Alleged al-Qaeda financier held

A 39-year-old man has been arrested by Delhi Police for allegedly acting as a financier to al-Qaeda's Indian sub-continent (AQIS) module busted here, the third arrest in the case, police said today.
Zafar Masood was arrested from mohalla Deepa Sarai in UP's Sambhal district last night after being booked under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, said Special Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Arvind Deep.
Masood had allegedly financed Mohammed Asif (41), who was arrested by Special Cell from northeast Delhi's Seelampur on Monday, and his own nephew, Serjil (22), who is reported to be in al-Qaeda's training camp in Af-Pak region, an official privy to the investigation said.

Masood was alleged to have paid the duo around USD 500 in two instalments for a trip to Pakistan. The two, besides another youth, identified as Rehan (26), had gone to Pakistan via Tehran and Afghanistan in June 2013 for training, the official said.
Masood's arrest follows that of Mohammed Asif, also a native of Sambhal, and Abdul Rahman, a madrasa teacher in Jagatpur in Odisha's Cuttack district.
Both Rahman and Masood were brought here on transit remand and produced before a court, which sent them to 12-days' police custody starting today, police said.

During interrogation, it emerged that Rahman has "connections" from Jharkhand to Saudi Arabia and Glasgow in Britain. He frequently visited Bangalore and met people, whose names police did not disclose, for which a team of Special Cell is likely to be rushed to Karnataka, said a police source.

It has also emerged that his brother Tahir Ali, who was arrested in 2002 in connection with the terrorist attack on American Cultural Center in Kolkata, had taken shelter at his residence before his arrest. However, such details are to be cross-checked with old records of the police department in Kolkata, the source added.
On the other hand, Masood, alleged to be a former operative of Harkat-ul-Mujahidin (HuM) trained in explosives and handling Kalashnikovs, is a neighbour of Asif, and a former student of a prominent university in the national capital, said an official.
After finishing a diploma course in Refrigeration and Air Conditioning certification from the university here in 1994, Masood went to Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, where he worked in an AC company for 950 Riyal a month, the official said.

He returned to India around three years later and rented a room at Batla House in Delhi with his friend, Usman, also a native of Sambhal. During his stay there, they met Saeed Akhtar alias Qasim, who is believed to be the deputy to AQIS chief (Amir) Maulana Asim Umar, said the official. Umar and Qasim are also natives of Sambhal.
Masood and Usman received training in a group of around
70 youths at Mansehra in the Hazara division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, which was the former training ground of HuM militants. They were specially trained in explosives by one Ustad Noman and in handling AK 47 by one Ustad Danial, said a source in Special Cell.

When Masood met Maulana Asim Umar, who was allegedly a senior HuM operative then, at the training ground, Umar turned out to be his "best friend" during school days, Sanaul Haq, whom he had not seen for several years. It was Umar who advised Masood and Usman to return to India, the source said.
Soon after his return to Sambhal, Masood was contacted by Qasim, who informed him that he had gone for 'Deeni' and 'Asgari' trainings at Mansehra and also instructed him to facilitate the travel of two more villagers from Sambhal to Pakistan.
These two villagers later became accused in a case registered under Explosives Act, Foreigners Act and Sections 121 and 121 A (related to conspiracy in connection with Waging, or attempting to wage war, or abetting waging of war, against the Government of India) of IPC at Delhi's New Friends Colony police station in September 2001.

However, they were acquitted of all charges in around eight years, following which they were never heard of, the source said.
Masood also allegedly facilitated the stay of two Pakistan nationals, identified as Maqsood Ahmed alias Ali and Sayed Mohammed alias Hamza, who had arrived in India in 2001. They were reported to have stayed in Faridabad and Lucknow, following which they were arrested by Delhi Police, said the source.
Masood later went to Saudi Arabia at least thrice -- in 2003 (to Dammam), 2005 (to Riyadh), and once in the past one year -- for work. He also got married in 2009 and has a five-year-old daughter and a three-year-old son. He had lately opened his own enterprise, filing sales tax returns for businessman, the source said.

It was in early 2012, that Masood claimed to have realised that his nephew Serjil and neighbour Asif were radicalised by Usman. While the former were planning to leave for Pakistan for training, Usman, who later came to be known as Assad, left for the training camp in Af-Pak region in July within a few months, said the source.
In 2013, Qasim called up old associate Masood one day and asked him to contact him through video chat, which was finally arranged through Asif's laptop, he said.