Dawood Ibrahim and LeT planning Mumbai-like terror attack against India, Intel inputs claim
Terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba and underworld don Dawood Ibrahim are together planning 26/11 type terror attack on Indian soil, according to the inputs gathered by the Indian intelligence agencies, top sources said.
An intelligence report claims Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) has joined hands with underworld don Dawood Ibrahim in an attempt to repeat an attack similar to the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack. Dawood Ibrahim was spotted in Islamabad at his farmhouse on Sunday, the news report said quoting top intelligence sources. Dawood's farmhouse is next to Pakistan's former President Pervez Musharraf’s residence.
Report further claims that Dawood had gone to meet LeT leaders with a team of Pakistan's spy agency, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). According to intel inputs, the LeT is planning to send weapons to Gujarat or Maharashtra via sea route.
It is to be noted that, Laskar - Pak army - spy agency ISI and LTTE connection is not new. Aoon after Mumbai blast, when Indian security system was keeping watch on western coastal area, Pakistan's ISI strategy was to divert the India's attention, develop developed relation wth The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). LTTE's revenue source was drugs which was totally controlled by Pakistan.
The ISI plans to create unrest in India as Indian security paraphernalia and even global authorities are busy tackling the coronavirus outbreak. Terror outfits see the pandemic as a great opportunity to target major Indian cities, the report said.
Abdul Rehman Makki, the second-in-command of Pakistan-based LeT, had recently visited Karachi to discuss the plan with Dawood and the future course of action, sources said.
The Pakistan spy agency has asked Dawood’s D Company to ask their Indian modules to carry out the task of sending weapons within India. The ISI wants Lashkar to use local operatives of D Company in India for this job.
The sources further added that the ISI is desperate to carry out a Mumbai 26/11 similar attack as it has not been able to carry out any major terrorist activities post the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, in August 2019.
For the marginalised Lashkar, this will prove to be a great opportunity to bounce back in terror business as the ISI, sources said, is using only Jaish-e-Mohammed these days for attacks in Kashmir.
Dawood, who heads a vast and multifaceted illegal business, has emerged as India's most wanted terrorist after the 1993 Mumbai bombings. Ibrahim is the main accused in the 1993 serial bomb blasts case in Mumbai in which around 260 people were killed, and more than 700 were injured. He fled India post the bombings and is hiding in Pakistan at present. He is most wanted by India with a reward of $25 million over his head, and has been wanted since 1994.
According to the US, Dawood maintains close links with terror outfit al-Qaeda. As a result, the US declared him a "global terrorist" and pursued the matter before the United Nations in an attempt to freeze his assets across the world and crack down on his operations.
(Inputs from Jayanta Ghosal)
