Masood azhar

Masood Azhar is a Pakistani mujaheddin leader and the founder of the militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed, based mainly in the Pakistan-administered portion of the state of Kashmir.

India lists Masood Azhar as one of its most wanted terrorists due to a history of militant activities.

Early life

Azhar was born in Bahawalpur on July 10, 1968 as one of ten siblings although some sources list his birth date as August 7, 1968 as the third of 11 children. Azhar's father, AllahBakhsh Shabbir, was the headmaster at a government-run school, and his family operated a dairy and poultry farm. Azhar studied at the Jamia Uloom ul Islamia Banuri Town in Karachi, where he became involved with Harkat-ul-Ansar. After he suffered injuries in the Soviet-Afghan War, Azhar was chosen as the head of Harkat's department of motivation and became an editor for the Urdu-language Sad’e Mujahidin and the Arabic-language Sawte Kashmir. Azhar later became the general secretary of Harkat-ul-Ansar and visited many international locations to recruit, to raise funds and to spread the message of Pan-Islamism. Among his destinations were Zambia, Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia, Mongolia, the United Kingdom and Albania.

Activities in Somalia

Azhar confessed that in 1993 he traveled to Nairobi, Kenya to meet with leaders of al-Itihaad al-Islamiya, an al-Qaeda-aligned Somali group, who had requested money and recruits from Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM). Indian intelligence officials believe that he made at least three trips to Somalia and that he also helped bring Yemeni mercenaries to Somalia.

1994 arrest – 1999 release

In early 1994, Azhar traveled to Srinagar to ease tensions between Harkat-ul-Ansar's feuding factions of Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami and Harkat-ul-Mujahideen. India arrested him in February and imprisoned him for his terrorist activities with the groups. In 1995, foreign tourists were kidnapped in Jammu and Kashmir. The kidnappers, referring to themselves as Al-Faran, included the release of Masood Azhar among their demands. One of the hostages managed to escape but the rest were eventually killed. In December 1999, he was freed by the Indian government in exchange for passengers on the hijacked Indian Airlines Flight 814 (IC814) that had eventually landed in Kandahar, Afghanistan, which at the time the Taliban controlled. The hijackers of IC814 were led by Masood Azhar's brother, Ibrahim Athar. His release from Kot Bhalwal jail was supervised by an IPS officer, his younger brother Abdul Rauf Asghar had planned this attack. S P Vaid; once Masood Azhar was handed over to the hijackers, they fled to Pakistani territory despite the fact that Islamabad had earlier stated that any of the hijackers would be arrested at the border. The Pakistani government also previously indicated that Azhar would be allowed to return home since he did not face any charges there. Shortly after his release, Azhar made a public address to an estimated 10,000 people in Karachi. He proclaimed, "I have come here because this is my duty to tell you that Muslims should not rest in peace until we have destroyed America and India."

2001 arrest – 2002 release

Masood Azhar's outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed allegedly carried out a string of deadly attacks against Indian targets, including the attack on the Indian parliament in December 2001 that brought India and Pakistan to the brink of a full-scale war. Soon after the Indian parliament attack, Masood Azhar was detained for a year by Pakistani authorities in connection but was never formally charged. The Lahore High Court ordered an end to the house arrest on 14 December 2002, much to the fury of India.

Works

He wrote many books on Jihad in Urdu. Some of them are as follows:
• Fazail e Jihad
• Khutbaat e Jihad
• Muskurate Zakhm
• Darus e Jihad
• Zaad e Mujahid
• Azadi Mukammal Ya Adhori
• Fath ul Jawwad

November 2008 Mumbai Attacks

On December 7, 2008, it was claimed that he was among several arrested by the Pakistani government after a military raid on a camp located on the outskirts of Muzaffarabad in connection with the November 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai. He is still living in Bhawalpur. Pakistan's government denied it had arrested Masood Azhar and said it was unaware of his whereabouts  On Jan 26, 2014, Masood Azhar reappeared after a seclusion of six years. He addressed a rally in Muzaffarabad, calling for the resumption of jihad in Kashmir. His group, Jaish-e-Muhammad, claims he in currently in Srinagar, India.

Sanctioned by US Treasury

The U.S. Treasury is prohibiting Americans from "engaging in any transactions" with three Pakistan-based militants and a front group. Al Rehmat Trust, called "an operational front" for Jaish-e Mohammed, was designated for providing support to and for acting for or on behalf of that group, and Mohammed Masood Azhar Alvi, Jaish-e Mohammed's founder and leader, was designated for acting on behalf of the group.

Ilyas Kashmiri

Ilyas Kashmiri, also referred to as Maulana Ilyas Kashmiri and Muhammad Ilyas Kashmiri (10 February 1964 – 3 June 2011), was a senior al-Qaeda operative and leader of the Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami (HUJI) He was also connected with the Soviet-Afghan war, the Kashmir conflict and attacks against India, Pakistan and the United States. In August 2010, the US and the United Nations designated him a terrorist. NBC News reported that United States officials had mentioned him as a possible successor to Osama bin Laden as head of al-Qaeda.

