Waqas: The making of a terrorist

Based on the interrogation of Zia-ur-Rehman, alias Waqas, who was nabbed this week after a four-year chase, Indian intelligence agencies have pieced together his journey from a village boy to Lashkar-e-Taiba training camps to meeting India Mujahideen co-founder Yasin Bhatkal and forming the dreaded team of IM's India operations. dna's Nikhil dixit got exulisive accecss to the Indian agencies' profile of the chief bomb maker of the IM.

Zia-ur-Rehman alias Waqas was born in a farmer family in 1989 in Pakistan's Mustafabad area. His grandfather used to live in the Paghwara area in Punjab, India, before migrating to Pakistan during Partition.
Inspired by anti-India speeches of LeT chief Hafiz Saeed and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Maulana Masood Azhar, Waqas decided to become a jihadi and fight Indian forces in Kashmir when he was a teenager, a central intelligence officer said.

In 2006, he enrolled in the Government College of Technology in Faislabad and his life changed forever. "It was around this time, he heard some taped speeches of Azhar and decided to take formal terror training," the officer said.

In his statement to security agencies, Waqas said he met LeT recruiter Taj Mohammed in 2009. "Mohammad is a donation collector for Jamaat-Ud-Dawa, a front organisation of LeT," the officer said.

Waqas expressed his desire before Mohammed to become a jihadi. But the LeT man did not entertain him. "This happened several times... every time Waqas approached Mohammed, he rebuffed him," the officer said. "Mohammed was possibly checking how serious Waqas was about joining a terror group."

In 2009, Mohammed relented and sent Waqas, along with 25 other youngsters, to the LeT camp in Naushera, Pakistan. "All of them were between 15 and 21. They were divided in groups of seven or eight," a Delhi police officer said. "Their trainers were Abu Bakr, Abdullah and Azhar, while one Abu Manzur was the overall in-charge."

His 21-day training began with the 'daura-e-aam'. "It involved 12 hours of rigorous training... Waqas and the others had to wake up at 5am, offer namaaz, and undergo two hours of rigorous physical exercise," the officer said.

Breakfast was served at 8am, followed by two hours of religious studies. "Then they were taught to use sophisticated weapons like G-2, AK47, INSAS, .32 and .30 bore revolvers. They had to practise for hours at a shooting range. They were instructed not to hesitate while using bullets... they were free to use as many as they wanted to."

Once this training was over, Waqas met JeM leader Abdur Rehman and told him that he wanted to train further. Rehman sent Waqas to Waziristan in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Afghanistan. "He was taken to a place identified as Marghaz-e-Aqsa (a big complex), along with 20-25 other youngsters," the officer said.

He went through a 20-day training module called 'Zuhaib', headed by a person called Nasir bhai. Two others — Ahmed and Talah — were his trainers. Waqas started with handling a light machine gun (LMG) and AK47. "Next he was taught to handle explosives and prepare improvised explosive devices (IED). Waqas learnt to handle three types of explosives — hydrogen peroxide, potassium chloride and ammonia nitrate," he said. Also, he was taught to assemble six types of electronic circuits.

Once his training was over, Waqas met Rehman who asked him to go to Karachi and stay at a particular hotel. "In Karachi, Waqas met a person who introduced himself as Javed. Waqas later came to know that Javed was none other than IM founder Riyaz Bhatkal," the officer said.

In the first week of September 2010, Bhatkal met Waqas and gave him a passport and a flight ticket to travel from Karachi to Kathmandu in Nepal. "Bhatkal told Waqas that a person by the name Tehseen alias Monu will meet him in Kathmandu."

Even Asadullah Akhtar, another IM operative, was on the same flight under the name, Daniel. "After reaching Kathmandu, all three — Waqas, Asadullah and Monu — reached Darbhanga in Bihar through the Indo-Nepal border," another senior officer said. "In Darbhanga, Waqas met Yasin Bhatkal for the first time."

And that was the beginning of the IM's most dreaded Indian module. But with the arrest of Yasin and Asadullah in August 2013 and Waqas and Monu this week, this module has been busted.