He later went to Pune and joined a BPO. Ajaz and fugitive Mohsin Chowdary, another top IM operative, are cousins and they were completely involved in terror activities," sources told TOI.

Ajaz Shaikh used to get money from Dubai and Kuwait either through Western Union or hawala route. The entire operation of financing terror strikes and routing the money to IM executors was done by Shaikh from Pune and Mumbai. Incidentally, Ajaz did not know who the receivers were. After his interrogation, it came to light that he had arranged Rs 6.8 lakh for the Dilsukhnagar twin blasts, sources said.

The money was first sent to a shop owner in Mangalore through the hawala route on the directions of IM founder Riyaz Bhatkal. The shop-keeper handed over the money to IM operatives Asadullah Akthar alias Haddi and Pakistani national Monu, police said.

"Ajaz Shaikh actually came to know that he used to hand over money to IM members like Yasin Bhatkal, Monu and Haddi, who had carried out blasts at Jama Masjid, Varanasi and other places, only after their arrests made headlines in the media. Ideologically, Ajaz was perfectly in tune with the IM requirement," a highly-placed source in the intelligence department told TOI.

While Ajaz was on the run, he was constantly in touch with Dilsukhnagar prime accused Riyaz Bhatkal until he was arrested at Saharanpur on Friday. Like Haddi and Monu, Ajaz too took shelter in Nepal before returning to India recently.

The intelligence sleuths came to know that it was Ajaz who personally handed over explosives to Yasin Bhatkal near the Pune railway station for executing the German bakery blasts.

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