The attack on the American Centre in Kolkata has resurrected an old case file for Sudhir Sinha, inspector general of police, border range, Kutch. A kidnapping investigation in December 2000 had led Sinha to Aftab Ahmed Ansari, suspected to be the mastermind behind the attack. Ansari and his associate Asif Razakhan had kidnapped Bhaskar Parekh, a wealthy Rajkot jeweller, on November 11, 2000, releasing him on December 1 that year for a hefty ransom of Rs 3 crore [Rs 30 million].

While Asif was arrested by the Delhi police and later killed by the Rajkot police when he tried to escape, the hunt for Ansari has proved futile so far.

In an exclusive interview with Sheela Bhatt, IGP Sinha discussed insights about the Lashkar-e-Tayiba's network in Kolkata gleaned from Asif Razakhan during interrogation. Excerpts:

What is your assessment of the attack on the American Centre in Kolkata?

It's a terrorist attack by people with depleted resources. They have not attacked any Americans because they came at a time when not many Americans were around. It seems they also tried to defend their own selves.

During the investigation of the Bhaskar Parekh case in Rajkot in November-December 2000, we had tape-recorded gang leader Aftab Ahmed Ansari's voice. While on Parekh's trail, we gathered information of all calls made by him because we were successful in getting his cell numbers. We sent the tapes to the Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata police, and also to the Central Bureau of Investigation. Rajiv Kumar, a senior officer of the Kolkata police who had helped us in the Parekh investigation at the time, also heard Ansari's voice.

The Kolkata police was interested in our case because the kidnapping of Partha Roy Burman of the Khadim Shoe Company was also masterminded by Ansari and Asif Razakhan [Ansari's accomplice]. After the attack on the consulate, Rajiv Kumar (superintendent of police, criminal investigation department) got a call from Ansari claiming that he had ordered the attack to avenge Asif's death in Rajkot. Our case is supported by plenty of evidence and we have already chargesheeted these terrorists.

What kind of insight did Asif Razakhan give you about the Lashkar-e-Tayiba's movements in Kolkata?

The impression we gathered from these criminals was that the Kolkata police is considered soft by Pakistani criminals. Terrorists consider the Mumbai police tough, they feel that Delhi has too many mobile vans keeping vigil on the roads, and Gujarat is too far away. They believe that for political reasons, the Kolkata police does not enter the Muslim areas of the city and that is helpful [to terrorists]. Asif told us that most of the criminal members in Ansari's gang belonged to Kolkata. He also said that the Kolkata police avoids picking up Muslim criminals, thanks to political pressure. I am not sure whether this is true.

What information do you have on Ansari?

That's a story. Ansari was a resident of Benaras and a member of the Dinesh Thakur gang of Uttar Pradesh. He was basically a criminal interested in money. Thakur was an extortionist who was killed in a police encounter in 1997. After Thakur got killed, Ansari was arrested and sent to Tihar jail. Here he met Asif, who was jailed in connection with the smuggling of RDX. [He had been arrested by the] Adarsh Nagar police station in Delhi.

Asif was a typical jihadi. Ansari and Asif were brainwashed and inspired by the three terrorists released by India during the hijack of IC-814. Both of them had met the now infamous Azhar Masood, Mushtaq Zargar and Sheikh Omar in Tihar. As we know now, Masood is the founder of Jaish-e-Mohammed and Omar is that outfit's deputy chief. They convinced Ansari and Asif to work for them. They had big plans. Masood "allowed" them to plan kidnappings in India to finance their jihadi movement.

We have information that when they kidnapped Bhaskar Parekh, they were successful in getting [a ransom of] Rs 3 crore before releasing him near Delhi airport. After the Parekh kidnapping, Ansari flew out to Dubai on November 10, 2000. He flew on a fake passport, in the name of Farhan Malik. We have the complete sequence of events with lots of proof.

According to bank records, Ansari had opened an account in ICICI Bank using the name of Farhan Malik. His jailmate in Tihar and Asif's partner in the smuggling of RDX, Mohammed Shahid Kazmi, had recommended Ansari to the bank. According to Asif's confessions, he and Ansari went to Pakistan on January 10, 2000. Here, they were able to meet Lashkar chief Mohammed Hafeez Sayeed and his deputy, Azam Cheema. Sheikh, with whom they had developed contacts in Tihar Jail, arranged these meetings.

Ansari manages his criminal activity from Karachi and lives with his mama (maternal uncle). He is married to a Pakistani woman who lives behind the Rawalpindi bus station. According to our information, she is pregnant. Ansari is an active member of the Harkat-e-Jehadi Islami and Lashkar-e-Jehadi Islami.

Has Lashkar-e-Tayiba or Jaish used them directly?

Yes. Asif told us that Azam Cheema met them personally in Pakistan and asked them to smuggle three consignments into India. The first consignment included five pistols. The second consignment contained five AK-47 guns and five pistols. Both these consignments were smuggled in through the Rajasthan border. Shahnawaz Bhatti personally attempted to smuggle the third consignment, comprising 32kg of RDX and two AK-56s, through the Kutch border but was caught by the Kutch police and BSF guards on May 27, 2001. Surprisingly, he never revealed anything about the RDX [smuggled earlier], but broke his silence after six months. We recovered 32kg of RDX and one AK-57 on December 19, 2001, from the middle of the Rann of Kutch.

Is he under arrest?

No. He is a Pakistani caught by our forces. He is under 'restrictive order'. If we arrest him, he will be released on bail. Pakistan will not take him back because he was found with RDX. In such cases the court directs us to push the criminal across the border. As far as we are concerned, it is a tactical move to not arrest him.

In the Parekh kidnap case we had arrested 44 criminals. Though the high court in its judgement said the police case against the Ansari gang was quite strong, 38 of the criminals we arrested were later let off on bail. We could not go to the Supreme Court in appeal, since it does not entertain a petition to decide on the merits of granting bail if the high court has not cited reasons.

The Rediff Interviews