Military career and militant activities

Kashmiri hailed from the Mirpur District of Pakistan. Kashmiri was reported by some media sources as having served in the Pakistan Army's elite Special Services Group (SSG), however he denied this in an interview with journalist Syed Saleem Shahzad. Kashmiri also spent a year studying communications at the Allam Iqbal University. In the Soviet war in Afghanistan, he trained the Afghan mujahideen in mine warfare in Miranshah on behalf of Pakistan. During the fighting he lost an eye and an index finger. He continued his militant activities in Kashmir after the war as a member of Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI), though disagreements with leader Qari Saifullah Akhtar several years after initially joining in 1991 led Kashmiri to establish his own new unit within HuJI known as the 313 Brigade. During the mid-1990s, Kashmiri and Nasrullah Mansoor Langrial were near Poonch when they were seized by the Indian Army and sent to prison, where he would spend the next two years before escaping and returning to Pakistan. Upon his return Kashmiri continued to conduct operations against India, once reportedly being rewarded personally with Rs 100,000 (about US$1,164.24) by then Army Chief General Pervez Musharraf for presenting the severed head of an Indian Army Soldier to him. Pictures of Kashmiri with the head of the soldier in his hands were published in some Pakistani newspapers.

Post-Kashmir activities

Kashmiri rejected orders to serve under Maulana Masood Azhar in the newly founded jihadist organisation Jaish-e-Mohammed and was once even targeted by the group. Falling out of favour with the Pakistani military, he was taken into custody and tortured in late 2003 in the wake of an attempt to assassinate President Musharraf. From his release in February 2004 until the 2007 Siege of Lal Masjid he apparently did little, but later returned to the 313 Brigade in the terrorist organisation Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HUJI), which is closely tied to al-Qaeda. Kashmiri rebuilt its strength while collaborating with the Taliban. This was part of a broader movement of Kashmir militants moving to Waziristan, and Kashmiri reportedly moved personnel from his Kotli (Kashmir) training camp to a new one in Razmak (North Waziristan). A U.S. indictment of Kashmiri stated that he "was in regular contact with al Qaeda [their italics] and in particular with Mustafa Abu al Yazid..." He has been associated with a number of attacks, including the 2008 Mumbai attacks, the 2010 Pune bombing, the assassination of Benazir Bhutto and the killing of Ameer Faisal Alavi. Syed Saleem Shahzad wrote that Kashmiri proposed the Mumbai attacks to al-Qaeda leaders as a way to create a war that would bring operations against al-Qaeda to a halt. The plan was approved and given to former LeT commander Major Haroon Ashik. According to Asia Times Online, Kashmiri was behind a 2008 plan to assassinate Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani as he stepped out of his car during daily visits to a gym; however, the al-Qaeda leadership rejected the plan on strategic grounds. According to The News International, Kashmiri is accused of organising the December 2009 Camp Chapman attack against the CIA and the United States was seeking his arrest and extradition. In early 2010, Kashmiri was reported to be the new leader of al-Qaeda's Lashkar al Zil, or Shadow Army, following the death of its former leader Abdullah Said al Libi by an American drone. According to journalist Amir Mir, citing Pakistani security sources, Kashmiri was subsequently assigned the role of organising attacks against Western targets after the regional command was taken by Saif Al-Adel, a former Egyptian army colonel newly released from Iran. Before his death, bin Laden had asked Kashmiri to plan an attack on Barack Obama, according to a column by David Ignaitius published on the Washington Post web site. Ignaitius stated that his column was based on documents seized from the raid on bin Laden's compound. In the wake of the killing of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden on 2 May 2011 during an American operation in Abbottabad, Pakistan, terrorism analysts put forth Kashmiri's name as one of several possible successors to lead the organisation.

U.S. indictment

On 27 October 2009, a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice named Kashmiri as a conspirator to whom an American citizen from Chicago, David Headley, arrested on terrorism related charges, "allegedly reported and attempted to report". The statement also noted that Kashimiri "issued a statement this month that he was alive and working with al Qaeda". A report on details of the investigation stated that Kashmiri "was in regular contact with Headley for some time and their communications suggested that they were in the process of plotting fresh attacks in India." Headley was reportedly distraught at news of Kashmiri's death, but after receiving confirmation that he was still alive, set off for Pakistan, at which time he was arrested by the FBI. Kashmiri was officially indicted on two counts, for "conspiracy to murder and maim in Denmark" (against the newspaper Jyllands-Posten) and "conspiracy to provide material support to terrorism in Denmark". During court testimony on 31 May 2011, Headley indicated that he had conducted preliminary research for Kashmiri in a plot targeting Robert J. Stevens, the CEO of Lockheed-Martin, the defence contractor.

Blacklisted as a terrorist by US and UN

On 6 August 2010, the United States labelled Kashmiri a "Specially Designated Global Terrorist" while the United Nations added him and his group HuJI to its blacklist established under UN Security Council Resolution 1267. The label allows the United States to freeze any of his assets in US jurisdiction and to "prohibit US persons from engaging in any transactions with him." The UN resolution requires UN member states to freeze assets, ban travel and ban the sale of arms to Kashmiri and HuJI.

Assassination attempt and reported death in 2009

Kashmiri was reported killed along with Hanifullah Janikhel and Kaleemullah in Machikhel, North Waziristan on 7 September 2009 when they were hit by a missile fired from a U.S. drone. At the time he was reportedly one of the top 10 most wanted militant commanders in Pakistan. However, in mid-October Kashmiri was reported to have survived the airstrike and granted an interview to Asia Times Online's Syed Saleem Shahzad. A senior American official was later quoted by The Washington Times as saying "While there were preliminary indications that Kashmiri may have been dead, there is now reason to believe that he could be alive". One rumour among militants asserted that Kashmiri had been outside urinating when the house he was staying at was hit.

