Ambani Bomb Threat Linked To Indian Mujahideen Terrorist In Tihar Jail; SIM, Cell Phone Recovered

On Thursday (11 March), Tihar jail officials conducted a search operation in sub-jail number 8 and recovered the mobile handset and SIM card that was used to create the Telegram account in the name of Jaish-ul-Hind which claimed the responsibility for the explosive-laden SUV found near the house of industrialist Mukesh Ambani on 25 February.

Reportedly, sub-jail number 8 houses members of Islamist terror groups like Indian Mujahideen, Al Qaeda and the Underworld.

The abovementioned mobile phone was recovered from Indian Mujahideen member Tehsin Akhtar’s barracks and he is now a strong suspect in the case. At least 11 inmates were questioned in the case and their belongings were searched thoroughly.

Last night, Delhi Police special cell visited Tihar jail after the mobile number traced by Mumbai Police cyber cell was located near Tihar. The mobile number was registered in the name of one Jayadip Lodhiya, Raghubar Pura, east Delhi, and activated last year in July. It was later smuggled inside Tihar.

The user of the mobile phone was using an app to generate virtual numbers and then using those to make a Telegram account. The account was reportedly created on 26 February, and the threatening message along with a demand for payment in a cryptocurrency (Monero) was posted on the next day.

However, another message from Jaish-Ul-Hind organisation surfaced that said that the organisation had nothing to do with the case. The same organisation had reportedly claimed the responsibility of a low-intensity blast outside the Israeli embassy in Delhi on 29 January.

The mobile phone user was also using a TOR browser to mask his IP address on the internet. The police have also stumbled upon another mobile number which was used to activate the above. This was found switched off since last September.

Meanwhile investigation is going on in the Mansukh Hiren death case. Hiren’s car was purportedly used for planting the explosives. The police had said the vehicle was stolen from Airoli-Mulund Bridge on 18 February.

Hiren was found dead on 5 March after being “missing” for five hours. The police said that it looked like he committed suicide by jumping into Kalwa creek. Hiren’s wife alleged that Sachin Vaze, Mumbai crime branch officer, killed her husband.

Feeling the heat, the Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh today (10 March) announced in the Legislative Council that Sachin Vaze will be removed from the Crime Branch and posted in some other department. “It is being done so that an impartial investigation can be conducted in this case,” he said.

On 25 February, a green SUV was found about 600 metres away from industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s house with 20 gelatin sticks and a hand-written letter.

The letter was addressed to Mukesh and Neeta Ambani and called the planted explosives a 'trailer' and threatened to return later with more preparations to assassinate the whole family.

Mumbai ATS is looking into Hiren’s death while the NIA is investigating the bomb threat.

The Ambani bomb threat case has become a battleground for the Maharashtra administration led by Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition government and the main opposition party BJP.

BJP leader and former chief minister alleged that the current government was turning the Mumbai into suicide capital, and questioned why the government was’t arresting Vaze.

"Why he is not being arrested under Section 201 of IPC (destroying evidence)? Who is defending him?", he asked in the assembly. Fadnavis demanded that if not murder, Vaze should at least be arrested for destruction of evidence and alleged if he was not arrested, someone was protecting Vaze.

He further alleged said that the last known location of Mansukh Hiren's phone was near Shiv Sena leader Dhananjay Gawde's office. Both Gawde and Vaze are purportedly close as both were named in an extortion case in 2017.