In less than a decade, Faiyaz Kagzi went from being a B.Ed student in Maharashtra to Lashkar recruiter and finally ended up dying for the ISIS cause in Saudi Arabia.
New Delhi: He was a prolific recruiter for terror outfits, a coveted asset of Pakistan’s ISI, and according to Indian intelligence agencies, the man who trained Abu Jundal, the key handler of the 2008 Mumbai terror attack. But for five years from 2011, Faiyaz Kagzi, a native of Beed in Maharashtra, fell off the radar of intelligence agencies, before his name resurfaced in intel intercepts days before a suicide bombing outside the US Consulate in Jeddah on 4 July 2016 —the attack that killed four Saudi policemen.
Indian investigators now say that the suicide bomber was Kagzi, in his 40s at the time of his death, and he allegedly carried out the attack at the behest of the Islamic State (ISIS).
DNA profiling, which was completed in April this year, has allegedly confirmed that the suicide bomber was indeed the Beed native. His identity was established on the basis of DNA samples that the Maharashtra ATS collected from his family in October 2017.
Kagzi reportedly parked his car outside a mosque opposite the consulate and shortly afterwards detonated his device. It was the first bombing in years to target foreigners in Saudi Arabia.
Kagzi’s death ends a nearly 12-year search for the terror operative, first wanted for a blast at the Kalupur railway station in Ahmedabad in 2006. ThePrint traces his journey — from a B.Ed student in Maharashtra’s Aurangabad to an alleged operative of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), and eventually a Islamic State suicide bomber in Jeddah.
Student, social worker, LeT master recruiter
Kagzi was pursuing a B.Ed degree from Maulana Azad College in Aurangabad in 2003, when he began engaging with youngsters affected by drug addiction. Investigators believe Kagzi used his work as a cover to recruit operatives for the LeT. He allegedly came in touch with members of the terror outfit much earlier, when he was pursuing his B.Sc from Beed.
“During his stay in Aurangabad, he took a room at the Kagzi Darwaza on a rent of Rs 300 a month and started a library for which he bought books through crowd funding. This is how he won the trust of many youngsters,” a source said.
It was also during this time, investigators say, that Kagzi met Jundal and introduced him to key LeT leaders.
“Kagzi indoctrinated Jundal into radical Islam to avenge the killings of Muslims in the 2002 Gujarat riots. A book called Gujrat Ke Jalte Raat Din was given to Jundal, and Kagzi showed him several videos and photos of the riots,” a source said.
Kagzi was given a code name, Ar Salan, by the LeT and was asked to target RSS activists.
Training and fallout
Indian investigators say Kagzi first went to Pakistan some time before 2006 for arms training. At this time, he reportedly told his family members that he was working in Dubai.
It was to impress his handlers that Kagzi and his associates allegedly placed explosives in coach SC-1 of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Karnavati Express on 19 February 2006. The bomb exploded at Kalupur railway station in Ahmedabad, injuring more than 14 people.
It was Jundal who told investigators that Kagzi was praised for the bombing and sent to a safe house in Rawalpindi in Pakistan. After moving there, Kagzi reportedly lay low for a few months and then began working on Jihadi websites.
“Kagzi became a master at recruiting youths through propaganda videos and pages on Facebook,” a source said.
It was at this time that the planning for the Mumbai attacks began. Kagzi was allegedly asked to train Jundal to be the key handler and also one Masood Azhar, from his hometown Beed. The idea was to go to Maharashtra and facilitate the Pakistani suicide bombers there using Marathi.
According to sources, Masood’s inclusion in the suicide squad irked Kagzi as he feared that in case the operation failed, Masood’s presence would lead investigators back to Beed.
“He feared that in case the operatives got caught, investigating agencies would start harassing Masood’s family in India. He also feared that the investigators would eventually reach his family. So, he wanted Masood out,” a source said.
Kagzi reportedly met one Khalid to keep Masood out, but was directed to Mumbai attack mastermind, Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi.
“When Kagzi met Lakhvi regarding the issue, he got angry and the two fell out. Lakhvi then vowed not to send any person of Indian origin for an operation in India. Following this tussle, Kagzi left Pakistan,” a source said.
Escape to Saudi, ties to ISIS
Intelligence inputs accessed by agencies suggest it was the ISI that finally facilitated Kagzi’s exit from Pakistan to Saudi.
“There was no way that Kagzi could have left Pakistan on his own. After his tiff with Lakhvi, it was not safe for him to stay on in Pakistan. The ISI helped his move to Saudi. It even arranged for his stay, since it had plans to use him for operations later,” a source said.
In Saudi, Kagzi began teaching at a madarsa and married a Pakistani woman, with whom he had a son. He also completely went off the radar of intelligence agencies. Kagzi resurfaced in intercepts after he came in touch with Jundal, who visited him in Saudi in 2011.
“Jundal was Kagzi’s old friend. Even though Kagzi was no longer working for LeT and Jundal was asked not to be in touch with anyone during his stay there, he contacted Kagzi in June 2011, hiding it from his handler, Muzammil,” a source said. That month Jundal was arrested in Saudi Arabia and deported to India.
According to sources, it was ISI that facilitated Kagzi’s shift to ISIS. “When operatives of Indian origin die fighting for IS in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, the ISI gets recognised as an able supplier of manpower for IS and thus keeps its channels of coordination with them open,” an investigator explained.
Sources in the investigation agencies say they had shared information of Kagzi’s presence in Saudi with authorities there but could not get him deported.
“Kagzi was a highly motivated operative who had proved to be very useful for the ISI. This is the reason why in 2011, despite Indian authorities passing on the information to Saudi about Kagzi’s presence there, he was not arrested and deported. In fact, the ISI intervened and saved Kagzi through diplomatic channels,” a source said.
Post-2011, Kagzi again went into hiding and did not surface in any of the intercepts accessed by intelligence agencies. It was only last month that a DNA test confirmed that it was Kagzi who blew himself up in Jeddah.