Lashkar module's Bangladesh-based handler was in touch with Hafiz Saeed: Sources

Sources said that the Bangladesh-based handler of the eight suspects arrested today had been in direct contact with Lashkar's top leadership, including 26/11 Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed.

The handler of eight suspected Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operatives arrested in a major anti-terror operation was in direct contact with the outfit’s top leadership, including 26/11 Mumbai attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed and senior commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, sources told India Today TV.

According to sources, the handler, identified as Shabbir Ahmad Lone, a Kashmiri terrorist currently based in Bangladesh, has been in touch with the LeT leadership since at least 2007. Officials believe he played a key role in coordinating the recently busted module.

Sources said evidence of Lone's direct communication with Saeed and Lakhvi had first surfaced when the Delhi Police Special Cell arrested him in 2007. Officials at the time allegedly recovered proof showing he was in regular contact with the two senior Lashkar figures.

The probe has also pointed to the involvement of Pakistan's intelligence agency, the ISI. Sources said the ISI is attempting to recruit Bangladeshi nationals illegally residing in India to execute terror strikes.

Following the latest arrests, Delhi Police suspected that the ISI was also providing financial support for recruitment and operational planning.

Eight suspected terrorists were arrested by Delhi Police earlier today for allegedly plotting a major terror conspiracy in the national capital at the behest of the ISI and Bangladesh-based extremist organisations.