Shah Riyaz Ahmad Mohammed Ismail Shahbandari, known as Riyaz Bhatkal, is the co-founder, leader and a wanted terrorist of
Indian Mujahideen
Indian Mujahideen (IM) is an Islamic terrorist group which has been particularly active in India. The jihadist group was founded as an offshoot of the Students' Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) by several radicalized members including Iqbal Bh ...
, a terrorist group based in India. Riyaz Ismail Shahbandri is one of the Indian Mujahideen's three top commanders and is currently based in
Karachi
Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...
, Pakistan along with his brother
Iqbal Bhatkal
Iqbal Shahbandri, known as Iqbal Bhatkal, is the co-founder, ideologue, leader and wanted terrorist of the Indian Mujahideen, an Islamist terrorist group based in India. He is the brother of another IM co-founder Riyaz Bhatkal, and is one of th ...
.
Early life
He was born in
Bhatkal
Bhatkal, is a coastal town in the Uttara Kannada District of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bhatkal lies on National Highway 66 (India), National Highway 66, which runs between Mumbai and Kanyakumari, and has Bhatkal railway station which is ...
,
Karnataka
Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...
and studied engineering. In his earlier days, he was an activist of
Students Islamic Movement of India
The Students' Islamic Movement of India (abbreviated SIMI) is a banned terrorist organisation that was formed in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh in April 1977. The stated mission of SIMI is the ‘liberation of India’ by converting it to an Islamic la ...
and later founded the Indian Mujahideen with several of its members; transforming the student organisation into a jihadist group.
[Jamal, A. (2012, 28 September)]
A Profile of Iqbal Bhatkal: The First Indian Mujahideen Leader Added to India’s Most Wanted List
Jamestown Foundation
The Jamestown Foundation is a Washington, D.C.-based conservative defense policy think tank. Founded in 1984 as a platform to support Soviet defectors, its stated mission today is to inform and educate policy makers about events and trends, which ...
. Refworld.
Militancy
According to Pune Police
Pune City Police Department (PCPD) is the law enforcement agency with jurisdiction over 790 km2 in the city of Pune, India. The city police is division of Maharashtra Police, i.e state police department of Maharashtra. The current Pune C ...
, Mohsin Ismail Chowdhury, an accused for the German Bakery blast was recruited by Iqbal Shabandari, while Iqbal was living in Mumbai. While the two Bhatkal brothers were living in Khondwa, Pune
Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...
they presided over terrorist networks that later carried out multiple bombings across the country.2008 Ahmedabad bombings
The 2008 Ahmedabad bombings were a series of 21 bomb blasts that hit Ahmedabad, India, on 26 July 2008, within a span of 70 minutes. Fifty-six people were killed and over 200 people were injured. Ahmedabad is the cultural and com ...
, were claimed through emails sent to media on the instructions of Riyaz. He is suspected in the 2006 Mumbai train bombings
The 2006 Mumbai train bombings were a series of seven bomb blasts on 11 July. They took place over a period of 11 minutes on the Suburban Railway in Mumbai, the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the nation's financial capital ...
where he is said to have procured the explosives used in the bombings of the suburban railway.Batla House encounter
The Batla House encounter case was an armed Delhi Police operation to arrest terrorists of the Indian terror outfit Indian Mujahideen, hiding in a flat in the Batla House area of Jamia Nagar, Okhla, on 19 September 2008. The operation resulted ...
in 2008.Yasin Bhatkal
Syed Mohammed Ahmed Zarar Siddibappa, known as Yasin Bhatkal, is a convicted Indian Islamist terrorist, who was the co-founder and leader of the proscribed terrorist organisation Indian Mujahideen (IM). Yasin along with Riyaz Bhatkal and Iqbal ...
, another co-founder of the IM lead the group's operations while the brothers coordinated from Karachi. Yasin was later caught and sentenced to death in India and the brothers are now believed to operate their own faction of the group, dubbed the "Karachi project", with help of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence
The Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI; ur, , bayn khadamatiy mukhabarati) is the premier intelligence agency of Pakistan. It is responsible for gathering, processing, and analyzing any information from around the world that is deemed relevant ...
and the Lashkar-e-Taiba
Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT; ur, ; literally ''Army of the Good'', translated as ''Army of the Righteous'', or ''Army of the Pure'' and alternatively spelled as ''Lashkar-e-Tayyiba'', ''Lashkar-e-Toiba'', ''Lashkar-i-Taiba'', ''Lashkar-i-Tayyeba'') ...
.
See also
* Inter-Services Intelligence activities in India
* Pakistan and state-sponsored terrorism
Pakistan and state-sponsored terrorism refers to the involvement of Pakistan in terrorism through the backing of various designated terrorist organizations. Pakistan has been frequently accused by various countries, including its neighbours Af ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bhatkal, Riyaz
Living people
1978 births
Indian Islamists
Indian Mujahideen members
People from Uttara Kannada
Fugitives wanted by India
Fugitives wanted on terrorism charges
Indian expatriates in Pakistan
People charged with terrorism
Leaders of Islamic terror groups