IM operative in Tihar jail lied about role in Antilia case ‘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 littleknown terror group called Jaish-ul-hind 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