Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: The mother of Abu Jundal aka Abu Hamza, the alleged handler of 26/11 terrorists who was arrested by the Special Cell of Delhi Police recently, on Thursday claimed that her son is not a terrorist.
Alleging foul play, Jundal’s mother said, “My son is not a terrorist. He is being implicated in false cases by the investigators.”
She also expressed desire to meet her son to confirm his identity. However, she said that if Jundal is found guilty, he must be punished.
Jundal's mother stated that no DNA tests have been conducted by the authorities on her son so far to confirm his identity.
"The government should match Jundal’s DNA with us so as to confirm his identity,” she said.
Earlier, Jundal was taken to Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital on Wednesday night for a medical examination. He remains in the custody of the Delhi Police.
According to national security agencies, Jundal is the highest ranked Indian in terror outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba and his questioning is proving to be a key link in establishing the involvement of Pakistan state actors in the Mumbai terror attacks.
Sources say that Hamza, whose real name is Zabiuddin Ansari, was recruited by a Kashmir-based Lashkar operative in 2005. A young Ansari is said to have been indoctrinated in those post-Gujarat-riot years. He allegedly got involved in planning for the 26/11 Mumbai terror operation at the beginning of 2008.
Sources say Hamza, as the Indian in the group, was the one who trained the terrorists who attacked Mumbai on what to wear, what to say etc. Hamza, who belongs to Beed in Maharashtra, speaks Marathi, Urdu, Hindi and also a bit of Arabic.
His interrogation so far has revealed that Abu Jundal met the 10 Mumbai attack terrorists twice.
Once in the initial days, he taught them Hindi. Then he met them a few days before the attack, when allegedly he briefed the terrorists on Mumbai - the roads, means of transport and the people. Hamza has reportedly said that the 10 terrorists found it difficult to comprehend how a single city could have several railway stations; Hamza helped them understand how to reach some of them.
He has reportedly said that as the attacks on Mumbai began, he was in a control room near the international airport in Karachi. Supervising the operation there, he has been quoted as saying, were ISI officers and Lashkar commanders including Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi. He has reportedly said that he was in the 26/11 control room for just for one day - the first day of the operation - after which he was removed and asked to "take rest" by Lakhvi.
Meanwhile, Pakistan hit back at India over allegation that Pakistani state institutions were involved in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. Coming to the defence of the ISI, Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik dismissed India's charges and claimed that the allegations against the intelligence agency were baseless.
First Published: Thursday, June 28, 2012, 13:09