‘I have been exposed,’ he said after Kasab talked of Indian handler

Though the agencies began tracking Ansari in 2006 when he was named as a suspect in the Aurangabad arms haul case,it was the confession of Sabahuddin Shabbir,accused in the January 2008 attack on the CRPF camp in Rampur,that confirmed his identity and presence in Karachi. Later,Kasab spoke about Jundal,the Indian operative who had given the 26/11 terrorists language and location training.

Though Ansari knew he was “exposed”,sources say,he sounded undeterred and was busy plotting future attacks,among others,on targets such as the Israeli embassy and RSS establishments in New Delhi.

The next breakthrough for the Indian intelligence agencies came in June 2009 when it was confirmed that Ansari was given a Pakistani passport,in the name of Riyasat Ali,and may soon leave the country. Immediately,Indian missions and foreign airports were alerted on the suspect’s new identity (there was already a red-corner notice issued against him after the 26/11 attacks). The move to Saudi Arabia came in February 2011,and sources say,even the picture of Ansari’s arrival quickly reached Indian authorities.

As India pressed its case,it was finally on June 21,2011 — exactly a year before he was deported to India — that the Pakistani passport-holder Riyasat Ali was detained in Saudi Arabia. Then began the process of convincing the authorities in Riyadh that the suspect was wanted for a number of terror attacks and was an Indian national.

The authorities there wanted more proof. While much of the back-channel communication in the case was handled by operatives of the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW),the Intelligence Bureau was pressed into service at this stage.

Besides the bulky dossier of confessional statements and details of the red-corner notice,what apparently impressed the authorities in Riyadh were documents like the suspect’s school leaving certificate,some family pictures and the fact that DNA samples of his immediate family members residing in Beed,Maharashtra,matched with the DNA of the man in their custody.

When confronted with all this documentation,the man,who had for months insisted he was a Pakistani,broke down in the end of 2011 and confessed his Indian identity and role in the terror attacks.

Then began a six-month long process when,officials admit,negotiations were conducted with Saudi officials for either extraditing the Indian terror suspect or deporting him. Enormous paperwork was required and eventually,earlier this month,Ansari was put on a special security flight and quietly deported to New Delhi.