‘Shibir helped India’s tunnel diggers’

An Indian media report has said a Bangladeshi student organisation ‘tied to a prominent Islamic group’ was helping the 2008 serial blasts case accused break out of Sabarmati Central Jail.

The accused, who had dug a 200-foot tunnel in the jail, are all members of the Indian Mujahideen and had plans to regroup in Bangladesh, the Times of India newspaper said on Wednesday.

Police officials investigating the case say the escape was delayed because of the current political unrest in Bangladesh.

Five of the accused, now in custody of the crime branch, have revealed that after escaping, they had planned to hide for six months in jungles of south India before heading for Bangladesh.

The report, quoting an unnamed official, said that some members of the Islami Chhatra Shibir (Islamic Chhatra Sangh, Bangladesh) had masterminded the Sabarmati jailbreak attempt.

“They were the ones who were pulling strings from across the border.

“This student organization is linked to a prominent Islamic organization of Bangladesh. The undertrials were planning to cross over into Bangladesh, undergo some more training, regroup and then return to India for more terror strikes," an Indian crime branch officer was quoted by the newspaper as saying.

The police officials claim that during interrogation, the accused said the tunnel digging was completed by Feb 2 this year, but they did not escape immediately.

On Feb 10, the tunnel was uncovered accidentally by member of the jail staff. The officials are slowly piecing together the reason behind the accused choosing to wait before escaping.

"The jailbreak plan was hatched in June-July 2012, when one of the 2008 blasts case accused, Hafiz Mulla, went to Karnataka for a court hearing. He returned with a detailed plan. He told other accused in the blast case that they should start digging the tunnel to freedom close to the Chhota Chakkar barrack," the crime branch officer was quoted as saying.

Police claim Hafiz's confidants in this conspiracy were two other blasts accused — P A Shibli and Sahduli Abdul Kareem. Clandestine digging work began in October 2012 and on Feb 2, 2013, the 200-foot-long tunnel was almost complete, the report said.

The report said even as the blasts accused were feeling elated, their escape plan was put on hold as there was no "go-ahead" from Bangladesh.

"The undertrials have told us that a couple of days after completion of work, Hafiz told them to wait for a while before escaping. Then on February 9, Hafiz said that 10 feet of the tunnel, close to its entrance within the jail campus would have to be closed up. The inmates were displeased by his suggestion and protested. Then, Hafiz told them that there was trouble brewing in Bangladesh and some more days of wait were essential," said crime branch officials.

The crime branch officer said: "The court concerned has granted us remand of Hafiz. On Wednesday, we shall take him in our custody and grill him on who he was in touch with at Karnataka and how did he get the intimation that the escape plan was to be postponed."