Hunt in Mumbai for those who sent IM mail

The Mumbai Police has launched a manhunt to trace those who sent the Indian Mujahideen e-mail after the blast in Varanasi on Tuesday evening. The police said they were working on a sketch based on the information given by the dealer from whom a SIM card was purchased and used by the group to send an e-mail on September 19 after the shooting of foreigners outside Jama Masjid in Delhi. DGP D Sivanandhan convened a meeting of Mumbai Police and Navi Mumbai police to probe the e-mail sent by the terrorists who hacked into an unsecure Wi-Fi network in Navi Mumbai. The Mumbai Police tracked the Internet Protocol pool from where the Wi-Fi was hacked to an Airtel broadband connection after making inquiries at the service provider’s office in Malad. Speaking to the media,Police Commissioner Sanjeev Dayal said: “The manner in which it has been sent,the modus operandi used,all seem similar to previous incidents. We have a fair idea who it could be and the probe is in progress. We can say it is a Indian Mujahideen module.” While the contents,pattern and signatures remain the same,the Commissioner pointed out that the content this time relied on more ‘theological references’ and “was more vituperative”.

Nikhil and Akhil Talreja of the Mansarovar building in Sector 17,Vashi,who owned the IP address from which the mail was sent have been released after questioning by the Mumbai Crime Branch and the Anti-Terrorism Squad. While Nikhil works as a software engineer in Mahape,his younger brother Akhil is a DJ. Their father owns a shop in the Inorbit Mall near Vashi railway station where they run a gifts store.

Behind the IM mail

The Indian Mujahideen used to have members like computer engineer Mansoor Peerbhoy,and computer graduates Asif Bashiruddin Shaikh and Mubin alias Salman Kadar Sheikh in the team entrusted with drafting and sending emails claiming credit for terror attacks through hacked Wi-Fi pools.

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It was sometime before the Jaipur blasts in 2008 that the terror outfit’s founders Riyaz Bhatkal and Iqbal Bhatkal felt the need to have an indigenous signature style to take credit for their attacks. It was Salman Kadar Sheikh who designed the logos on the email — which continue to be used by the group.

According to the Crime Branch,the earlier IM teams had scouted for unsecured networks across the city in areas such as Sion,Chembur,Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus and Sanpada,where they would be ferried by another Indian Mujahideen member Mohammed Akbar Ismail Chaudhary alias Yakub in a private Esteem vehicle. The group was always accompanied by Mohsin Chowdhury — now the main accused in the Pune Germany blast case — along with an unidentified person,who sources said had the ability to hack into Wi-Fi networks and send mails. In the early interactions itself,Riyaz had asked the team to learn Internet chatting and how to send encrypted messages,with the Bhatkals also sending Peerbhoy and Salman Sheikh for a wireless hacking course in Hyderabad. The content was always decided by Iqbal and keyed in by Salman Kadar Sheikh. Two separate signatures — Al-arbi and Guru-al-Hindi — were attributes to Iqbal and Riyaz respectively. Of the team,all,except Mohsin and the unidentified person,are in custody.