Death

On 3 June 2011, a US drone attack targeted a compound in the Ghwakhwa area of South Waziristan, a Taliban stronghold. Nine militants, including Kashmiri, were reportedly killed in the missile strike. Three other militants were badly injured in the attack. Local officials reported that the militants in the compound were all members of the Punjabi Taliban. Kashmiri had moved to Wana from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 10 days earlier. Lala Wazir, a spokesman for Mullah Nazir, a Taliban commander associated with the owner of the compound which was attacked, confirmed his death. Qari Muhammad Idress, a close aide to Kashmiri and a senior HUJI commander, also claimed he was killed in the drone strike. Al Qaeda also eulogised Kashmiri in the August issue of the Nawai Afghan Jihad magazine. On 7 July 2011, CNN reported that an unnamed US Intelligence official said US officials were 99 percent certain Kashmiri was killed but he added "the folks that make that determination aren't ready to say so definitively." The US State Department's Rewards for Justice Program, which at one at point designated Kashmiri as a wanted terrorist and offered a $5,000,000 bounty for information leading to his capture, no longer has him listed as a wanted terrorist. On 31 August 2011, Asia Times Online reported that a well known Taliban commander named Shah Sahib had replaced Kashmiri as commander of the Brigade 313. However, doubts remained of his death. A spokesman for the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) stated in June 2011 that Kashmiri was alive and well. In mid-July 2011, Dawn reported that Kashmiri was still alive and active in the border areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan. On 30 July 2011, the Indian government listed him as one the nation's five most wanted fugitives, indicating that Indian authorities think Kashmiri might still be alive. In March 2012, the Daily Times reported that "reliable sources" had recently seen Kashmiri meeting with TTP head Hakimullah Mehsud in North Waziristan, but that journalists were unable to access the tribal regions in northern Pakistan to verify the report. Shortly after his death, the Pakistan Ministry of Interior alleged that Kashmiri's group had organised the assassination of Minister of Minority Affairs Shahbaz Bhatti and The Telegraph reported based on unnamed Pakistani officials that Kashmiri was organising a death squad to avenge Osama Bin Laden's death. On 16 March 2012, Ustad Ahmad Farooq, Al Qaeda's lead spokesman in Pakistan, confirmed Kashmiri's death in an audiotape and eulogised him along with other pro-Al Qaeda militant leaders that were killed by US airstrikes in the tribal region. On 10 May 2012, the United Nations Security Council officially labeled Kashmiri as "reportedly deceased" on the Al Qaeda Sanctions list and made it clear that they would treat him as dead until it could be proven otherwise.

Hafiz Muhammad Saeed

Hafiz Muhammad Saeed ( born 1948 ) is an internationally designated terrorist and the chief or amir of Jama'at-ud-Da'wah, which operates mainly from Pakistan and has had sanctions placed against it as a terrorist organisation by the United Nations. He is influential in certain religious groups. There have been protests against the US bounty on Hafiz Saeed as they claim that he is inciting Kashmaris in separatist activities. He has challenged that India will be forced to leave Kashmir just like US was in Afghanistan. Hafiz Saeed, blame India for Peshawar carnage, in which 141 killed, 124 injured. But India claims that his organisation is banned as a terrorist organisation, The United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Russia and Australia. India considers him one of its most wanted terrorists because of his alleged ties with Lashkar-e-Taiba and its involvement in attacks against India, and Saeed is listed on the NIA Most Wanted list. The United Nations declared Jama'at-ud-Da'wah a terrorist organisation in December 2008 and Hafiz Saeed a terrorist as its leader. In April 2012, the United States announced a bounty of $10 million on Hafiz Saeed, for his alleged role in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. Since 2008, various Indian politicians have demanded that Saeed be handed over but there is no extradition treaty between the two countries.

Hafiz Saeed pleaded innocence and claimed that he has no links with LeT and that India has no evidence and no real proof behind their allegations. Pakistani officials said that Saeed was helping in identification and rehabilitation of former militants. According to Declan Walsh, Saeed currently lives in Lahore, Pakistan in a "fortified house, office and mosque".He gives interviews to media, including the New York Times newspaper.

Background

In 1950, Hafiz Muhammad Saeed was born in a Gujjar family in Sargodha, Punjab. As told by his father, Kamal-ud-Din, a farmer, in the fall of 1947, his family started migrating from Haryana and reached Pakistan in around four months. His family lost 36 of its members when migrating from Hisar, Haryana to Lahore during the Partition of India. He is married and his wife's name is Maimoona. General Mohammad Zia-ul-Haq appointed Hafiz Muhammad Saeed to the Council on Islamic Ideology, and he later served as an Islamic Studies teacher at the University of Engineering and Technology, Pakistan. He was sent to Saudi Arabia in the early 1980s by the university for higher studies where he met Saudi Sheikhs who were taking part in the Afghan jihad. They inspired him to join his colleague, Professor Zafar Iqbal, in taking an active role supporting the Mujahideen in Afghanistan. There he met some youth who later became his companions. In 1987, Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, along with Abdullah Azzam, founded Markaz Dawa-Wal-Irshad, a group with roots in the Jamait Ahl-e-Hadis. This organisation spawned the jihadist group Lashkar-e-Taiba in 1990, with the help of Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence officers. Lashkar's primary target is the disputed Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. He is also quoted as saying, "There cannot be any peace while India remains intact. Cut them, cut them so much that they kneel before you and ask for mercy." Hafiz Muhammad Saeed holds two master's degrees from the University of Punjab and a specialisation in Islamic Studies and Arabic Language from King Saud University.

