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The story of LeT's south India chief

By Syed Amin Jafri in Hyderabad
March 16, 2006 20:41 IST
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The last rites of Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorist Ghulam Yazdani, who was killed in Delhi last week, were performed at the Bade Masjid burial grounds at Hayatnagar in Hyderabad's outskirts on Wednesday amidst tight police security.

Yazdani, a 28-year-old engineering dropout and a native of Nalgonda in Andhra Pradesh, was killed in an exchange of fire with the Delhi police on the outskirts of the national capital on March 8.

His father Ghulam Mustafa, a government teacher who said he was not sorry for his son's death as he had indulged in anti-national activities, however wanted to perform the last rites.

Mustafa, whose application to bring his son's body for burial in Hyderabad was accepted by the Andhra Pradesh high court, collected the body from the Delhi police after the post-mortem.

The body was shifted to the city by an Indian Airlines flight on Wednesday morning. Amidst tight security, the body was taken to his house at Chintalkunta at L B Nagar. It was kept there for an hour before being taken to the nearby Masjid.

After the prayers, the body was buried at the Bade Masjid graveyard in the afternoon. Tension prevailed for sometime as Bharatiya Janata Party leaders and local people opposed the burial in the area.

The alleged mastermind behind the Dilsukhnagar Saibaba temple blasts a few years ago, Yazdani was on the Andhra police's most wanted list.

He had also hatched a plan to blow up a Ganesh temple near Secunderabad railway station.

He was arrested and imprisoned twice in 2000-01. He escaped when he came out on bail and has been absconding for the past five years.

He was among the 14 men from the state who were recruited to be trained by the Lashkar in Pakistan after the Gujarat riots.

In a short span of time, he emerged as the leader of the organisation's south Indian network. He was one of the main accused in the killing of former home minister of Gujarat Haren Pandya.

Yazdani operated under different aliases -- Naveed, Jafer Ali,Yahya Khan.

He also allegedly roped in several young men to fight against the country on behalf of the Inter-Services Intelligence.

 

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Syed Amin Jafri in Hyderabad