Mumbai: Saif Nachan, one of the 15 arrested accused by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in the action against ISIS module on Saturday, was influenced by Hasib Mulla, an accomplice in the 2003 Mulund train bomb blast case. Saif, however, claimed that after the ban on the Students’ Islamic Movement in India (SIMI), he was not involved in any terror frontal organisation.
Saif’s brother Akif has been previously arrested by the NIA in connection with the Pune ISIS module. While probing Akif’s links, the NIA had recorded Saif’s statement as one of the witnesses.
Saif said he had joined SIMI as he was influenced by Mulla and Adil Khot, one of the arrested accused in the ISIS module busted by the Pune on Saturday. Said said he completed his BCom in 1997 from a college in Bhiwandi and became a member of SIMI during college days. In April 2001, he visited Delhi, staying at the SIMI hostel in Zakir Nagar, and was appointed as an office bearer of the monthly magazine ‘Islamic Movement’. It was since then that he was actively involved in the activities of the organisation, which was later banned thrice; the first time being 2001 after September 26 attacks in the US that year.
Saif was involved in the construction business before he was arrested and claimed that after the ban he was not associated with any functionaries or frontal organisations.
Besides the statement of Saif, the NIA also recorded the statement of Akbar Ali Khotal, a labourer, who was arrested with Saquib Nachan in the 2003 blast case. In his statement, Khotal said he joined SIMI at the age of 17 and held the post of ‘Ansar’ for SIMI activities. He was arrested in a SIMI case and granted bail in 2001.
During that time, Hasib Mulla, a close associate of Saquib and an arrested accused, contacted him for the first time. Khotal was tasked with assisting Saquib in AdharWadi Kalyan jail with food. After three to four months, Saquib was granted bail. Shortly afterward, Saquib called Khotal to Padgha for a meeting, during which he was told that strong boys were needed for weapon training.
Khotal then provided two names, Kamil Jamil Shaikh and Danish Akbar Ullekh. Khotal said the two underwent a two-day training session, learning to fire AK-47 and pistol at a mountain near Padgha.
In mid-2002, Saquib and Mulla visited Khotal’s place expressing the need for a room in Kalyan, not near Nachan’s home. Khotal arranged a room in Kongaon in Bhiwandi, and Saquib deposited Rs30,000, paying Rs1,500 as rent. Khotal was then assigned the duty to pick up the guest and drop him. Later, after his arrest, he came to know that the guest was a Pakistani national named Irfan.
Khotal recalled in his statement that after the 2003 blast, he went underground for a month. Around three months after Sauib’s arrest in the blast, Khotal too was arrested.