Activities

1994
In 1994, Saeed visited the United States and "spoke at Islamic centers in Houston, Chicago and Boston".

2001–2002
Pakistan detained Hafiz Muhammad Saeed. on 21 December 2001 in relation to Indian accusations of his involvement with the 13 December 2001 attack on the Lok Sabha. He was held until 31 March 2002, arrested again on 15 May, and was placed under house arrest on 31 October of the same year.

2006
After the July 11, 2006 Mumbai train bombings, the provincial government of Punjab, Pakistan arrested him on 9 August 2006 and kept him under house arrest but he was released on 28 August 2006 after a Lahore High Court order. He was arrested again on the same day by the provincial government and was kept in the Canal Rest House in Sheikhupura. He was finally released after the Lahore High Court order on 17 October 2006.

2008–2009
After the November 2008 Mumbai attacks, India submitted a formal request to the U.N. Security Council to put the group Jamaat-ud-Dawa and Hafiz Muhammad Saeed on the list of individuals and organisations sanctioned by the United Nations for association with terrorism. India has accused the organisation and its leader, Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, of being virtually interchangeable with Lashkar-e-Taiba. India said that the close links between the organisations, as well as the 2,500 offices and 11 seminaries that Jamaat-ud-Dawa maintains in Pakistan, "are of immediate concern with regard to their efforts to mobilize and orchestrate terrorist activities." On 10 December 2008, Hafiz Muhammad Saeed denied a link between LeT and JuD in an interview with Pakistan's Geo television stating that "no Lashkar-e-Taiba man is in Jamaat-ud-Dawa and I have never been a chief of Lashkar-e-Taiba."

On 11 December 2008, Hafiz Muhammed Saeed was again placed under house arrest when the United Nations declared Jamaat-ud-Dawa to be an LeT front.

Hafiz Muhammad Saeed was held in house arrest under the Maintenance of Public Order law, which allows authorities to detain temporarily individuals deemed likely to create disorder, until early June 2009 when the Lahore High Court, deeming the containment to be unconstitutional, ordered Hafiz Muhammad Saeed to be released. India quickly expressed its disappointment with the decision.

On 6 July 2009, the Pakistani government filed an appeal of the court's decision. Deputy Attorney General Shah Khawar told the Associated Press that "Hafiz Saeed at liberty is a security threat."

On 25 August 2009, Interpol issued a Red corner notice against Hafiz Saeed, along with Zaki ur Rehman Lakhvi, in response to Indian requests for his extradition.

Hafiz Muhammad Saeed was again placed under house arrest by the Pakistani authorities in September 2009.

On 12 October 2009, the Lahore High Court quashed all cases against Hafiz Muhammad Saeed and set him free. The court also notified that Jama'at-ud-Da'wah is not a banned organisation and can work freely in Pakistan. Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, one of two judges hearing the case, observed "In the name of terrorism we cannot brutalise the law."

Indian attempts at extradition

On 11 May 2011, in an effort to place pressure on Pakistan, India publicly revealed a list of its 50 most wanted fugitives hiding in Pakistan. India believes Hafiz Saeed is a fugitive, but the Indian arrest warrant had no influence in Pakistan and presently has no effect on Saeed's movements within Pakistan. Following the Lahore High Court ruling, Saeed has been moving freely around the country. For many years, India has demanded that Saeed be handed over but there is no extradition treaty between the two countries.

Declaration as a terrorist by the United States

The United States declared two Lashkar-e-Tayyiba leaders – Nazir Ahmad Chaudhry and Muhammad Hussein Gill – specially designated global terrorists. The State Department also maintained LeT's designation as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation and added the following aliases to its listing of LeT: Jama’at-ud-Dawa, Al-Anfal Trust, Tehrik-i-Hurmat-i-Rasool, and Tehrik-i-Tahafuz Qibla Awwal. The Department of Treasury said that LeT was responsible for the November 2008 terrorist attack in Mumbai which killed nearly 200 people. The group’s leader is Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, who is listed under UN Security Council Resolution 1267.

Cooperation with Islamabad

In keeping with Pakistani establishment's wishes, Lashkar has been keeping focus on India and Saeed is among those who are thought to have helped Pakistan in capturing important al-Qaeda members like Abu Zubaydah. Senior Pakistani officials have said that Saeed is helping in de-radicalization and rehabilitation of former extremists and that security is being provided to him because he could be targeted by militants who disapprove of Saeed's co-operation with Islamabad.

US bounty
In April 2012, the United States announced a bounty of $10 million US Dollars on Hafeez Saeed, for his role in 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. Saeed stated that he had nothing to do with the Mumbai attacks and condemned them. When asked about the bounty Saeed replied, "I am living my life in the open and the US can contact me whenever they want." He subsequently stated that he is ready to face "any American court" to answer the charges and added that if Washington wants to contact him they know where he is. "This is a laughable, absurd announcement. Here I am in front of everyone, not hiding in a cave," he said in a press conference. Saeed identified his leading role in the Difa-e-Pakistan council and US attempts to placate India as reasons behind the bounty.

