Police sources on Thursday said that apart from interrogating alleged terrorist Abu Jundal on the cases registered against him, the authorities would also make him spill the beans on the sleeper cells of the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba present in Mumbai.
According to sources, Jundal had taken many youngsters from interior Maharashtra, trained them in Pakistan, and later sent them back to India. Jundal, who was in touch with them, can give investigators vital leads like names and aliases used by operatives of the sleeper cells.
Jundal, who got indoctrinated into terrorism in 2004, was trained by the LeT in Pakistan. He had undergone the Daura-e-Aam (a 21-day course in handling arms) and Daura-e-Sufa (a 21-day religious course) in Pakistan. “As Jundal rose in the ranks of the LeT, he was assigned the task of roping in local Indian youth,” said a source.
The source said that Jundal was in touch with the youth whom he had recruited from the interiors of Maharashtra. “The crime branch will be questioning him more about the 26/11 terror raids, but the Anti-Terrorism Squad officers, who are seeking his custody in the Aurangabad arms haul and the German Bakery blast case, will be more interested in busting the LeT sleeper cells in the state,” he said.
Moreover, the source said that the agencies are also monitoring the movements of youth who are suspected to be part of a sleeper module. “After learning about Jundal’s arrest, many such operatives may try to change locations to avoid being caught and so movements of those suspected persons are being monitored,” he said.
The crime branch is now hopeful of getting Jundal’s custody after the Delhi police’s custody gets over. The police is preparing for his interrogation based on the chargesheet and is also consulting a team of legal experts to strengthen their case against him.