Suspected Indian Mujahideen (IM) Operative Ejaz Sheikh was today produced in Patiala House Court after the Delhi Police Special Cell caught him last night at the Saharanpur railway station in Uttar Pradesh while he was returning from Moradabad.
Special Commissioner of Police S N Srivastava, confirmed to the media that Ejaz Sheikh who belongs to Pune's Ghorpade locality, is from Indian Mujahideen, he used to provide logistics to other IM operatives and send them money received through hawala. Moreover, he also used to make fake Identity Cards (IDs) and was involved in Jama Masjid bomb case, and also the German bakery bomb blast in 2010.
Srivastava also said that Sheikh's interrogation helped them in solving the mystery of the scary e-mails which were sent during the Jama Masjid blast in Delhi. Something about which the police never got a clue even after arresting many of the IM modules like Yasin Bhatkal, Tehseen Akhtar, Asadullah Akhtar, alias Haddi, etc in past years.
"It was found that Ejaz Sheikh had sent those e-mails after Jama Masjid firing and blast, Varanasi's Sheetla Ghat, and the German Bakery Blast. He also used to make fake identity papers which were used in renting a room, withdrawing money from western union money transfer, purchasing SIM cards and were even used in staying under cover and taking admission in school," said Srivatava while addressing a press conference.
He added that in the Jama Masjid blast so far they have caught ten terrorists but never got any information about the e-mails. None of the terrorists ever revealed Sheikh's name.
"We struggled a lot over the e-mail and in the end we got to know that there is one person who is working under the top leadership of the IM .i.e. Riyaz Bhatkal and Mohsin Chaudhary but so far no information has been received about him from any terrorist, we also came to know that the person will coming on the night of September 5. So we quickly dispatched a team and as soon as he got out of the Saharanpur railway station while he was coming from Moradabad, we caught him," Srivastava added.
Srivastava also said that Sheikh's interrogation revealed that he is the brother in law of Mohsin Chaudhary who is Riyaz Bhatkal's right hand man and also a close friend.
Adding to it he said, "During the Batla House encounter in 2008 after which many terrorists were revealed, Ejaz Sheikh along with Riyaz Bhatkal and many other terrorists ran away to Pakistan, but then Bhatkal had asked sheikh who was young at that time to stay in India only, so that if required they can get their work done through him. Post that sheikh stayed here as an undercover and unexposed contact of Riyaz Bhatkal and Mohsin Chaudhary."
Further revealing his involvement in various terrorist activities, Srivastava said, "Ejaz Sheikh's very first involvement was in the German Bakery blast in February 2010, at that time he worked in a facilitating role for Yasin Bhatkal in the bomb blast and provided him mobile handset, SIM cards and a rented premises near Bharati Vidyapeeth in Pune, and while staying there Bhatkal made an ID and executed the blasts from there only. Sheikh and Bhatkal together did Pune's recce and fixed places of blast."
"Ejaz Sheikh's second role was in the Jama Masjid strikes. On September 19, 2010, a firing had taken place in front of Jama Masjid in which foreign tourists were fired and along with it bomb blasts had also happened. In that he had a role in giving mails. He sent an e mail through a mobile handset so that the sender remains unknown. After that on December 7, 2010, when Sheetla Ghat blast happened in Varanasi he used Mumbai's open Wi-Fi and sent the mail claiming the responsibility that it has been done by the IM," he added.
Throwing light over Sheikh's background, Srivastava said, "Sheikh led a simple lifestyle, he was educated in computers and he was also asked to do such courses with which he can become a tech savvy. So he did a diploma course in hardware networking and Linux operations. Apart from this he also took the entire knowledge about Information and Communication Technology. He was working in a BPO through which he used to be very much in touch with this field."
The police also said that Sheikh had learnt various softwares like Adobe Photoshop, CorelDRAW and Microsoft paint application and was using them to make fake IDs.
The Special Cell of Delhi Police had earlier this year also arrested Indian Mujahideen's India Commander Tehseen Akhtar, accused of several terror blasts, including the one on a rally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Patna on October 27 last year.