Pakistani Government
Hafiz Saeed has criticised Pakistani leaders and has stated that they should aspire to be more like British Prime Minister David Cameron and London Mayor Boris Johnson. He had declared his admiration for the British Conservative Party along with several Tory MPs when he lodged a petition to the Lahore High Court calling for public officials in Pakistan to tone down their privileged lifestyles. According to The Daily Telegraph, Saeed wrote in the petition that while Pakistan's political elite were 'living like kings and princes in palatial government houses,' Britain's prime minister lived in a 'four-bedroom flat.' He added, 'When the sun never set on the British Empire, the chief executive of that great country lived in the same house of a few marlas in a small street. That is truly Islamic, that is like following the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet.'

Speaking on the issue of arrest of separatist Kashmiri leader Masarat Alam by the Jammu and Kashmir government, Saeed said, “Jihad is the duty of an Islamic government... there is a government in Pakistan and it has always taken the stand that it is the right of Kashmiris to attain freedom. I say what our Army will do to secure the right of the Kashmiris is jihad... We extend help to Kashmiris alongside government... we call this jihad.”
Criticizing his anti-India comments, Indian Muslim leader Asaduddin Owaisi said, "People like Hafiz Saeed are unaware about teachings of Islam, jihad in Islam. They are killing innocent lives in Pakistan, children are being killed. They are using Pakistan for maligning another country. The Government of India should take strict action against it and I condemn his comments in clear and strong words."

Indian Government
In January 2013, India's then Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde's released a statement on the alleged existence of Hindu terrorism as well as the existence of Hindu terror camps on Indian soil, being run and organised by the BJP and the RSS. As a result, Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jamaat-ud-Dawa welcomed Shinde's statements and congratulated him for admitting the existence of Hindu terrorism. Hafiz Saeed demanded that the United States take serious notice of this statement by the Indian home minister regarding Hindu terrorist camps in India. "The US should now carry out drone attacks on these terror camps in India," Saeed said.

In September 2014, Saeed blamed India for "Water Terrorism". Though there was flood crisis in India too, Saeed blamed India for flood crisis in Pakistan. In several tweets on social media he said, "Indian gov discharged water in rivers without notification & has given false information; an act of open mischief," "India has used water to attack Pakistan, We are in state of War. India's water aggression must be taken to the UN security council.

Responding to a question about the nuclear warning issued by Indian authorities in Jammu and Kashmir after the 2013 India–Pakistan border incidents, Saeed said that in case of a nuclear war between India and Pakistan, India should distribute nuclear safety pamphlets in Delhi, Mumbai and Calcutta rather than in Kashmir.

Chhota rajan

Chotta Rajan (Little Rajan also known as "NANA") is the boss of a major crime syndicate based in India. He was a former key aide and lieutenant of Dawood Ibrahim. Starting as a petty thief and bootlegger working for Rajan Nair, also known as Bada Rajan (Big Rajan), Chhota Rajan took over the reins of Bada Rajan's gang after Bada Rajan's murder. Later, he was affiliated with and operated at the behest of Dawood in Mumbai and eventually fled India to Dubai in 1988. He is wanted for many criminal cases that include extortion, murder, smuggling, drug trafficking and film finance. His brother is said to produce films financed by Rajan. He is also wanted in 17 murder cases and several more attempted murders.

He parted ways with Dawood Ibrahim in 1996 after the bombings. A group within the Indian organised crime syndicate D-Company led by Sautya, Chhota Shakeel and Sharad Shetty had started to resent the growing clout and influence of Rajan. They had started planting stories against him to Ibrahim. Rajan, increasingly became suspicious and insecure of the developments taking place within the gang and began fearing for his life. This led him to request the Indian officials to help him flee Dubai and settle down in another country under a different identity, in return for information about Syndicates. The more popular known fact of their split centres on Ibrahim's involvement in the 1993 Bombay bomb blasts and Rajan's opposition to that, mainly on communal grounds.

Criminal career

Born into a Marathi family in Mumbai, Rajan Nikalaje grew up in the lower middle class locality of Tilaknagar in Chembur, a suburb in central Mumbai. He started his criminal career by scalping cinema tickets at Sahakar cinema in the 1980s. Then he met mentor Bada Rajan and Yadagiri of Hyderabad under whom he learned the tricks of the trade. Once Bada Rajan was killed, Nikalje received the throne and the title—Chhota Rajan. For a short period, Dawood Ibrahim, Rajan and Arun Gawli worked together. Then Gawli's elder brother Papa Gawli was murdered over a drug deal and a rift formed. Rajan went to Dubai—his family is still here apart from his wife in 1989 to attend the wedding of Noora, Dawood's brother. He never returned. After the 1993 Bombay bombings, Dawood and Rajan fell out. There were even reports that he tipped off the Research and Analysis Wing about Dawood's network. The Dawood-Rajan party was over, the messy end coming in September 2000, with Shakeel's attack on Rajan in his Bangkok hotel room.

Split with Dawood

After the split, Rajan formed his own gang. Reports of bloody shootouts between Rajan and Dawood's hoodlums have been common since the split.In 1994, Rajan lured one of Dawood's favourite "narco-terrorist" Phillu Khan alias Bakhtiyar Ahmed Khan- to a hotel room in Bangkok, where he was tortured to death, having been betrayed by his closest aide and sidekick Mangesh "Mangya" Pawar. Both Phillu and Mangya were involved in the 1993 blasts as Police had filed cases on 15 March 1993 alleging their involvement in the blasts.

