The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has prima facie found the claims of Bihar Police to be correct that the recent train accidents were handiwork of Pakistan's spy agency ISI.
According to a Times of India report, the agency, which is probing three cases -- blast attempt on the track in Ghorasahan in East Champaran district in Bihar, Indore-Patna derailment near Kanpur and accident at Koneru in Vizianagaram of Andhra Pradesh, feels the ISI angle merits further probe.
The three men, arrested by Bihar Police earlier this month, have repeated their confession of a sabotage angle in both the Ghorasahan track blasting attempt and the Kanpur derailment before the NIA’s during recent interrogation, the report said.
The trio, identified as Moti Paswan, Umashanker Patel and Mukesh Yadav , were arrested by police on charges of a double-murder and on suspicion over their role in an failed attempt to blow up track at Ghorasahan in October last year. According to Bihar Police, all accused were paid at least Rs 3 lakh each by ISI agent Brij Giri based in Nepal for planting IEDs at Ghorasahan railway station and also on Patna-Kanpur route to derail major trains. Giri was in turn funded by ISI handler Shamshul Huda who operates from Dubai.
Patel, the preliminary probe show, had spoken to both Huda and Shaikh while they were together in Dubai in August last year, after being put in touch with them by Giri. Huda is said to be a major fake Indian currency notes (FICN) operator of the ISI.
“There are no contradictions whatsoever in what they had told the Bihar Police earlier and now our own sleuths. They seem to be very sure of and consistent in their 'disclosures'. Also, technical evidence points to conversations between the arrested accused on the one hand and Nepalese handler Brij Kishore Giri alias Baba Giri, Dubai-based mastermind Shamsul Huda and Karachi-based suspected ISI agent Shafi Shaikh on the other, lending credence to the ISI involvement theory," the report quoted a Ministry of Home Affairs as saying.
"They discussed conspiracy to cause train accidents in India by planting IEDs on the tracks. The discussion was general in nature and did not raise any specific mention of the impending sabotage plans for Ghorasahan or Kanpur," an officer said.
"That they were in direct touch with Huda as well as an alleged Karachi-based kingpin having links with ISI, has led NIA to strongly suspect an ISI angle to the alleged sabotage involving passenger trains in India," the officer added.
The derailment of Indore-Patna Express had claimed 150 lives and injured over 200 passengers. As many as 39 passengers will killed in the Hirakhand Express train mishap near Kuneru in Andhra Pradesh.
The NIA said that it will now seen the custody of Paswan, Patel and Yadav as well others arrested in Delhi for exhaustive questioning as well as recreation of the events.
Though an NIA team has already inspected the site of the latest train accident at Koneru in Vizianagaram, Andhra Pradesh, it is yet to submit its report on the findings. "We are not risking a guess on a likely sabotage angle. Let us wait for the initial report," a Home Ministry official said.
The NIA, which is empowered to deal with terror related crimes, will also seek to access the accused arrested by the Nepal police, including Giri. Besides, it plans to seek custody of Huda and Shaikh.
"This might be a time-consuming process," an officer said.
