Engineering aspirant to IED developer: Tihar inmate at centre of Ambani case

Akhtar moved to Mumbai after his primary schooling in Bihar and scored 67.86% in his Class 10 examinations in 2008, and 48% in his Class 12 exams in 2010, according to his interrogation report seen by HT. The report was prepared in March 2014 after his arrest.

Tehseen Aktar, a 30-year-old “tech-savvy” terrorist lodged in Delhi’s Tihar jail who smuggled two mobile phones into prison, masked his IP address, and sent a message on Telegram claiming responsibility for placing an explosives-laden vehicle outside industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s residence last month, was once an engineering aspirant.

Tehseen Akhtar last month managed to slip under the radar of the police and intelligence agencies even while he was lodged in prison. (SOURCED)

Akhtar moved to Mumbai after his primary schooling in Bihar and scored 67.86% in his Class 10 examinations in 2008, and 48% in his Class 12 exams in 2010, according to his interrogation report seen by HT. The report was prepared in March 2014 after his arrest.

“The grades failed him, his skills and interest in engineering later impressed his terror handlers. After learning the skills of making improvised explosive devices, he even gave classes to young Indian Mujahideen (IM) recruits in Rajasthan during the early months of 2013. He was the one who prepared the IED inside the pressure cooker for the Hyderabad blasts,” said an officer aware of the matter who asked not to be named.

Six years after his arrest for being a top IM operative, Akhtar last month managed to slip under the radar of the police and intelligence agencies even while he was lodged in prison.

Last week, the central intelligence agencies traced a message on Telegram from a group called Jaish-ul-Hind claiming responsibility for placing the explosives-laden Scorpio car outside Ambani’s residence at Mumbai’s Carmichael Road on February 25. The message was traced to Tihar’s jail number 8, and jail authorities were informed. Last Thursday, during the inspection jail officers found two phones — an Oppo and a Vivo — inside Akhtar’s cell.

The exact circumstances behind Akhtar’s involvement in the conspiracy to threaten Ambani are still unclear.

Son of a chemist from Samastipur, Bihar, Akhtar is important for the police and intelligence agencies because he could provide answers to two key questions: first, is the terror group Jaish-Ul-Hind responsible for planting the explosives; and second, has the Jaish-Ul-Hind group been started by absconding IM members?

“He was a key IM operative. After the group’s co-founder Yasin Bhatkal’s arrest, he was running the operations. He was directly in touch with IM founder Riyaz Bhatkal, who had fled to Pakistan,” said a second officer who did not wish to be named.

For the intelligence agencies and anti-terrorist police units from different states, Akhtar is now the key to learning if the absconding IM leaders have indeed joined hands to form the Jaish-Ul-Hind. “Top operatives such as Riyaz Bhatkal, Iqbal Bhatkal and Amir Raza were never arrested. With almost all foot soldiers and key operatives of IM behind bars, it is possible that the absconding leaders are using Akhtar and his social media skills to add strength to this new group. There is a possibility of Akhtar sending the Telegram message to divert the line of investigation,” the second officer added.

According to police’s interrogation report, Akhtar subsequently met other IM operatives of the Bihar module, but notes that the meeting which led him to rise in the ranks was in February-March 2010 with top operative Yasin Bhatkal, who introduced himself to Akhtar by posing as a Unani doctor named Imran.

“Yasin Bhatkal was good at identifying talent. While others remained foot soldiers of the IM, Akhtar impressed Yasin and others. They involved him in every blast thereafter. The court has already convicted him for the 2013 Hyderabad serial blast...He is not just an average prisoner in Tihar...,” a third officer said.

Retired IPS officer, Ashok Chand, who was the Delhi police special cell’s deputy commissioner and also led teams that broke the Indian Mujahideen network, said, “Tehseen Akhtar was a key IM operative...from what is being reported in the media, I personally feel that there is no link in the Mumbai case in which a Mumbai police inspector has been arrested and the claims made by Tehseen. But then if Tehseen has named a group and claimed responsibility, it is worth checking. It is possible that the new group(Jaish ul Hind) is an offshoot of the IM.”