New Delhi, Dec 5 (IAS) The probe into the Delhi Red Fort blasts is only widening with each passing day, and now investigators are learning that there were attempts being made to revive the Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind (AGuH).
The intention was to have a localised terror module as it would keep the heat away from Pakistan, the probe has found.
The AGuH is an offshoot of Al Qaeda in Jammu and Kashmir, and at the time it was being set up, it had begun to gain a lot of traction.
While terror groups such as the AGuH thrived in the Valley, the abrogation of Article 370 changed everything.
This had not gone down well with Maulvi Irfan Ahmed, a Srinagar-based cleric. He is at the centre of the Delhi probe, and investigators say that he is, in fact, the one who oversaw the setting up of the Faridabad module.
At first, it was said that the module was set up by the Jaish-e-Mohammad. While the role of the Jaish is being probed further, investigators have learnt that Ahmed was hell-bent on reviving the AGuH. He had started to realise that it was becoming very difficult to operate in Jammu and Kashmir, and hence operations would need to be moved out of the Valley.
The probe has learnt that Ahmed was linked with the AguH since its inception. He had a lot of hope in the outfit and felt that J&K would be liberated from India.
During his time with the outfit, he would move weapons and also provide the terrorists of this outfit with logistical support.
Although the AGuH is an Al Qaeda affiliate, it sought a lot of help from the Jaish for its operations in Jammu and Kashmir.
Post the abrogation of Article 370, the activities of the Jaish became very limited in the Valley.
With the lack of support from Pakistan and its proxies, the AGuH found it hard to operate and hence went out of business.
An official said that Ahmed’s plan was to strike outside Kashmir and hence decided to create a massive module in Faridabad. The white-collared module that he created had people from the Valley, and this was an intentional ploy. He wanted to create an all-Kashmiri module outside of J&K and carry out attacks.
For the time being, his focus was never on attacking Jammu and Kashmir. Instead, he wanted to use all his recruits as an example so that this acts as a motivation for the other youth from the Valley.
Another official said that Ahmed’s main intention was to get the people of Kashmir to strike outside the Valley. He felt that this would act as an inspiration for the other youth in Jammu and Kashmir, and they, in turn, would join his terror group.
The larger part of the plan was to get as many youth as possible into his fold and then revive the AGuH in Jammu and Kashmir.
An Intelligence Bureau official said that Ahmed had sensed that the AGuH would collapse following the abrogation of Article 370. Moreover, with Pakistan asking its terror groups, such as the Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Jaish, to lie low in the Valley, Ahmed realised that the game was up for the AgUH. The official said that the AGuH found it hard to operate without external support and hence collapsed.
Ahmed, however, was determined and sought to revive the group. This is when he set in motion the creation of a massive module outside J&K that would comprise mainly youth from J&K.
Officials say that his intention was to revive the Ansar with a strength of nearly 500 youth from Jammu and Kashmir. This plan by Ahmed fit into the scheme of things of the ISI, which had been desperate to create a homegrown terror group after its experiment to relaunch the Hizbul Mujahideen had failed.
Moreover, with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) breathing down Pakistan’s neck, it was important for the ISI to have a terror group with had Indians part of it. The ISI was very much aware of this plan and had decided to extend all support to Ahmed. All Pakistan had wanted was for a homegrown module to remain in action in Jammu and Kashmir and hence had blessed the revival of the AGuH, which would comprise only local terrorists, an official said.
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