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Kolkata-New York-ISI link, says CBI; FBI says let’s wait and
see
HIMANSHU
KAUSHIK & DALIP SINGH
RAJKOT, NEW DELHI, JANUARY 22: FBI chief Robert Muller
declined to call this morning’s incident a ‘‘terrorist attack’’
saying he would wait until the investigation. However, after
Home Minister L K Advani’s statement that the ISI was involved
in the incident, CBI officials argue that there could be a
link between this morning’s attack and Black Tuesday on September
11.
Key to this ‘‘link,’’ the CBI claims, is a man called Asif
Raza Khan. Asif was shot dead on December 7 by the Rajkot
police who claimed he was trying to escape. Asif was brought
to Gujarat for investigation into the December 2000 kidnapping
of Bhaskar Parikh, the son of a top jeweller, who was freed
after a ransom of Rs 3 crore. And the July 25, 2001 kidnapping
of Partho Burman, owner of Kolkata-based Khadim Shoes for
whom he allegedly got a Rs 3.75-crore ransom.
Asif
is said to have planned and executed these kidnappings in
association with Aftab Ansari, now in Dubai. Kolkata’s Commissioner
of Police Sujoy Chakrabarthy said that Aftab Ansari called
up the CID today claiming responsibility for today’s attack.
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From
Babri to WTC?
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 CBI
and police claim:
• Asif lived in Kolkata and after the Babri demolition
attended a Harkat camp in Kashmir in 1993.
• In 1994, was arrested under TADA and served 5
yrs in Tihar where he met Omar Sheikh , Aftab Ansari.
• Omar was released with Masood Azhar during the
IC-814 hijack.
n On his release, Asif with Ansari organized kidnappings
for ransom.
• Got Rs 3.75 crore when he kidnapped Partho Barman.
• Out of this $100,000 (Rs 48 lakh) was sent to
Omar Sheikh who passed on the money to Mohammed Atta,
Black Tuesday’s prime suspect.
(Earlier reports had said that Pakistan’s ISI was behind
Omar Sheikh’s funding)
• Asif was killed by Gujarat police on Dec 7 when
he was” trying to escape”
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There
were also reports of an anonymous call being made to a local
newspaper in Kolkata that a group called the Asif Raza Commando
(named after Asif) had carried out the attack as revenge for
Asif’s killing.
Sources
said that the CBI told Muller today that the ransom money
was routed by Asif to groups like the Hizbul Mujahideen, the
Jaish-e-Mohammed, and the Lashkar-e-Toiba. And Asif could
have given
$100,000 to Omar Sheikh, the LSE graduate who came to India
and abducted foreigners in an attempt to free Maulana Masood
Azhar. Both Azhar and Omar were among those freed in return
for the IC-814 hostages.
Incidentally,
CBI chief P C Sharma had details of the Burman kidnapping
in the dossier that was prepared for discussions with the
FBI chief.
As
the news of the attack came, Sharma is said to have handed
over this file to Home Secretary Kamal Pandey who in turn
passed it on to the Union Home Minister L K Advani. The Home
Minister subsequently took up the issue with Muller.
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