13/7 blasts accused met Osama in Pak: ATS

Haroon Rashid Naik, alleged top Indian Mujahideen (IM) commander, has started to sing in police custody, according to the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), Rahul Mahajani reports.

Haroon Rashid Naik, alleged top Indian Mujahideen (IM) commander, has started to sing in police custody, according to the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS).

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The ATS has claimed that Haroon has admitted to have met Osama Bin Laden, and also that he got inspired by a lecture on jihad by Osama in August 2001 in Pakistan. ATS officials investigating the 13/7 blasts say Haroon is the main link between IM, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammed and Al-Qaeda.

Haroon is a resident of Mumbra and has also stayed in Kurla, where he came into contact with Riyaz Bhatkal, top IM operative, and Tariq Ismail, involved with SIMI, who arranged for his initial training in Pakistan in 2000-2001, according to the ATS.

Haroon told ATS officials that the Osama lecture he attended was held at Bahawalpur in Pakistan during a training session he underwent. "There were about 30-35 people, including foreigners, when Osama delivered the lecture one evening. Osama spoke in Arabic, and a man translated his speech into English," he is reported to have said.

A lawyer from the law firm fighting Haroon's case, who did not wish to be named, told HT that Haroon is innocent and that the allegations made by the ATS are false. "Haroon had gone to Saudi Arabia for a job," he said.