Pak props up 'small fry' to derail 26/11 probe

Updated on: 28 February,2009 08:00 AM IST |
Ketan Ranga |

Says Hamad Amin Sadiq, whose name is missing from charge sheet, is the main conspirator

Says Hamad Amin Sadiq, whose name is missing from charge sheet, is the main conspirator

In what is widely seen in police circles as an attempt to deflect attention and derail ongoing investigations into the 26/11 terror attacks, Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik has named Hamad Amin Sadiq as the main conspirator in the Mumbai attacks.

The police, who have named Hafiz Saeed, Zaki Lakhvi, Abu Hamza, Abu Al Kam and Abu Kaahafa as the main conspirators, say Sadiq is small fry who arranged flats for the terrorists at Mirpur Sakro in Sindh before they left for Mumbai.

"He is not the main conspirator," said Rakesh Maria, joint commissioner of police (Crime). Pakistan's media traced the house arranged by Sadiq in Mirpur Sakro, about 160 km from the Gujarat coast.

Transfer money

According to Pakistan, Sadiq, a native of the southern Punjab province in Pakistan, was arrested from Karachi.
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Others arrested by Pakistan are Riaz, Khan, Abu Alqama, Javed Iqbal, Mohammad Ashfaq and one Jamaat-ud-Dawah's Rawalpindi chief Nazir Ahmed.

Mohammad Ashfaq and Javed Iqbal are mentioned as accused in the 26/11 charge sheet.
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According to Pakistan, Alqama is a senior LeT terrorist active in Kashmir, whose Thuraya satellite phone was used by the Mumbai attackers.

Hamad is said to have facilitated transfer of money for the attacks. Iqbal and Ashfaq are said to have acquired the VoIP connection in Spain, which was used during the attacks.

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