Abu Jundal contradicts police charges against Baig

Revelations by Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal, an Indian Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operative who was one of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks’ handler, have allegedly contradicted a few key charges levied against alleged terror operative Mirza Himayat Baig accused in the 2010 Pune German Bakery blast case.

Revelations by Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal, an Indian Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operative who was one of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks’ handler, have allegedly contradicted a few key charges levied against alleged terror operative Mirza Himayat Baig accused in the 2010 Pune German Bakery blast case.

While the Maharashtra police’s chargesheet alleged that Baig and Ansari had met in Colombo in March 2008 to prepare for and finalise the blast’s plan, the latter has claimed to a counter-terror agency the meeting never occurred, since he was then at a Lashkar camp in Muzaffarabad, Pakistan.

In April, Baig was convicted for his alleged involvement by a court and awarded a death sentence. His application seeking the case’s re-investigation is likely to be heard in the Bombay High Court on Monday.

According to the chargesheet, Baig had allegedly visited Colombo, Sri Lanka, in March 2008 and met two alleged case co-accused, Ansari and Fayyaz Kagzi. Baig had allegedly got training from Ansari and Kagzi to “assemble explosive device and cause the explosion,” according to the chargesheet.

It also said that Baig allegedly received financial assistance to purchase the explosive from Ansari, deported from Saudi Arabia in June 2012, and Kagzi, an absconding alleged Lashkar operative. Ansari’s claims, however, contradict the police’s case.

“Zabiuddin revealed that in March 2008, he was at LeT’s Baitul Mujahideen camp in Muzaffarabad, in Pakistan occupied Kashmir,” said a counter-terror source. The source said, “Around this time, Ansari had just arrived in Muzaffarabad from Rawalpindi and had been allowed to pick up the job of an excavator to fund his expenses.”