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Author: Praveen Swami
Publication: The Hindu
Date: Jul 15, 2006
URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/07/15/stories/2006071508160100.htm
Suspect Rahil Sheikh ran cells in New Delhi, Gujarat, Maharashtra
* Supervised by Lashkar boss Azam Cheema
* Sheikh, a Mumbai resident, handled communication, funnelled Lashkar recruits
Rahil Abdul Rahman Sheikh, identified by India's covert services as the principal organiser of the July 11 serial bombings, may be holed up in one of the several Kathmandu safe houses operated by the Lashkar-e-Taiba.
Counter-terrorism sweep
Intelligence sources said Sheikh, along with Zulfikar Fayyaz Qazi and Zabiuddin Ansari, set up escape plans weeks before the bombings, in anticipation of what is being described as the largest counter-terrorism sweep since the 2001 attack on Parliament House. Police have named the men as key figures in Lashkar cells operating out of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Delhi - networks whose relationship with the bombings was first reported in this newspaper.
SIMI recruits
Sheikh, a resident of Mumbai's Grant Road area, handled communication between these cells and the Lashkar's Pakistan-based commander for operations targeting India, Azam Cheema - the man who would have authorised and overseen the serial bombings. Sheikh was also responsible for funnelling Lashkar recruits, raised mainly from the ranks of the Students Islamic Movement of India, to training camps in Pakistan.
Gujarat's Anti-Terrorism Squad identified Sheikh, along with Qazi, as the architects of the attempted bombing of an Ahmedabad-Mumbai train on February 19. A malfunctioning timer - and a corrupt railway guard, who pilfered the suitcase from the train in Ahmedabad before it commenced its return journey to Mumbai - prevented the loss of dozens of lives in the attack, the first in Gujarat where RDX was used.
In March, Sheikh's name surfaced again after the Delhi Police shot dead top Lashkar operative Mohammad Iqbal, a Pakistani national. Computer engineer Mohammad Ali Chhipa and automobile mechanic Feroze Ghaswala, who had planned to execute serial bombings in Ahmedabad with Iqbal's assistance, had travelled to Teheran and on to Lashkar camps in Pakistan on travel documents and tickets provided by Sheikh.
Training
Ansari, for his part, escaped an intelligence-led operation that led to recoveries of RDX, grenades and assault rifles from Aurangabad. The interrogation of the 11 principal members of the Aurangabad cell, however, established that Sheikh had been among its core organisers. Where Ansari used his connections within SIMI to recruit cadre for the cell, Sheikh organised for their training, and the supply of explosives.
Authorities are also exploring Sheikh's links with the north Kashmir commander of the Lashkar, a Pakistani national known only by the aliases `Bilal' and `Salahuddin.' In November, 2005, Bilal's subordinates Arshad Badroo, Khurshid Ahmad Lone and Haji Ramzan were arrested from Mumbai, where they were to have delivered detonators to members of Sheikh's network - and collected cash and fake passports in return.
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