‘Riyaz called Anwer to Pak from Dubai to involve him in jihadist activities’

According to the NIA’s findings, detailed in a chargesheet filed recently on the IM terror conspiracy, Riyaz, after crossing over to Pakistan in 2009, called several others, including Anwer, from his hometown Bhatkal in Karnataka, to join him in Pakistan to strengthen the IM.

Riyaz, according to the NIA, initially brought Dubai and UAE-based associates like Abdul Khader Sultan Armar alias Maula, his brother Shafi Armar, Hussain Farhan Mohammed, Salim Ishaqi and Afeef Jilani Mota to Pakistan. “Some of them were earlier working in the UAE and travelled on Indian passports,’’ says the NIA chargesheet in the case. Some operatives like Noor alias Anwar and Abdul Wahid alias Khan were initially allowed to remain in the UAE to collect and supply funds, the NIA has stated.

The chats reveal that Riyaz summoned Anwer to Pakistan around March 2013.

In a chat on February 7, 2013 Riyaz Bhatkal (ID lovesam361@yahoo.com) tells Yasin Bhatkal (ID hbhaddur@yahoo.com) that he is calling Anwer alias Noor from Dubai to Pakistan and that Noor may be sent to Nepal to assist Yasin.

In another chat on March 14, 2013, Yasin asks Riyaz if the men from Bhatkal who are in Pakistan were capable of carrying out IM’s tasks. Riyaz replies in the negative, but adds that Noor alias Anwer would be coming soon and would be sent to India. Riyaz tells Yasin that the time was ripe for Anwer to be involved in terror activities.

In the chats, Riyaz also outlines some training schedules for the Bhatkal men who had arrived in Pakistan from the Gulf. During a chat with Yasin on December 20, 2012, Riyaz states that he is sending Salim Ishaqi for a one month training to Afghanistan to learn about “swwis’’ — a code word for bomb timers.

In a chat with Yasin on January 22, 2013 Riyaz reports that Salim had completed a 20-day training in Afghanistan. According to the NIA, Riyaz also sent Sultan Armar to Afghanistan to be trained in making IEDs.

Bhatkal brothers Riyaz and Iqbal, Armar brothers Sultan and Shafi, Anwer Bhatkal, Yasin Bhatkal, Hussain Farhan Mohammed, Salim Ishaqi and Afeef Jilani Mota were all part of a core group of jihadists who came together in 2004 in Bhatkal in Karnataka and subsequently re-united in Pakistan after 2009 as members of the IM.

The IM group in Pakistan is believed to have split from Riyaz and Iqbal Bhatkal in mid-2013 following a series of internal feuds, including allegations of misappropriation of Rs 25 crores provided by the ISI to Riyaz and Iqbal, and Iqbal’s live-in relationship with a Pakistani woman. Both issues have been detailed in the chats, NIA sources said.

The Ansar ul Tawheed ul Hind, under the leadership of Sultan Armar, is believed to have emerged as an IM offshoot following the internal tussles in the IM group.