The apprehension of nine terrorists who were planning to attack Delhi, Mumbai, and other parts of the country has shed light on a Mumbai underworld connection. A fugitive gangster named Munna Jhingada has gained attention. The criminal is known to be the right-hand man of Dawood Ibrahim. Jhingada was one of the key accused and the main handler of the terror module with alleged links to ISI.
The Delhi police claimed that the accused were instructed to attack "vital installations and security personnel." The accused were plotting to attack nuclear facilities, airports, railway stations, and power plants, NDTV reported. The investigating officers recovered a large quantity of ammunition and weapons from their possession.
The investigation revealed that the arrested terrorists were planning attacks at the behest of four main handlers of the module: Munna Zingada, Dilawar Khan, Shahzad Bhatti, and Amir Jatt. All of them are currently based in Pakistan, sources said.
Who Is Munna Jhingada?
Munna Jhingada, aka Syed Mudassar Hussain, is a dreaded shooter accused of planning a major terrorist attack in India. He belongs to the Mumbai Jogeshwari area and has worked with Dawood and one of his close aides, Chhota Shakeel. Reports say that Jhingada was one of the most trusted shooters of Dawood. He was also instructed to kill gangster Arun Gawli.
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Jhingada is aware of several of Dawood's secrets and knows a lot of information about ISI. In 1997, Dawood reportedly invited Jhingada to Pakistan via Nepal, following which he settled in Karachi and worked within the D-company network.
Later in 2000, Dawood sent Jhingada to Bangkok with a fake Pakistani passport and name. As per his fake identity, his name is Mohammed Salim. He was sent to the neighboring country to kill Chhota Rajan. However, Rajan survived the attack while his close aide, Rohit Verma, died. Immediately after the attack, the Thai police arrested Jhingada.
How Was Jhingada Declared Pakistani
The gangster was sentenced by the court and remained incarcerated in a high-security prison in Bangkok for several years. On one hand, India argued that Jhingada was an Indian citizen and should be extradited to India because of several serious cases registered against him. He has over 70 cases registered against him in Mumbai for murder, extortion, gang warfare, and numerous other serious crimes.
On the other hand, Pakistan claimed Jhingada was a Pakistani citizen.
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Both India and Pakistan presented their evidence in the Bangkok court, with Indian agencies even presenting documents related to his family and DNA evidence. While India was successful in the lower court in Bangkok, which recognised Jhingada as an Indian citizen, Pakistan later challenged the decision. A lengthy hearing took place in the appeals court in Bangkok, and the case was ultimately overturned.
At the end, the Thai court recognised Munna as a Pakistani citizen. In 2019, people associated with ISI and the D-company fled Jhingada to Karachi—where he has been staying and operating terror modules.