Investigations by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) against key Indian Mujahideen operatives have revealed that their relationship with Pakistan's ISI has turned sour and is almost on the verge of a breakup.
The NIA got the whiff of it when scouring through the voluminous chats and e-mail correspondence between senior IM operatives, including Iqbal Bhatkal, Riyaz Bhatkal and Shadaab Beg, it came across that they are not happy with the ISI control and have code named ISI as kutte (dogs) for treating them as slaves living on its crumbs.
This revelation by the NIA would have sounded jingle to the security agencies had it not been accompanied with another disclosure that the IM is now trying to forge alliance with al Qaeda and Tahreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) to intensify war against India and some of its members are even fighting against NATO forces in Af-Pak region.
In May 2013, IM founder Riyaz Bhatkal probably met al Qaeda South Asia branch chief Aasim Umar with whom he discussed everything related to IM in chaste Urdu and was initially given the task to target Jews.
Incidentally, key IM members – Yasin and Riyaz before going into al Qaeda's fold drew inspiration from Kamal Hassan's Vishwaroopam movie that made their belief of al Qaeda arriving in India stronger and also made them go close to al Qaeda.
The details of the tenacious relationship between IM and ISI turning sour and the former getting closer to al Qaeda and Taliban are part of the voluminous charge-sheet that the NIA has submitted in the special Patiala House court in the capital.
The chargesheet says it is established from the messages that the absconding Riyaz Bhatkal was badly treated by ISI for trying to establish contact with al Qaeda and was sternly warned to desist from any attempt to contact Al Qaeda fighting in the Af-Pak region.
"This clearly shows that the ISI now dreads the possibility of IM becoming a headache for Pakistan by joining al Qaeda that is trying to take over control of Pakistan with the help of TTP. There are also ample indications that caught in its own trap, the ISI is trying its best to wrest control of IM so it does not become rogue," said a senior security official who has analysed the chats and email conversation.
The conversation details reveal that while Bada Sajid is fighting along with TTP against NATO forces in Af-Pak region, Riyaz Bhatkal travelled to tribal belts of Af-Pak border for establishing contact with al Qaeda.
"After the meeting which was very fruitful, the al Qaeda gave specific tasks to the IM for execution and also agreed to train their cadres in terrorist activities," alleges the chargesheet.
However, initial forays of Riyaz Bhatkal with al Qaeda members in Pakistan and Afghanistan, mostly Pathans, forced him to conclude that he would not join hands with them since they were pure but foolish and it would be better to come under the command of al Qaeda led by Khajurr i.e. Arabs directly under the command of Ayman al Zawahiri.
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