Indian Mujahideen operative in Tihar jail lied about Antilia bomb scare role ‘to stay relevant’

NEW DELHI: Jailed Indian Mujahideen (IM) operative, Tehseen Akhtar, lied when he took responsibility for parking an explosives laden car outside industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s house in February -- all because he wanted to remain relevant, a Delhi Police inquiry has revealed.

On March 10, central intelligence agencies traced a message on Telegram from a little-known terror group called Jaish-ulhind claiming responsibility for parking the Scorpio vehicle with 20 gelatin sticks on a road outside Ambani’s residence, Antilia, in Mumbai on February 25.

The message was traced to a phone in Akhtar’s cell in Tihar’s jail, where he is serving a death sentence in the 2013 Hyderabad blasts case. For a month, investigators from Delhi Police’s special cell interrogated Akhtar, who initially said his newly formed terror group parked the car outside Antilia but later admitted that he made the whole thing up.

“We submitted a report that the claims are false. Akhtar was interrogated for several hours.

Initially, he tried to mislead us by claiming that terror group was real,” said an officer familiar with the details of the inquiry.

“There was also no evidence that the terror group exists. Later, he admitted he had made it up. He was just doing it to mislead investigators and show that he is still relevant. This is all mentioned in our report,”added the officer on the condition of anonymity.

Police have confirmed in their report that Akhtar, Indian Mujahideen, or his self-claimed new terror group had no role in the Ambani case and have closed the probe, officials aware of the matter said.

This is the latest twist in the sensational case that led to a major churn in Mumbai Police, the transfer of the city’s police commissioner and the eventual resignation of the state home minister. Sachin Vaze, a former police officer, was accused in the case and dismissed from Mumbai Police.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested four people, including former Vaze for the Antilia security scare and the murder of Mansukh Hiran, owner of the Scorpio car.

Hiran’s body was found on March 5 after it washed up in a creek in Thane.

The source of the Telegram message was traced to Tihar’s jail number 8 after which Delhi police was requested to join the probe. Police and jail officers then found two phones - one manufactured by Oppo and another by Vivo -- inside the cell.

TEHSEEN AKHTAR SAID HIS TERROR GROUP PARKED THE CAR OUTSIDE ANTILIA BUT LATER ADMITTED THAT HE MADE IT ALL UP