Assassination attempt

In September 2000, Dawood tracked down Rajan in Bangkok. Sharad Shetty, used his links with Mumbai-based hotelier Vinod Shetty and A Mishra to track down Rajan in Bangkok, Dawood's aide Chhota Shakeel then led the hit. Posing as a pizza delivery men they gunned down the trusted Rajan hitman Rohit Varma and his wife. However their aim of killing Rajan failed, with Rajan making a dare-devil escape through the hotel's roof and fire-escape. He then recovered in a hospital and slipped away to evade capture. Dawood Ibrahim confirmed the attack on telephone to Rediff.com, saying Rajan tried to escape by jumping out of the window of the first-floor room where he was attacked. He, however, broke his back in the fall and was taken to hospital. This failed assassination attempt proved costly for Dawood. Chhota Rajan's associates tracked down and shot dead Vinod Shetty in 2001 in Mumbai, as well as Sunil Soans – another Dawood associate. Both Vinod and Sunil had provided information to Dawood's associates of Rajan's whereabouts. While the killings of Vinod Shetty and Sunil Soans did not significantly disrupt D-Company, on 19 January 2003, Chhota Rajan's associates then gunned down Sharad Shetty – Dawood's chief finance manager and money-laundering agent – at the India Club in Dubai. This brazen killing was an emblematic of the shift of power between Dawood and Rajan. Not only was the execution in a very public setting, it was at a location that Dawood considered his operational backyard. Intelligence reports have suggested that Sharad Shetty's death was a crippling blow to D-Company, since much financial and monetary information of the crime syndicate operations managed by Sharad Shetty was never fully recovered by Dawood.

Personal life

The couple has three daughters; Ankita Nikalje, Nikita Nikalje and Khushi Nikalje The younger one is doing graduation and the elder got married. Contrary to popular belief, Chhota Rajan was not addressed as 'Nana' by friends and colleagues.

In Cinema

A 2002 film, Company had a character Chandu having some resemblances of Chhota Rajan with real-life Dawood Ibrahim gang. Also, the 1999 film Vaastav: The Reality, starring Sanjay Dutt was loosely based on Rajan's life.

Sajid-mir

Political career

He belongs to Punjab province of Pakistan, and was elected to the Senate of Pakistan in March 2009 on reserved seat for technocrats and ulema as PML-N candidate. He is the chairperson of Senate Committee on Science and Technology and member of senate committees of Rules of Procedures and Privileges, Functional Committee on Government Assurances, Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development. He is also the Ameer of Markazi Jamiat Ahle Hadith.

India-Israel track Sajid Mir as Lashkar gives final touches to Karachi Project
Posted by: Vicky Nanjappa | Thu, Jan 22, 2015, 10:40 [IST]
The biggest mystery of the 26/11 attack is Sajid Mir or Sajeed Majeed. After the attack of 26/11 there was nothing known about him and it was over the next year or so that his name surfaced during the interrogation of David Headley. Branded as an international terrorist and the man who handled David Headley, Sajid Mir the 1976 born operative according to the intelligence provided to India by the Mossad he is holed up in Murdike which is situated near Lahore. [Also Read: Sajid Mir ordered shipping of 60,000 rounds ammunition into India by sea]
What is the mysterious Mir doing in Murdike?
Murdike is an extremely strategic location for Mir. His home is the near the Ganda Nala lane in Lahore Pakistan which is very close to Murdike which also happens to be one of the main base camps of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba, the outfit he works for. He is a key player for the Lashkar and today his importance for them is immense as they prepare to launch the Karachi Project which they have been working for some time now. From the Murdike camp, the Lashkar plans and launches all its operations and Mir is very much out there coordinating with the Lashkar’s international contacts to help launch the Karachi attack. Incidentally he is the one who even identified and handled David Headley who again has the brand of an international terrorist.
In Murdike since July 2014:
After the 26/11 attack he was told to lie low for a long time. He was in fact in Lahore all the time at his home. The fact that Paksitan even denies the existence of such a man and terms the allegations by India as a myth helped their cause even further. No amount of surveillance done by the Indian agencies was able to track this man down. However it was the Mossad agents who had provided India with ample information and his movement and it was found that he had moved into the Murdike camp of the Lashkar. Going by what the Israelis have filed before the Eastern District Court of New York in the month of October 2014 it becomes all the more clear that he is located in Murdike.
Mir never moved out of Paksitan:
After the attacks of 26/11, the ISI had told him to lie low. Ideally the ISI moves its operatives to the Gulf when the heat is too high on their operatives. However in the case of Mir they did not do so. The arrests of Abu Jundal the Hindi tutor of the ten terrorists from the Gulf made the ISI think twice before sending its operatives there. Moreover in the case of Jundal even the Pakistanis had staked a claim on him, but the Indians managed to win that battle and extradite him. This is a clear indication that he was never moved out of Pakistan even once. The ISI does not mind if operatives of such importance take a salary from them for not doing work for years together. They tend to activate such terrorists for specific jobs once in five to ten years and this time he is active in connection with the Karachi project.
Karachi Project:
According to the testimony of Headley the Karachi Project was planned to launch operations in India using the home grown terrorists. This was the brain child of the ISI. However the ISI realized that that the world had got wind of the project that they were planning. They decided to make a strategic move in which they moved their main officer Major Hashim officially into the Lashkar. This move meant that during the planning and execution stages the ISI would not be under the radar of the international agencies. While the ISI backs the Karachi Project completely, it is today headed by Major Hashim and Sajid Mir. In addition to this they also have the support of Abu Yakoob who is the head of the naval wing of the Lashkar. Mir has been handed out a major responsibility in this project. He recruits youth from Indian states such as Gujarat and Maharashtra and brings them into Pakistan before sending them back to India. The intent is to train these youth and keep them ready when they decided to execute the Karachi Project in full.
The transition that Mir brought about:
Mir is the one who gave the Lashkar a new dimension. In fact he always told Hafiz Saeed that for the Lashkar to grow it should grown out of the Kashmir obsession and focus on the other parts of India as well. He was a passionate Jihadi who had worked for several years in Saudi Arabia and after making his money he returned to Paksitan. Born and brought up in a middle class Punjabi home in Lahore, he returned to Pakistan and set up a textile business. He later married the daughter of a retired army officer in Pakistan and has two sons today. His major international assignment before David Headley was with French operative Willie Brigitte. Mir had roped him in and trained him in Pakistan to undertake combat.
The reason why David Headley returned to India:
David Headley as we all know had come to India to carry out a reconnaissance ahead of the 26/11attack. The audacity with which Headley operated can be seen in the manner that he decided to come back to India even after the attack. Officers of the NIA who had probed Headley who continue to share and gather information with several other agencies say that after the 26/11 attack, the ISI had already started chalking out the Karachi Project. They realized that they needed to get a new team ready and also get more information on potential targets in India. Headley seemed to be the obvious choice and none had any information on him at least in India. The agencies say that he has made over 6 visits to India and there was just one after the attack in which he surveyed targets for the Karachi Project.
The final Headley visit was directed by Mir:
Going by the various accounts and even Headley’s testimony it appears as though the Karachi Project was planned along with the 26/11 attack. According to Saroj Kumar Rath the author of the most insightful book, “Fragile Frontiers: The Secret History of Mumbai Terror Attacks, “ Headley was managed always by Mir. He is the one who had directed all his visits to India and that included the one after the attack as well. 

