Mumbai: The Telegram message sent from an organisation called Jaish-ul-Hind, claiming responsibility for the 29 January blast outside Israel embassy in New Delhi, was generated from a handset inside prison number 8 of Tihar Jail, ThePrint has learnt.
According to sources in Tihar, the mobile phone was seized from the barrack of Indian Mujahideen operative Tehsin Akhtar, who was arrested from West Bengal in 2014 and convicted for his involvement in the 2013 Hyderabad blast.
The Delhi Police Special Cell investigating a case in connection with the blast had initially thought the post was an attempt to mislead the investigation, as there was no such organisation in the name of Jaish-Ul-Hind that exists. However, further probe revealed that the post was generated by individuals inside Tihar jail, sources in the Delhi Police said.
These “tech savvy individuals”, the sources said, are in jail for “cases of terror” and are associated with the “Indian Mujahideen”, adding that the men had been on the police’s radar for over a month.
According to the sources, the IP address of the phone that was used to post the message, soon after the blast, had been traced to Herat in Afghanistan, and it appeared that it was promoted on social media by “Pakistan-based handles”. However, it was found later that the people generating the post were trying to “mislead agencies” by bouncing the IP.
“The initial location from where the post was generated was from Afghanistan, then there was a Pakistan connection, but when we probed further, it was found that the device was actually being operated from inside Tihar. We have been developing information on the same,” said a source in the Delhi Police.
This comes at a time when the Mumbai Police has claimed the Telegram channel of ‘Jaish-ul-Hind’, which claimed responsibility for parking an SUV with 20 gelatin sticks and a terror note outside industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s South Mumbai residence, was also allegedly created inside Tihar.
According to the Delhi Police sources, it is the same group that was on their radar for the Israel embassy blast case.
“It is a possibility that these inmates operating Jaish-ul-Hind handles from inside jail got to know about this Scorpio incident and instantly took ownership as an afterthought. Then another group also claiming to be Jaish-ul-Hind denied it,” said the source quoted above.
“This group may or may not be linked to the Mumbai incident at all, but since they first claimed responsibility for it, and then denied it (from a separate Telegram channel), their role will be probed.”
Also read: Incidents like terror attack on embassy will only bring India-Israel closer — envoy Ron Malka
Phone seized from barrack of IM operative
According to the sources in Tihar, searches were conducted inside jail number 8 Thursday and a mobile phone with number 9XXXXXX819, that was allegedly used to create the Jaish-ul-Hind group was seized from the barrack of IM operative Tehsin Akhtar.
Jail No. 8 in Tihar has prisoners sentenced for cases of terror, including those from Indian Mujahideen and Al Qaeda.
At least 12 inmates were questioned following the seizure of the phone.
A second source in the Delhi Police also said the said phone was registered in the name of a person from East Delhi, and was activated in July last year.
According to a source in the Mumbai Police, it was found that the group that put out the Telegram post soon after the explosives-laden Scorpio was found, was operating through “Tor Proxy” — a free software program that one can load in a computer to hide the IP address of every one who sends or requests data on the Internet. The process is layered with heavy-duty encryption, which means your data is layered with privacy protection.
“During investigation, it was found that virtual number apps along with other anonymous communication apps were being used by the target. Through various exploits sent to target identity, upon access and analysis of IP address, it appeared that he was using an Airtel SIM card to run internet on the device on which the Telegram channel @jaishulhind was being used,” the source said.
A group created inside jail
According to police sources, Jaish-ul-Hind appears to be a group created inside Tihar jail.
“This group has not been heard of before. There are no overground workers, no consignments related to them, no inputs. The only place it could be traced back to is Tihar jail,” said the first Delhi Police source quoted above.
“It appears that this group was floated inside the jail by these inmates and hence both these instances — Ambani bomb scare and Israel embassy blast — have been linked to them. It is, however, a matter of investigation to see what role they actually played in both these incidents, or it was plain mischief,” the source said.
(Edited by Sanghamitra Mazumdar)
Also read: Forensic linguistics, layered voice analysis — how Israel embassy blast case is being probed
How mobile reached to them??? How is network connectivity available there,is there no jammers installed??? It more looks like a madeup story by our own security agencies
From this news article it seems as if the Tihar is a holiday destination for these prisoners. It does not come across as a jail at all. The audacity of these fellows is astonishing.
What is quite obvious is that the management of Tihar jail is rotten and corrupt. There is no other way convicted prisoners can indulge in such activities. Accountability must be fixed and heads must roll. A thorough investigation of the Tihar administration is absolutely necessary. The rotten apples must be identified and terminated.