Lashkar trained Baig in Colombo, gave him money: ATS

Lashkar trained Baig in Colombo, gave him money: ATS

Lashkar trained Baig in Colombo, gave him money: ATS

Tags : LeT, Baig, Colombo, ATS

Posted: Fri Sep 10 2010, 01:46 hrs

Pune/Mumbai:

Mirza Himayat Baig, the alleged Maharashtra chief of the Lashkar-e-Toiba arrested in connection with the February 13 German Bakery blast in Pune, received Rs 2.5 lakh from the LeT after undergoing terror training to set up a base in Udgir, in Latur district, and to take care of other operatives, the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) alleged on Thursday.

“In March 2008, Baig was called to Colombo by Fayaz Kagzi of the Aurangabad arms haul case module for training. On receiving instructions, Baig travelled from Aurangabad to Hyderabad and then to Chennai, from where he flew to Colombo. Kagzi and another man were already waiting in Colombo. The training lasted for three weeks, during which Baig was taught organisational and recruitment skills as well as bomb-making techniques,” said ATS chief Rakesh Maria.

“On completion of this training, Baig was given Rs 2.5 lakh to stay in Udgir and was told to ‘take care of the other boys’. He used part of this money to set up the Global Internet Cafe where the Pune bomb was assembled, paying Rs 24,000 as rent and buying seven to eight computers. He has been receiving money from the LeT at regular intervals since,” said Maria.

The ATS is now gleaning information about the terror network suspected to have been set up by Baig in Maharashtra and other states.

“He is a very important person, who was tasked with recruiting youth and sending them for terror training. Being a member of the Popular Front of India, he was also asked to get more people to become members. It was Baig who sent Bilal (Shaikh Lalbaba Mohammed Husain Farid) for terror training to Pakistan. Following the Pune blast, he lay low for some time, and then began touring several places. Our teams went to Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Daman and Diu, Tamil Nadu and New Delhi during the probe. Our investigations are on to determine how many men he sent for terror training and the network he created,” said Maria.

According to the ATS, Baig, 29, has told interrogators that following the Aurangabad arms haul in May 2006, the state police had arrived at his house in Beed in search of him. Baig, however, is not named as an accused in the case.

Baig has also revealed that he had visited the Indian Mujahideen’s Pune control room in Ashoka Mews apartments in Kondwa in 2007 to attend a religious programme.

Preliminary investigations have also revealed that the RDX used in the Pune blast was provided to Baig and Mohammed Ahmed Zarar Sidibappa by Mohsin Chaudhary, although the exact source of the explosive is being probed.

Probing matter: Sri Lanka

Colombo: Sri Lanka is in touch with Indian authorities over reported claims by LeT terror suspect Mirza Himayat Baig that he was trained in Colombo. “We have informed our mission in New Delhi to investigate this matter immediately. Our defence attache at the High Commission is already in discussions with the authorities in India over the claims and we have also sought a detailed report,” Sri Lankan external ministry sources were quoted as saying by the Daily Mirror. PTI