As per reports, the Special Cell of Delhi Police visited Tihar Jail on March 13 to question Tehseen Akhtar alias Monu, the last known head of now-dormant Indian Mujahideen, in connection to the phone recovered from his barrack in the jail. Akhtar is known to be tech-savvy and an expert in bomb-making. He was close aide of Yasin Bhatkal who founded Indian Mujahidin terrorist group.
While Sachin Vaze has been arrested by NIA, Special Cell is likely to arrest IM terrorist Tehsin Akhtar in the case. He was questioned for six hours on Saturday. The phone on which the Telegram a/c of Jaish-ul-hind was created was seized from his barracks earlier. #AntiliaCase pic.twitter.com/mUAifAP8w9
— Raj Shekhar Jha (@rajshekharTOI) March 14, 2021
The phone was allegedly used to create a Telegram channel that Jaish-ul-Hind, a group that claimed responsibility for parking the SUV with gelatin sticks close to the house of business tycoon Mukesh Ambani, had used. The same group had also claimed responsibility for the low-intensity bomb blast near the Israel Embassy in January this year.
Reports suggest that two smartphones were recovered from his barrack in Jail number 8. On Friday, the Police sought permission from a local court to question Akhtar. Hindustan Times quoted a prison officer who said, “Special cell officers are interrogating Tehsin Akhtar. We had handed them the phones on Thursday [March 11] night. They came in the afternoon [of March 13] and are still inside.”
Multiple terrorists used the phones – reports
When the Police came to know about the phone and traced it with the help of a private cyber agency, it was found to be operated in or close to Tihar Jail in Delhi. During the initial investigation, Police found that at least five other terrorists used the phone. It is believed that the same phone might have been used in the blast that took place outside the Israeli embassy. There are other terrorists lodged in the sub-jail number 8 who have connections to Al-Qaeda and underworld criminals.
Akhtar’s involvement in multiple blasts in India
Akhtar was involved in a series of bomb blasts from 2006 to 2013, including 2006 blasts in Varanasi, 2011 serial blasts in Mumbai and 2013 blasts in Hyderabad. He was sentenced to death for his involvement in the 2013 Hyderabad blasts case.
Antilia bomb scare incident
On February 25, a car with 20 gelatin sticks was found parked near Antilia, the multi-storey residence of Mukesh Ambani in Mumbai. On February 27, Jaish Ul Hind, a terrorist organization, claimed responsibility for the incident via a Telegram channel. On February 28, they again posted a message on the Telegram channel claiming it was not them.
On investigation, the Police found that the message was sent from Tihar Jail. The case got murkier and murkier after the link of Mumbai Police officer Sachin Vaze with the owner of the Scorpio car surfaced. He was allegedly in touch with Mansukh Hiren, owner of the SUV. Hiren was found dead in the Kalwa Creek, which deepened the mystery. On March 13, Sachin Vaze was arrested by the National Investigation Agency after questioning him for hours. It was later reported that the Scorpio placed outside Antilia was also used by Vaze for escorting Alibaug Police to arrest Arnab Goswami in Anvay Naik case.
