Abu Jundal: from a job seeker to 26/11 planner

Mumbai: Abu Jundal, the man allegedly caught on tape directing terrorists during the 26/11 carnage and believed to be the only Indian present in the Karachi control room monitoring the massacre, was born in Mazalgaon village in Beed district of Maharashtra.

Jundal studied till class 10 and later did a course at the Indian Technical Institute. It was in Aurangabad, where he had gone for a job hunt that he came in touch with a group of SIMI supporters.

Soon after getting indoctrinated post the Godhra riots, he went for training to Muridke in Pakistan, the same training center where Kasab was trained.

With strong connections to sleeper cells in India and the ability to arrange logistics and money, Jundal became LeT\'s core team member and a 26/11 planner.

It is here that he first met Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and other core group members of LeT. Given the task to scout for fresh recruits, he came back to India,

His name first blinked on the Maharashtra Police's radar in May 2006. Police recovered 43 kgs of explosives, 16 AK 47s and several thousand rounds of bullets from 2 vehicles Jundal managed to escape.

His name again cropped up when the Maharashtra ATS arrested Himayat Baig in the German Bakery blast. Baig is believed to have been indoctrinated by Jundal.

With strong connections to sleeper cells in India and the ability to arrange logistics and money, Jundal became LeT's core team member and a 26/11 planner.

Once in Mumbai Police's custody not only will Jundal be confronted with Kasab, but his voice sample will also form a crucial part of the evidence for a fresh 26/11 trial in Mumbai.

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