Arrested LeT man could provide crucial leads in Mumbai attacks

Investigating agencies are probing fresh leads in the Mumbai terror attack. The Mumbai police have sought the custody of Sabahuddin, a Lashkar-e-Tayiba operative who is in custody of the Uttar Pradesh police. He will be brought to Mumbai for interrogation. The Mumbai police have also filed an application seeking his custody.

Why Sabahuddin is crucial:

Sabahuddin is no ordinary man according to several cops and Intelligence Bureau officials who have interrogated him. He is the man responsible for the attack on Bangalore's Indian Institute of Science. It was Sabahuddin and his accomplice, Abu Hamza who opened fire at the prestigious institute in December 2004 killing a professor and injuring four others.

Sabahuddin then fled to Uttar Pradesh while Hamza managed to slip into Pakistan. Sabahuddin then planned and executed the attack on the Central Reserve Police Force camp at Rampur in Uttar Pradesh. He was picked up by the UP police after this attack. During interrogation, he confessed to his role in both attacks.

The Mumbai connection:

An official in the Mumbai police told rediff.com that Sabahuddin could provide crucial details of the Mumbai terror attack. The interrogation conducted on both Sabahuddin and Fahim Ansari, another suspect in the UP CRPF attack, reveal they had helped in planning the Mumbai operation. According to the police, Sabahuddin had helped Ansari do a recee in Mumbai which ultimately helped in the 26/11 attack.

Sabahuddin was a key Lashkar operative in India and was in charge of financing terror attacks. Intelligence Bureau officials told rediff.com that Sabahuddin had managed to arrange Rs 10 lakh through hawala transactions and this money was used to facilitate Ansari's visit to Mumbai. Sabahuddin also generated a lot of money for setting up Lashkar's base in south India, IB officials claim.

Ansari and Sabahuddin got in touch with each other while they were training at a LeT camp in Muzzafarabad in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

Sabahuddin's interrogation could provide investigators leads into the planning of the attack, the financial transactions and also if any local modules that helped in the attacks.