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Rediff.com  » News » I did what I had to do: Indian Mujahideen techie

I did what I had to do: Indian Mujahideen techie

By Vicky Nanjappa
October 10, 2008 13:00 IST
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'I leave my fate to God. He knows what I have done and I have no remorse for anything.' -- this is what Asghar Peerbhoy, the 31-year-old Indian Mujahideen techie nabbed recently by the Mumbai police had to say during his interrogation.

Peerbhoy, who made waves for his software skills and his Rs 19 lakh CTC, is a tough nut, say investigating officials.

He shows no remorse for his actions and keeps reiterating that he leaves everything to God. He says God knows what he has done and he has absolutely no regrets for his actions.

Moreover Peerbhoy also does not deny being part of the IM and SIMI, according to investigating officials.

Intelligence Bureau officials told rediff.com that Peerbhoy, who is well versed in developing software for corporate emailing, was identified first by Riyaz Bhatkal.

Bhatkal, according to the police, was first a Lashkar-e-Tayiba man in southern India before he was handed over the responsibility of the Indian Mujahideen and its funding.

Agencies add that Bhatkal identified Peerbhoy, who was working with Zimbra technology in Pune -- the company was later acquired by Yahoo. As principal software engineer his job was to develop programming for mails.

Bhatkal saw in Peerbhoy a potential hacker and hence took him into his fold. The brief given to Peerbhoy by Bhatkal was to hack into WiFi networks and send out mails to the police before and after every terror strike.

This was a ploy of the Indian Mujahideen to distract the police in their investigations. The IM, in fact, managed to distract the cops on several occasions -- right from the time they sent out their first mail following the Uttar Pradesh court blasts.

They even managed to distract the cops to a large extent when they hacked into the account of an American national.

According to investigating agencies, Peerbhoy comes across as a tough nut and an extremely committed person. The manner in which he speaks or answers questions is proof enough to show that he was extremely committed to the Indian Mujahideen and has absolutely no regrets.

He just says, "I did what I had to do and God knows that."

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Vicky Nanjappa