File photo of Yasin Bhatkal, co-founder of Indian Mujahideen
Yasin Bhatkal, co-founder of banned terror group Indian Mujahideen, who is in a jail in Hyderabad, told his wife in a recent phone call that he would be out soon with "help from Damascus," sources said. The call was intercepted around a month ago.
The indication that the a key conspirator in the Mumbai blasts case might get help from the Islamic State - which controls large swathes of territory in both Syria and Iraq -- to escape prison has perplexed the intelligence agencies. This is more so because it was apparently an authorized call from an official phone.
Negating the possibility of the terror accused using a smuggled cellphone, VK Singh, Telangana's director general of Prisons, said authorised calls are always recorded and Bhatkal knows it. His cell in Cherlapally Jail is guarded round-the-clock.
"So if Bhatkal spoke about getting help from Damascus or was planning to run away from the jail, maybe he was trying to mislead the police," Mr Singh said.
Bhatkal, 32, was arrested from Bihar in 2013 by the National Investigation Agency. He was allegedly the key conspirator in three powerful blasts which ripped through crowded areas in Mumbai - Zaveri Bazar, Opera House and Kabutar Khana - on July 13, 2011, killing at least 21 people and injuring 141.
But he has "permission from court" to talk to his wife Zahida and other family members twice a week, Mr Singh said.
The names and phone numbers of his relatives are registered. All phone conversations are recorded by jail authorities and made available to investigating agencies.
Some members of the Indian Mujahideen, who fled India after the Batla House encounter Delhi in 2008, have apparently forged alliance with the Taliban and Al Qaeda and fought on Af-Pak border, say security officials. A few , like Bada Sajid, have allegedly fought and even died for the Islamic State.