Peerbhoy got ‘nervous’, so didn’t upload video

Mohammed Mansoor Asghar Peerbhoy has caught the attention of interrogators the most as his association with IM brought in a degree of sophistication.

Among the members of the Indian Mujahideen arrested across Gujarat, UP, Delhi and Mumbai, 31-year-old Mohammed Mansoor Asghar Peerbhoy has caught the attention of interrogators the most as his association with the group brought in a degree of sophistication and reach that was important to build the outfit’s image as an “indigenous movement.”

He was spotted by Iqbal Bhatkal and it was in April this year that he was fully roped in and asked to send emails. He has also admitted to interrogators that the instructions for sending the email for the Gujarat blasts were changed at the last minute — the initial order was to send it the previous week.

Though he had surveyed unsecured wifi networks well in advance, he is learnt to have told investigators that he was a touch “nervous” while sending the email on July 26 from Kenneth Haywood’s network. In fact, according to his interrogation, the plan was to upload a video along with the email for Gujarat attacks but he withdrew for fear of staying longer on the network and getting identified.

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He was apparently more confident while sending the email for the Delhi blasts and managed to upload the video, a feat that he considered was quite satisfying.

Despite his job as a successful tech expert in Yahoo India, he has told investigators that he was drawn closer to religion after a visit to Mecca and that his interaction with Bhatkal brothers allowed him to understand the injustice being meted out to Indian Muslims. He was shown material from the Gujarat riots.

According to top sources, Iqbal and Riaz Bhatkal were his only contacts outside what is now being called the “Pune group”. Riyaz is a close associate of underworld don Amir Raza Khan, now suspected to be in Pakistan. Top officials said the likes of Khan and Bhatkal were usually the last tier of Pakistan-based terror networks, now tasked with creating another layer of younger Indian militants in an effort to lend deniability and direct linkage.