Abu Jundal, aka Sayed Zabiuddin Ansari aka Abu Hamza is allegedly a 30 year ols Lashkar Terrorist who played a major role in 2008 Mumbai attacks  killing 166 People and causing enormous loss of Property.
Jundal was arrested by Delhi Police on June 21 after he was deported from Saudi Arabia on India’s request. He is believed to be one of the key handlers of terrorists involved in the November 2008 terror attacks on Mumbai.
Abu Jundal was the Hindi tutor of the 10 terrorists allegedly responsible for the 2008 Mumbai attacks. Abu Jundal is believed to be one of the four LeT men who had come to send off Ajmal Kasab and nine other terrorists from Karachi a week prior they went to Mumbai.
Abu Jundal was born on Nov 31, 1980 in a village Hathi Khana mohalla in Georai area of Beed district in Maharashtra. His father Syed Zakiuddin had worked as an insurance agent. Syed Zakiuddin’s family consists of five sisters and one son, Abu Jundal. Abu Jundal had studied in Urdu up to Class X in Georai and joined Indian Technical Institute, Beed.
Abu Jundal went to Pakistan for terror training in mid-2000s and recruited cadres for Lashkar-e-Taiba, and Indian Mujahideen . He was quickly promoted in the ranks of Lashker-e-Taiba after he was indoctrinated by banned SIMI post Gujarat riots in 2002. Abu Jundal had lived in Pakistan for sometime after which he moved to Saudi Arabia where he worked as a teacher.He had been missing since 2005 and is known to have used at least ten aliases. Jundal also stayed for sometime in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
The Central security agencies of India had interrogated many arrested terrorists to study the case of Abu Jundal. From these interrogations it was known that he had been operating out of terror camps in Karachi and Pakistan administered Kashmir It was also known that he was a key figure in the terror group Lashker-e-Taiba’s plan to carry out the strikes in the remote areas of India.
Jundal has given inputs about the Lashkar-e-Toiba’s sleeper cells in the country to the police, based on which, police teams will be carrying out raids across Maharashtra. Police say Jundal used a different name in each incident he was involved in and has been questioned about all terror attacks that took place in the past six to seven years.
Investigators allege that Abu Jundal Ansari was present in Lashkar’s Karachi based control room during the Mumbai attack. In telephone conversations between the terrorists and their handlers intercepted during the Mumbai attacks, a person speaking with a marked Mumbai accent can be heard instructing the terrorists to make a list of demands to the media.The men inside the control room also issued instructions to the terrorists on operational decisions including killing hostages.
Abu Jundal has claimed after his arrest that LeT chief Hafiz Saeed was also present in the LeT control room from where they had directed the Mumbai attack terrorist incident. Abu Jundal has also said that ISI and Pakistani army officials were involved in planning Mumbai attacks and had attended the meetings.
Abu Jundal was involved with all aspects of 26/11 attack. He admitted that the planning for the attack began in early 2008. Jundal told interrogators that he knows top operatives of other terror groups including Indian Mujahideen’s Riyaz and Iqbal Bhatkal and used to meet them in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. He was sent to Saudi Arabia by LeT to recruit Indians living in the kingdom and raise finances. He also said he had used a Pakistani passport with the active help of the ISI.
According to him, the coordinated attacks were previously scheduled for 2006, using Indian youth for the job. However, a huge cache of AK-47’s and RDX, which were to be used for the attacks, was recovered from Aurangabad in 2006 thus leading to the dismantling of the original plot. Subsequently, Abu Hamza fled to Pakistan and along with Lashkar commanders, scouted for Pakistani youth for the attacks. In September 2007, ten people were selected for the mission. In September 2008, these people tried sailing to Mumbai from Karachi, but couldn’t complete their mission due to choppy waters. These men tried again in November 2008 and managed to execute the final attacks.
He was accused of crimes involving the use of weapons, explosives and terrorism. India had secured an Interpol Red Corner notice against him. Jundal’s father Syed Zakiuddin had not been keeping well for some time and his condition deteriorated when he came to know about his son’s arrest on Monday, neighbours said. Jundal’s mother suffers from diabetes. Police are keeping a strict vigil outside Jundal’s house, located in Hatti Khana area of Beed in central Maharashtra. According to sources close to the family, Jundal has three sisters, two of whom are married. One of their neighbours Mukram Pathan said, “Abu’s parents are unwell. But they say if he is found guilty, they would not mind even if he is hanged in front of them.”
According to Indian Government sources, his arrest came after months of diplomatic negotiations involving authorities in Riyadh, Washington DC, and New Delhi.
Indian dignitaries visiting Saudi Arabia in recent months, had also lobbied Saudi authorities for assistance in Ansari’s case. Intelligence Bureau director Nehchal Sandhu is known to have directly worked with his Saudi counterpart, Prince Muqrin bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud, the director General of Saudi Intelligence agency Al Mukhabarat Al A’amah during the investigations. The Indian and Saudi Intelligence services had identified Ansari on the basis of intercepted phone communications.
DNA test was also used to establish his identity. A DNA sample obtained from Ansari’s family was sent to the Saudi authorities by India. The DNA test had matched and Saudi authorities were persuaded for handing him to India.