Anees ibrahim

New Delhi: In a startling revelation former Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Joint Director Shantanu Sen has alleged that the government let underworld don Dawood Ibrahim's brother and 1993 Mumbai blasts accused Anees Ibrahim get away.
Sen had nabbed the lone death row convict in the 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts case Yakub Memon.
"In March 1996, Interpol Baharian arrested Anees Ibrahim in Bahrain on our red alert. They informed us and told us to interrogate and take him away. I led a team of two. When we went to pick him, a British CID officer told me that he is not there. He told us that they received summons from Sharjah where is was wanted in a crime," he said.
Sen also said that there should be more understanding between the Gulf states.
"Anees Ibrahim was wanted in a more serious crime as he was the number 2 accused in Mumbai blasts case. The matter was reported to MEA. We had arranged the arrest," he added.

On March 12, 1993, the city of Mumbai was rocked by 13 explosions in different parts of the city. It resulted in 257 fatalities and over 700 were injured. According to some news reports, the death toll was over 300 and the number of injured stood at 1400.
It is the largest coordinated terror attack to have taken place on Indian soil in terms of the number of casualties. It is also one of the most well-planned terror attacks to have been perpetrated in India apart from the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. It was also the first terror attack on Indian soil in which RDX was used as the explosive material.

Yakub memon

Yakub Abdul Razak Memon (Yākūb Abdul Rajāk Mēmon) (30 July 1962 – 30 July 2015) was an Indian terrorist and chartered accountant, who was convicted over his involvement in the 1993 Bombay bombings by Special Terrorist and Disruptive Activities court on 27 July 2007. Yakub Memon was the brother of one of the prime suspects in the bombings, Tiger Memon. His appeals and petitions for clemency were all rejected and he was executed by hanging on 30 July 2015 in Nagpur jail.

Early history

Yakub Memon was born on 30 July 1962 in Mumbai and grew up in the Byculla neighborhood, where he attended Antonio D'Souza High School. He was a Kutchi Memon by ethnicity. He completed a Masters in Commerce at the Burhani College of Commerce and Arts. In 1986, Memon enrolled in the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and completed study as a chartered accountant in 1990.

In 1991, Memon founded the chartered accountancy firm 'Mehta & Memon Associates' with his childhood friend Chetan Mehta. The following year, they parted ways, and he founded another accountancy firm 'AR & Sons'. Named after his father, it was so successful that Memon won a "Best Chartered Accountant of the Year" award from the Memon community of Mumbai. He also formed the export company 'Tejrath International' to export meat products to the Persian Gulf region and Middle East.

1993 Bombay bombings

Main article: 1993 Bombay bombings
Part in the bombings
According to Indian authorities, Memon financially assisted his brother Tiger Memon and Dawood Ibrahim in planning and executing the bombings.Memon allegedly handled Tiger's funds, funded the training of 15 youths who were sent to Pakistan to learn the art of handling arms and ammunition, purchased the vehicles used in the bombings, and stockpiled weapons.

