Delhi blast: NIA finishes blast jigsaw,except for the bombers

The corroborative confessional statements of two of the three arrested Waseem Akram Malik and Aamir Abbas have been recorded before a judicial magistrate. The third,teenager Aabid Hussain,is expected to turn approver.

According to sources,Malik has told interrogators that he regrets having committed two mistakes: organising to send out the email claiming responsibility from his hometown Kishtwar,and meeting Aamir Abbas (who was contacted in connection with the email) in person.

Conversations of a militant commander,whose phone was under surveillance in Jammu and Kashmir,have also bolstered the NIA case. The calls between him and Malik could only be put in context once the Delhi High Court blast conspiracy was exposed,said sources.

Malik told interrogators he started thinking about a major action in Delhi after he read about the prospect of Gurus mercy petition being turned down around June this year.

A fourth-year student at Jalalabad Ragib-Rabeya Medical College,Sylhet,Bangladesh,Malik told interrogators Guru was his hero. Sources said Malik was vague about how a bomb blast at the Delhi High Court would help Guru,and believes Guru is a political figure who dedicated his life for the cause.

He also believes that there are no fair trials in India in terror cases and hence targeted the judiciary.

On June 20,Malik entered India from Bangladesh through the Benapole border,went to Kolkata,and from there boarded the Delhi-bound Rajdhani. After arriving in Delhi,he kept his luggage at the railway station and had lunch at Jama Masjid. Malik told interrogators he went to the Delhi High Court next to conduct a reconnaissance,realised that it wasnt very far from the Old Fort,and saw that there were not many vehicles around the courts Gate No. 5 (that was eventually targeted).

The same evening,Malik left for Jammu by bus and from there to Kishtwar. There,Malik contacted his younger brother Junaid and his school friend Aamir Kamal both allegedly Hizbul Mujahideen militants. Sources privy to Maliks interrogation say he was against his brothers decision to join militancy because he had chosen that path for himself.

Malik said he revealed his plan to his brother and Kamal,a militant commander,and asked whether they could help arrange a bomb. Malik allegedly asked for a bomb that could be set off by just pressing a button.

On July 12,Kamal gave Malik a mobile set and a SIM card so they could talk. The next day,Malik met brother Junaid,Kamal and Chotta Haji (another alleged militant) in Holar forest where they reportedly discussed the plan. Malik allegedly asked them to arrange two persons who were wheatish in complexion. He didnt want the two to be Kashmiris or Kashmiri-looking because they would stand out in a crowd.

Next,Malik told interrogators,he asked Junaid to find a computer-literate person in Kishtwar who could send out an email following the blast. Junaid knew Aamir Abbas,a young man involved with the Tableeghi Jamat in Kishtwar. However,Abbas didnt know how to operate computers,and brought in Aabid Hussain. It was Hussain who finally sent out the email.

Towards the end of July,Malik says,he had to rush back to Bangladesh because he was falling short on college attendance. Malik returned to Bangladesh on July 30,booking a return ticket for August 27 three days ahead of Eid.

Sometime in mid-August,Malik called Kamal from Arafats shop in Madina Market (in Sylhet). He returned to Jammu on August 28 and called Kamal again from the phone he had given him.

Malik,sources said,told Kamal he would come to Kishtwar on September 1. There,he met Junaid,Kamal and Chotta Hafiz near a playground. The latter allegedly had with them Bilal and Haroon who would later go on to plant the bomb in Delhi. Malik claims not to exactly know their origins or other details about them.

On September,3,Malik again met the five,this time in a mosque,to finalise the plan. The group decided that the briefcase bomb would be taken separately up to Kud (a tourist spot enroute Jammu) while the men would travel there with Malik. This was done apparently to avoid being caught as surprise checks are done on vehicles in the morning hours generally before Kud.

In Kud,the groups met at a sweets shop. Malik reportedly returned to Kishtwar and claims has no more information on the two men entrusted responsibility of planting the bomb.

On September 5,he told interrogators,he went to meet Aamir Abbas and gave him the text of the email.

The next day,Malik left for Jammu and stayed there till September 9,when he went to Bangladesh. During this time,sources said,Malik did not call Junaid or Kamal,or even Abbas. Nothing,that is,that could be counted as suspicious. Instead,he went to ATMs,shopping malls and cinema halls all places where CCTV cameras recorded his presence.

Unanswered Questions

Waseem Akram Malik returned on his own to India when the NIA sought him for questioning. If he was guilty and when Aamir Abbas and Aabid Hussain had been arrested,why did he not escape?

While Malik is allegedly the main accused,he claims to be completely in the dark about the two bombers,Bilal and Haroon,once they had left Kud on September 4 for Delhi.

Malik first said the men were Bangladeshis and arranged by a dismissed Bangladeshi army captain whom he came to know in Sylhet. Later,he said they were part of the same militant group as his brother and were from Lahore.

Aamir Abbas,however,has told interrogators that Malik had told him Bilal and Haroon were Bangladeshis and that we have to pay them Rs 3 lakh,from which we have already given them Rs 72,000 each.

While Maliks brother and friend were alleged Hizbul militants,he had no links with the outfit. Why would the Hizbul trust him? NIA sources say Maliks friend Aamir Kamal helped

organise the operation,keeping even his commander in Doda,

Jahangir Saroori,in the dark.

Why was the mail claiming responsibility sent in the name of Harkat-ul-Jihad-i-Islami?