Jundal ran cab fleet in Saudi to hire for LeT

Abu Jundal, the Indian Lashkar-e-Taiba commander believed to be one of the six puppet masters behind 26/11, took on the avatar of a taxi business operator in Saudi Arabia and used this front to recruit cadre. Jatin Anand reports.

Abu Jundal, the Indian Lashkar-e-Taiba commander believed to be one of the six puppet masters behind 26/11, took on the avatar of a taxi business operator in Saudi Arabia and used this front to recruit cadre.

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Jundal, alias Zabiuddin Ansari, told interrogators that after fleeing Pakistan following the Mumbai carnage, he set up base in Saudi Arabia and started luring cadre for the LeT by promising them jobs.

“Jundal was told to lure Indians from economically-weak backgrounds desperately looking for employment in the Gulf,” said an officer. “He was also asked to seek funds for jihadi attacks on India and for providing legal aid to those arrested in the 2006 Aurangabad arms haul case.”

Apprehended in Saudi Arabia and arrested on arrival at Delhi airport on July 21, Jundal told interrogators that on November 26, 2008, he and the other 26/11 handlers were at a Pakistan Army cantonment in the Karachi town of Malir.