Syed Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal told Indian interrogators he was sent to Saudi Arabia by top Lashkar commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi for a “specific mission” — to plan another big terror attack on India on the lines of the 26/11 carnage.
Jundal said he met Lakhvi at Adiala jail, where he is lodged for his involvement in the Mumbai terror attacks case, where Lakhvi instructed him to go to Saudi Arabia and use “LeT’s vast network there”.
Top intelligence officials here admitted that they had put in tremendous efforts to get Jundal deported as he was the 'best bet' to be extradited or deported, being an Indian unlike Lakhvi or Saeed, who are Pakistanis, or David Coleman Headley, an American national.
“We always knew Jundal was the only Indian link in the 26/11 case and it would be much easier for us to get him. We could legally seek the custody of an Indian from the Saudi authorities,” a senior intelligence official said.
Intelligence officials also claimed Jundal’s arrest was much more important than Ajmal Kasab’s as Kasab was only an executioner, whereas Jundal was in the “thick of things... and can help connect the dots better”.
Sources said following Jundal’s arrest in Saudi Arabia, Indian intelligence agencies showed his photograph to the six other accused in the Aurangabad arms haul case of May 2006, who identified him as Syed Zabiuddin, confirming that the Saudis had caught the right person.
Two key accused Fayyaz Kagzi, co-accused in the Ahmedabad railway station blast case, and Lal Baba, accused in the German Best Bakery case, had during interrogation confirmed Jundal’s involvement.