Delhi orders inquiry into Ambani case’s Tihar link

Tehseen Akhtar has been in jail since March 2014 after being arrested for being a key operative of the banned terror group Indian Mujahidden and planning attacks across the country. Prison officers said they handed the cell phones and SIM cards to the Delhi police special cell.

The Delhi government ordered an inquiry after an inmate of Tihar jail found in possession of two cell phones was linked to the security threat to industrialist Mukesh Ambani in Mumbai, state home minister Satyendar Jain said on Friday

Police security outside Mukesh Ambani's residence Antilla, after explosives were found in an abandoned car in its vicinity, in Mumbai. (PTI)

The inmate, Tehseen Akhtar, has been in jail since March 2014 after being arrested for being a key operative of the banned terror group Indian Mujahidden and planning attacks across the country. Prison officers said they handed the cell phones and SIM cards to the Delhi police special cell.

Police suspect Akhtar used the phone to claim responsibility for placing an explosive-laden Mahindra Scorpio car near Ambani’s house on February 25.

On Friday, the special cell moved an application in a city court seeking Akhtar’s custodial interrogation. Police and prison officers, who did not wish to be named, said Akhtar shared the high-risk cell inside Tihar with at least two Indian Mujahideen men and two operatives of the Indian module of Al Qaeda. Police suspect Akhtar shared the phones with them too.

Prison officers said they conducted a raid inside the high-security ward of jail 8 on Thursday where Akhtar is lodged with other prisoners. The prison authorities received a tip-off from the special cell about Akhtar actively using the two phones. Unlike a regular ward, which is guarded by prison guards, some prisoners such as terrorist Yaseen Bhatkal are lodged in high-risk wards. The movement of prisoners in such wards is restricted and they are guarded round-the-clock by officials of the Tamil Nadu State Police. They are also not allowed to interact with other prisoners. A high-risk ward has about 10-15 prisoners, while other wards have at least 100 prisoners.

The Delhi government inquiry and police investigation will probe how the two cell phones were smuggled inside the prison and that too to an inmate arrested for terrorism. A cell phone is a prohibited item inside prison.

Delhi police said Akhtar was using the Telegram messenger app. Police suspect he was using the cell phones for at least eight months.

Police suspect Akhtar created the channel Jaish-ul-Hind on Telegram, and claimed responsibility for the blast outside the Israel embassy in New Delhi on January 29. Police suspect Akhtar also used the same phone to claim responsibility for placing the car near Ambani’s house. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is probing the two cases but is yet to make any arrests.

In an official statement on Friday, Delhi police special cell’s deputy commissioner of police Pramod Kuswah said, “Based on information provided by the special cell, Tihar jail authorities have seized a mobile phone from a jail where certain terror convicts are lodged. It is suspected that this phone has been used for operating Telegram channels used recently for claiming responsibility for terror acts and threats. Further investigation and forensic analysis will be done after the mobile handset and details of the seizure are received from Tihar jail authorities.”

The officer did not specify the terror acts for which the phone was used to claim responsibility.

Akhtar was arrested from Naxalbari, West Bengal, in March 2014. Police said he was the operational chief of Indian Mujahideen.