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ShareNew Delhi: Even as the country's security forces continue to struggle to find collaborators of the Headley-Rana terror network in India, major breakthroughs have been achieved in Bangladesh in unravelling the nexus between the LeT (Lashkar-e-Taiba) and HuJI (Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami).
Sources told DNA that Abdul Muthalib, alias Muthu, a veteran of the Afghan war who has been leading LeT-Huji operations against India from Bangladesh, is in the custody of Bangladeshi forces. They believe that Muthu, who figures high on the terrorist watch lists of the FBI and Indian agencies, is the most important terrorist Indian agencies can get access to, and his interrogation can connect the dots of the terror operations the LeT-HuJI network carried out across India over the last 10 years.
Muthu has been looking after terror work in Bangladesh, coordinating the movement of terrorists and reconnaissance of targets in India, and involved in sending recruits from India to Pakistan with fake passports and other identities. According to the FBI, Muthu was the key contact of Syed Abdul Rehman, the LeT leader who was handling both David Coleman Headley and Tahawwur Hussain Rana, who are in US custody.
Muthu's interrogation could not only possibly bring out the details of the 26/11 conspiracy, but also lead to details of other terror attacks in India in recent times. Sources believe that among those attacks in which Muthu may have been involved are the 2006 Mumbai train blasts, the 2008 serial blasts in Delhi, and multiple blasts in Hyderabad, Jaipur, Ahmedabad and other cities. "In my assessment, he is the most important conspirator we have access to," said a senior source in the security establishment.
Muthu had a crucial role in recruiting several Muslim youth from southern India and elsewhere. The most famous recruit was Shahid Bilal, who was mysteriously killed in Karachi in 2007.
The Bangladeshi forces have also arrested Thadiyantevide Nazir, a Keralite who was the mastermind of the July 25 Bangalore blasts last year. Nazir and several other members of the Indian Mujahideen had fled to Bangladesh, and were probably in a hideout provided by Muthu and his associates.
Sources said the arrest of Muthu and Nazir would figure in the Indo-Bangla home secretaries' meeting in New Delhi early next week. New Delhi is pleased with Dhaka's cooperation on cracking down on terror ever since the Sheikh Hasina government came to power in January this year. Besides Muthu and Nazir, the Bangladeshi forces have arrested several other members of the LeT-Huji network, which is linked with Syed Abdul Rehman, the LeT leader in Pakistan who was controlling both Headley and Rana.