Arrest
The Indian Central Bureau of Investigation claims that Memon was arrested at New Delhi railway station on 5 August 1994. However, Memon claims that he surrendered to police in Nepal on the 28 July 1994. Memon was arrested with a briefcase which contained a recording of a conversation he had had in Karachi.

Trial
Justice P. D. Kode, in a Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) court, found Memon guilty of the following offences on 27 July 2007.

Crime Sentence
Criminal conspiracy to carry out terrorist act and disruptive activities, and murder Death
Aiding and abetting and facilitating in a terrorist act Life imprisonment
Illegal possession and transportation of arms and ammunition Rigorous imprisonment for 14 years
Possessing explosives with intent to endanger lives Rigorous imprisonment for 10 years
Subsequent appeals and petitions
Memon filed an appeal before the Supreme Court of India under Section 19 of the TADA Act and State of Maharashtra filed a reference before the court for the confirmation of Memon's death sentence. On 21 March 2013, the Supreme Court confirmed Memon's conviction and death sentence for conspiracy through financing the attacks. The Court held that Memon's role was limited not only to the extent of correspondence between the masterminds and all other accused, but he was also entrusted with task of handling the explosive bags and for their safe keeping, which is stated in the confessional statements of various co-accused persons. It also held that Memon was actively involved in hawala transactions for the purpose of facilitating the blasts. The judges called him the "mastermind" and "driving force" behind the bombings. Memon has consistently claimed innocence.

Memon then filed a Review Petition seeking review of Supreme Court’s judgment confirming his death sentence. On 30 July 2013, Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice P Sathasivam and Justice BS Chauhan rejected Memon's application for oral hearing and dismissed his review petition by circulation. Memon then filed a Writ Petition before the Supreme Court as the issue of oral hearing of review petitions against death sentences was being heard by the Supreme Court.

On 6 August 2013, Memon's brother Suleman filed a mercy petition before the President of India. However Indian President Pranab Mukherjee rejected Memon's petition for clemency on 11 April 2014.

On 1 June 2014, Justices J. Khehar and C. Nagappan imposed a stay of execution while a plea from Memon, that review of death penalties should be heard in an open court rather than in chambers, was heard by a constitution bench of the Supreme Court which was then extended in December 2014. On 24 March 2015, open court hearing began on Memon's review petition. Senior Counsel Jaspal Singh represented Memon. On 9 April 2015, Supreme Court dismissed Memon’s review petition.

On 30 April 2015, Maharashtra Government issued a death warrant setting 30 July 2015 as the date for Memon's execution. Memon then filed a curative petition before the Supreme Court on 22 May 2015, which was rejected on 21 July 2015. Meanwhile, Memon then filed a mercy petition with the Governor of Maharashtra and then filed a Writ before the Supreme Court of India for a stay on his execution till the mercy petition is decided. He claimed that the death warrant was illegal, as it had been issued before he had exhausted all his legal avenues of appeal. The capital punishment given to Yakub Memon has been criticized by a few eminent personalitities, including Research and Analysis Wing officer B. Raman, former Supreme Court judge Justice H. S. Bedi, Former Supreme Court judge Markandey Katju, Hussain Zaidi, Ram Jethmalani, Asaduddin Owaisi, R. Jagannathan and a few Muslim bodies, who asked for implementation of the Srikrishna Commission report. On 26 July 2015, a petition was handed over by some eminent personalities and political leaders to President Mukherjee to reconsider Memon's mercy plea.

On 28 July 2015, Memon filed a fresh writ petition before the Supreme Court challenging the order passed in the curative petition contending that the required quorum was not present based on the interpretation of the Supreme Court Rules. After the hearing, the two judges disagreed on the issue and passed an order requesting the Chief Justice of India (CJI) to urgently constitute a larger bench. On July 29, the Supreme Court rejected his petition. Memon also submitted a petition for clemency to Maharashtra Governor C. Vidyasagar Rao and a fresh petition to President Mukherjee, both of which were rejected. As a final resort Memon's lawyers filed a plea for 14-day stay of execution with Supreme Court Chief Justice citing that there needs to be 14 day period between a mercy plea rejected by president and the execution. A three-judge bench convened at 2:30 IST to hear the arguments. After hearing the arguments the bench upheld the execution, rejecting Memon's lawyers arguments.

Imprisonment
Memon was originally held at Yerwada Central Jail, and was transferred to Nagpur Central Jail in August 2007. While in prison, he studied at Indira Gandhi National Open University and earned two master's degrees: the first, in 2013, in English literature and the second degree, in 2014, in political science.

Execution
Memon was executed by hanging in Nagpur Central Jail at around 6:30 AM IST on 30 July 2015. He had been woken at 4:00 AM, permitted to take a warm bath and was provided with a fresh set of clothing. He was allowed to read the Quran and do Salat, given a last meal of his choice, allowed a final phone call with his daughter as per his last wish, and underwent a final medical examination before the execution. A Pune police constable who had previously executed Ajmal Kasab served as the hangman. He became 24th person to be hanged at Nagpur central jail and the 59th in the Maharashtra state since 1947.

His execution set off a debate on the death penalty in India, with many newspapers calling for its abolition.

In media

Memon was portrayed by actor/director Imtiaz Ali in Anurag Kashyap's film Black Friday. A part of the real footage of Yakub Memon's interview given to Madhu Trehan of Newstrack, where he states that the conspiracy was orchestrated by his brother Tiger Memon and his underworld associates, was also included in the film