India Detainee Says Pakistan Sheltered Him - Wall Street Journal

NEW DELHI—Indian police said on Sunday that an alleged veteran Islamist militant arrested last week told interrogators that Pakistan's military intelligence service has funded attacks on India and sheltered terrorism suspects. New Delhi counterterrorism officers said they detained Abdul Karim on Friday near India's border with Nepal. They allege that the 70-year-old is an explosives expert who masterminded a series of bomb attacks around India. When he was taken into custody, Mr. Karim, an Indian citizen, was carrying a Pakistani passport with a false name, police said. Mr. Karim told investigators that he and his family had been living in Pakistan since the late 1990s, police said. The case could further strain already-rocky relations between New Delhi and Islamabad, which for years has denied that Mr. Karim was in Pakistan and has repeatedly rejected allegations of official backing for militants. Five Indian soldiers were killed earlier this month along the country's disputed border with Pakistan. New Delhi blamed Pakistan, which denied involvement. Since then the two sides have fired at each other repeatedly. India has long maintained that Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence spy agency supports Islamist militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba, which India blames for numerous attacks, including a 2008 assault in Mumbai that killed more than 160 people. The spokesman for Pakistan's foreign ministry, Aizaz Chaudhry, said India had yet to contact Pakistan about the case. "Whenever they do so, we will consult our concerned authorities, ascertain the facts, and then respond," he said. Pakistan regularly denies supporting militant groups and funding terrorism against India. Mr. Karim, who is in police custody, couldn't be reached to comment. Police said he doesn't have a lawyer yet. Senior New Delhi police counterterrorism officer M.M. Oberoi said Sunday that Mr. Karim told police the ISI had provided "financial aid for arms and equipment as well as help in providing shelter to those accused of staging attacks in India." "It is not possible that this man—who figures high up on India's list of most-wanted criminals—had been living for years in Pakistan and that their intelligence or military had no knowledge about his whereabouts," Mr. Oberoi said. Indian police said Mr. Karim, whom they accuse of participating in a series of bomb attacks in the 1990s in Mumbai, New Delhi and elsewhere, told them he had been living in Karachi for more than a decade. Mr. Karim lost his left hand in a bomb-making accident in the 1980s, police said. Mr. Karim said his three wives and nine children are still in Karachi, the southern Pakistan city, police said. Mr. Karim also said that while in Pakistan he had met with another alleged terrorist who is India's most-wanted man, Dawood Ibrahim, according to police. After the 2008 Mumbai attack, India asked Pakistan to turn over Mr. Ibrahim, Mr. Karim and 18 other alleged terrorists. Pakistan said it didn't know the whereabouts of any of the suspects. Delhi police said Mr. Karim had traveled to Nepal from Pakistan. He was arrested near the border with India with the help of Nepali authorities, Mr. Oberoi said. Mr. Oberoi said police are investigating the reason for Mr. Karim's entering India. The "initial investigation leads us to believe that he had another attack planned," Mr. Oberoi said. "For decades, we've said Pakistani intelligence has engaged in training and funding of militants. The statement of Abdul Karim proves our point," said Raashid Alvi, a senior member of India's ruling Congress party. "I think it's very important, now more than ever, that peace talks be initiated," Mr. Alvi said. "With a democratic government in place [in Pakistan], we're hopeful that anti-India activities stop and that the two nations coexist peacefully." —Saeed Shah in Islamabad contributed to this article. Write to Preetika Rana at preetika.rana@wsj.com via Top Stories - Google News http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNEbga1dQeG8ch9huClBMfwB0q240w&url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323423804579020682783609474.html

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