Exposing Pakistan’s direct role in recruitment and training of Indian Mujahideen cadres, top arrested IM commander Yasin Bhatkal has told interrogators that there are dedicated training camps located inside Pakistan and PoK where the radicalised Indian youth, recruited by the Laskhar-e-Tayyaba, are sent and trained in sophisticated arms and ammunition for anti-India operations. These camps, Yasin has confessed, are frequented by the officers of the ISI and Pakistan Army.
It is revealed during interrogation, that the IM co-founder, himself, enjoyed the backing of a Pakistan Army Lieutenant Colonel, serving in the ISI, who acted as his handler giving instructions directly to the IM commander. Yasin had also undergone training in an LeT camp in Pakistan in 2006, it is revealed.
Bhatkal’s interrogation has confirmed that the homegrown terror outfit has been getting extensive financial support from Pakistan. Bhatkal , who visited India several times was supplied money through several channels using the hawala network among other sources.
The sleuths are now on the trail of the banking channels, phone calls and emails used by Bhatkal to stay in touch with his Pakistani handlers. In the last few years, Bhatkal had been tasked by his Pakistani handlers to recruit more Indian youth and radicalise them which prompted him to scout for new locations in the country. Investigators said that Bhatkal is a highly motivated terror operative and will not give out the actual details of the IM hideouts across states. Bahtkal is learnt to have at least four hideouts in Darbhanga in Bihar which were frequented by him. He also established a hide-out in Shaheen Bagh area of Delhi. The IB had managed to bust the Darbhanga module in late 2011, where many of the associates of Yasin were arrested by he still managed to stay out of the clutches of the security agencies. The NIA is expected to visit all the suspected places and try and gather as much information about the associates with whom he has remained in touch with. Meanwhile, the laptop and mobile phone seized from Bhatkal have been sent for forensic examination. A forged driving licence and a voter ID were also recovered from Bhatkal. The sleuths also found that he used to write letters and make phone calls to his relatives in Karnataka and other places. With Yasin in their custody, investigators are seeking more details about his plans to raise suicide bombers. One of his terror projects included a fidayeen attack in the country, sources said. In 2009, Yasin Bhatkal had also done a recee of the Republic Day rehearsal, the investigators said.