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Georai Gevrai or Georai is a tehsil in the Beed district of Maharashtra, India. Geography Gevrai is located at the coordinates , and has an average elevation of 465 metres (1528 feet). It lies on National Highway 211 which connects Solapu ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the second-most populous state in India and the second-most populous country subdi ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

, organization =

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'') ...

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 B ...

, death_date = , death_place = , resting_place = , nationality = Indian , occupation =

Islamic militant ''Mujahideen'', or ''Mujahidin'' ( ar, مُجَاهِدِين, mujāhidīn), is the plural form of ''mujahid'' ( ar, مجاهد, mujāhid, strugglers or strivers or justice, right conduct, Godly rule, etc. doers of jihād), an Arabic term t ...

, years_active = , successor = , spouse = , children = , module = Sayed Zabiuddin Ansari Abu Hamza or Abu Jundal is an Indian

belonging to

and

. He is accused of being involved in

2008 Mumbai attacks The 2008 Mumbai attacks (also referred to as 26/11, pronounced "twenty six eleven") were a series of terrorist attacks that took place in November 2008, when 10 members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, an Islamist terrorist organisation from Pakistan, c ...

. Zabiuddin Ansari (Abu Hamza)'s name was listed in the list of "50 most wanted criminals sheltered in Pakistan" released by India on 21 May 2011. He served as the handler of the 10 LeT terrorists during

. He is a suspect in several cases such as the ''Kalupur station blast'' case of 9 February 2006 and an accomplice in the 2010 Pune bombing case. He was deported from Saudi Arabia on 25 June 2012 and is currently in the custody of Indian security agencies. On 2 August 2016, he was sentenced to life imprisonment in relation to the arms haul case by the special MCOCA court.

Early life

Zabiuddin was born on 30 November 1980 in a village ''Hathi Khana mohalla'' in

area of

Beed district Beed district (Marathi pronunciation: iːɖ is an administrative district in the state of Maharashtra in India. The district headquarters are located at Beed. The district occupies an area of 10,693 km² and has a population of 2,585,049 ...

in western

. His father Syed Zakiuddin had worked as an insurance agent. Syed Zakiuddin's family consists of five sisters and one son, Zabiuddin. Zabiuddin had studied in

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Abu Jundal: Wanted all over for strikes everywhere
Shalini Narayan, New Delhi, Fri 29 Jun 2012, indianexpress.com The Pakistani passport he used, showed him as a resident of

Sheikhpura Sheikhpura is a town and a municipality in Sheikhpura district in the Indian state of Bihar. Sheikhpura is also an administrative headquarter of Sheikhpura district. Postal code PIN code of Sheikhpura post office is 811105. Postal code for ...

in Pakistan's

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi Language, Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also Romanization, romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the I ...

province.

Militancy

Zabiuddin trained for terrorism in Pakistan in the 2000s and recruited for

, and

. Zabiuddin was introduced into LeT by a senior in college Fayaz Kagazi, who is suspected to be in Saudi Arabia. Fayaz also sent him for training to assemble bombs. He narrowly escaped an arrest in 2006 and reached Pakistan via Bangladesh. Zabiuddin had lived in Pakistan for sometime after which he moved to Saudi Arabia where he worked as a teacher. He had been missing since 2005 and is known to have used at least ten aliases. The central security agencies of India interrogated many terrorists to find his location. From these interrogations it was known that he worked at terrorist camps near

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 c ...

and

Pakistan administered Kashmir Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...

Mumbai attacks

Zabiuddin was the Hindi tutor and handler of the 10 terrorists responsible for the

that claimed 166 lives. Zabiuddin is believed to be one of the four LeT men who had come to send off

Ajmal Kasab Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab (13 July 1987 – 21 November 2012) was a Pakistani terrorist and a member of the Lashkar-e-Taiba Islamist fighter organization, through which he took part in the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks in Maharashtr ...

and nine other terrorists from

a week prior they went to

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...

. Investigators allege that Zabiuddin Ansari was present in Lashkar’s Karachi based control room during the Mumbai attack. Zabiuddin has claimed after his arrest that LeT chief

Hafiz Saeed Hafiz Muhammad Saeed ( ur, , born 5 June 1950) is a Pakistani Islamist who co-founded Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), a Pakistan-based Islamist militant organization that is designated as a terrorist group by the United Nations Security Council, Ind ...

was also present in the LeT control room from where they had directed the Mumbai attack terrorist incident. Zabiuddin additionally claimed that

ISI ISI or Isi may refer to: Organizations * Intercollegiate Studies Institute, a classical conservative organization focusing on college students * Ice Skating Institute, a trade association for ice rinks * Indian Standards Institute, former name of ...

and

Pakistani army The Pakistan Army (, ) is the land service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The roots of its modern existence trace back to the British Indian Army that ceased to exist following the Partition of British India, which occurred as a result ...

officials helped plan the Mumbai attacks. According to him, those present at the control room later celebrated the terrorist attack. The control room was later destroyed by ISI in 2008. According to him, the coordinated attacks were previously scheduled for 2006, using Indian youth for the job. However, a huge cache of AK-47s and

RDX RDX (abbreviation of "Research Department eXplosive") or hexogen, among other names, is an organic compound with the formula (O2N2CH2)3. It is a white solid without smell or taste, widely used as an explosive. Chemically, it is classified as a n ...

, which were to be used for the attacks, was recovered from

Aurangabad Aurangabad ( is a city in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the administrative headquarters of Aurangabad district and is the largest city in the Marathwada region. Located on a hilly upland terrain in the Deccan Traps, Aurangabad is th ...

in 2006 thus leading to the dis mantling of the original plot. Subsequently, Abu Hamza fled to

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

and along with Lashkar commanders, scouted for Pakistani youth for the attacks. In September 2007, ten people were selected for the mission. In September 2008, these ten terrorists tried sailing to Mumbai from

, but failed to complete their mission due to choppy waters. The LeT terrorists tried again in November 2008 and managed to execute the final attacks.

Arrest

Security agencies had been chasing him for 3 years in Delhi. A terrorist who was arrested by Indian security agencies in connection with the 2010 Jama Masjid attack gave a tip about him being in Saudi Arabia. Intelligence agencies, including western agencies, zoomed in on Ansari's location after he set up a website for recruiting youth for Lashkar under an alias ''Kaasif''. This alias was known as one used by Ansari to the Indian intelligence agencies. Also, the US agencies noticed a high traffic between Ansari's website and other jihadi websites they were monitoring, and they asked Saudi intelligence to detain Ansari. The arrest of Abu Jundal could be more significant than that of

as Jundal was amongst six main planners of the attacks. His evidence could have more credibility because of his presence in

. Investigation has confirmed some state support during the attacks when Abu Jundal and others from a control room in Karachi gave orders to 10 attackers.The possible diplomatic impact of Abu Jundal's arrest
B Raman, 26 June 2012, rediff.com

Diplomatic negotiations

Initial attempts to get Zabiuddin into custody had failed because, although a native of Beed in Maharashtra, he used a Pakistani passport to travel to Saudi Arabia, under the alias Riyasat Ali. The passport also showed his father's name as Mohammed Khushi and residence as to Sheikhupura in Punjab, Pakistan. According to the Indian home ministry, Pakistan’s ISI pressured Saudi Arabia for months to prevent Jundal being handed over to India. According to Indian Government sources, his arrest came after months of diplomatic negotiations involving authorities in Riyadh, Washington DC, and New Delhi. Intelligence Bureau director Nehchal Sandhu worked with Prince

Muqrin bin Abdulaziz Muqrin bin Abdulaziz Al Saud ( ar, مقرن بن عبدالعزيز آل سعود, Muqrin ibn ‘Abd al ‘Azīz Āl Su‘ūd; born 15 September 1945)Lacey gives his birth year as 1943. is a Saudi Arabian politician, businessman, and former milit ...

, then director General of Saudi Intelligence agency

Al Mukhabarat Al A'amah The General Intelligence Presidency (GIP); ( ar, (ر.ا.ع) رئاسة الاستخبارات العامة ), also known as the General Intelligence Directorate (GID), is the primary intelligence agency of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. History Th ...

during the investigations. Indian and Saudi Intelligence services identified Ansari off of tapped phone calls.

DNA identification

DNA test was also used to establish his identity. The DNA test had matched and Saudi authorities were persuaded for handing him to India.Saudi rejected Indian DNA test, so blood sample was sent
Pranab Samanta, New Delhi, Fri 29 Jun 2012, indianexpress.com

Deportation

On 21 June 2012, the Intelligence Branch took custody of Abu Hamza alias Sayed Zabiuddin on his deportation from

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

at the

Indira Gandhi International Airport Indira Gandhi International Airport is the primary international airport serving Delhi, the capital of India, and the National Capital Region (NCR). The airport, spread over an area of , is situated in Palam, Delhi, southwest of the New De ...

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

, and on 25 June 2012, formally handed him over to Delhi Police, that announced the arrest, for him to be produced at the New Delhi Court for trial. The arrest of Sayed Zabiuddin was touted as the most significant development in the

case after Kasab's arrest.

Interrogation

In July 2012, he was interrogated by several Indian security agencies for several cases of which he is accused.

Pakistani passport and IDs

Zabiuddin although being an Indian, held a Pakistani passport and two Pakistani identity cards, which pointed towards Pakistan's involvement. One of the two Pakistani identity cards provided to him was for internal use in Pakistan while the other was to be used outside Pakistan. His Pakistani passport was issued under the name ''Riyasat Ali''. The documents had mentioned his address at a place close to

Muridke Muridke ( Punjabi, ur, ), is a city and headquarters of Muridke Tehsil of Sheikhupura District in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the 53rd largest city of Pakistan by population. Muridke is situated near the city of Lahore, at an elevation of 205 ...

, where the Lashkar-e-Taiba headquarters is situated. However, Pakistan has strongly rejected any insinuation of involvement by state actors in any acts of militancy in India. Pakistani Foreign Secretary Jalil Abbas Jilani while on a visit to India offered a joint investigation into Mumbai attacks.

The Karachi Control Room

According to Indian government, the Karachi control room was created by Pakistani intelligence agency I.S.I. along with

in Pakistan to monitor a Bombay attack. Accordingly, the

Delhi Police The Delhi Police (DP) is the law enforcement agency for the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). Delhi Police comes under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Government of India. In 2015, sanctioned strength of Delhi ...

has registered a criminal case of conspiracy to launch another terror attack on India.Karachi Project: A nefarious plan to destabilize India
, Raj Narayan, India Syndicate, 28/03/2010, news.in.msn.com

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ansari, Zabiuddin Living people Indian Islamists Indian Mujahideen members People from Beed district 1980 births Lashkar-e-Taiba members Indian emigrants to Pakistan Indian expatriates in Saudi Arabia Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by India Participants in the 2008 Mumbai attacks Fugitives wanted by India Fugitives wanted on terrorism charges Indian people imprisoned on charges of terrorism Indian prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Prisoners and detainees of Maharashtra People convicted on terrorism charges